When I went to college, I attended the school where my dad has taught
for years and continued to live at home with my family. Thus, the
transition was not very difficult. In Anne of the Island, Anne
Shirley faces a much more jarring collegiate experience. After seven
years in Avonlea, she has taken Marilla up on her suggestion to go to
Redmond College, for which she gave up a scholarship in favor of helping
Marilla maintain Green Gables after her brother Matthew’s death. Though
she welcomes the opportunity to distinguish herself in such a scholarly
environment, Anne feels terribly lonesome in the beginning with no
familiar faces except Priscilla, a friend from Queen’s College, and
fellow Avonleaers Gilbert and Charlie, both of whom have begun acting
very strangely around her. The acquaintance of boisterous Philippa helps
Anne to feel more accepted at Redmond, especially since Philippa’s
social connections grant Anne and Priscilla admittance into clubs and
activities that would otherwise be off-limits to them.
As
college progresses, Anne and her friends rent a charming establishment
called Patty’s Place that soon becomes almost as home-like as Green
Gables. Its cozy interior is augmented by three cats, one of whom adores
Anne exclusively in spite of her early attempts to be rid of him.
Feline affections cause Anne far less trouble than those of humans as
Anne finds herself the recipient of proposals by five different suitors
during her time in college. Of these, three are patently ridiculous as
far as Anne is concerned, but the other two give her pause. One of these
is the ever-faithful Gilbert, whom Anne views as the greatest of chums
but nothing like her romantic ideal. The other is Royal Gardner, a
dashing young man whose grand entrance halfway through the novel is
reminiscent of Willoughby’s in Sense and Sensibility. His flowery
poetry, bouquets of roses and melancholy good looks are exactly what
Anne has dreamed of all her life. But is she willing to break her
cherished friend’s heart in favor of the beau who swept her off her
feet?
Anne’s isn’t the only romance to grace the pages of this
novel. Philippa, so used to being fawned over by scores of gentleman
and torn between two particularly earnest lads back home, finds herself
falling hard for the unlikeliest of candidates, and Anne lands herself
in the home of a middle-aged woman whose courtship has been 25 years
running. Diana, Anne’s childhood bosom friend, marries pudgy Fred after a
long engagement. Even Davy, the young twin in Marilla’s keeping,
announces intentions to marry a classmate. Romance is everywhere, and
Anne can’t seem to escape it.
Gilbert haunts the pages of this novel as he did in Anne of Green Gables.
Anne constantly finds herself thinking about him in spite of her
determination not to. His presence is never forgotten as it occasionally
was in Anne of Avonlea, where he occupied that pleasant role of
friend with none of the complications of the feud that preceded it or
the attempted courtship that followed it. He allows for what is perhaps
the most interesting part of the novel, Anne’s awakening awareness of
what real romance is all about.
If Gilbert’s increased
presence is satisfying, the infrequency of Avonlea’s appearances in the
novel is disappointing – though not unexpected. When Anne does go back,
she is met with changes. During the first summer back, her old friend
Ruby Gillis appears pale and sickly and Anne must eventually reconcile
herself to the fact that Ruby is dying. As Ruby herself finally comes to
grips with this notion, Anne strives to comfort her with some of the
most theological passages in the series thus far. Though it is a happier
occasion, Diana’s wedding is a source of great sadness for Anne as it
signals a chapter of childhood that has closed behind her. There is
still some room for some good old-fashioned mishaps, most notably Anne
winning the prize to a contest she disapproves of after Diana alters and
enters her story. When her school breaks allow it, the trips back to
Avonlea are refreshing for the reader, but they don’t occur often enough
and when they do they are tinged with a feeling of gloomy emptiness.
I was once again struck by how little correlation there was between this book and the film. From what I understand, the movie Anne of Avonlea
draws from the second, third and fourth books, but Redmond College does
not factor into the film at all. The city of Kingsport in which the
college is located is retained, but it serves an entirely different
purpose. The only events that make it into the movie occur in Green
Gables, and some dialogue, such as Mr. Harrison’s criticism to Anne
regarding her writing style and Davy’s announcement that Gilbert is
dying, is transferred to other characters. The end of the book, however,
is the end of the film, so I can only surmise that the bulk of the film
is drawn from Anne of Windy Poplars.
I enjoyed Anne of the Island,
particularly the resolution of the long-lingering question of what
would happen between Anne and Gilbert. But as cozy as Patty’s place was,
I missed Green Gables, and I didn’t find any new characters in Redmond
that were nearly as interesting as those left behind in Avonlea. I
especially missed Marilla and Mrs. Lynde, not to mention the landscape
that is like a character (or several) in itself. I have a hunch that the
further Anne moves into adulthood, the less enthralling I will find her
adventures. But I still give this book five stars, if only because of
Gilbert.
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