A few weeks ago, I found a copy of Anne of Green Gables to give to my niece. I had been looking for a copy for a few months for her, so it was great to get my hands on a copy. This book (and the following book in the series, hold a special place in my heart. I still to this day cannot re-read Rilla of Ingleside without crying. And I mean ugly crying) I have Anne (with an E!) as part of my name. Before I was born, my parents made a deal: if I were a boy, Mummy would name me, and if I were a girl, my father would. If Mummy had’ve had her way, I would have been an Elizabeth, or Jane, or something Austen-esque, but alas, my father called me something less ordinary for a first name. My middle name, and that of my sister also, is Anne with an E. If you ask him the name comes from his Mother. I have a sneaking suspicion that Mummy may have had a little bit of a helping hand with this and it came from a little red-headed orphan that we have all come to know and love, but what do I know. I do, however, feel as if I should probably be grateful that the name Cordelia was involved.
I hadn’t read my copy of Anne in years, so before handing the most fantastic present ever over, I sat and re-read it. I was getting sick and emotional because I started blubbering from a few pages in. Nothing much had happened yet, and I believe Mummy always says to start on page two, but I knew it was going to. Next thing you know I turned the page and started giggling. I think my husband had begun to think I had lost my mind. But, for me, when reading Anne of Green Gables, the journey is the destination.
Written in 1908 Anne of Green Gables is the first in the series of books about Anne Shirley’s childhood. The rest of the series goes on to tell the story of her adult life and her children. You, as the reader, are drawn into her world in Avonlea and Green Gables (and later the other places that Anne lives), and once you are in, I’m afraid there is no escaping.
In Anne of Green Gables Anne is an orphan of eleven when she is mistakenly sent to Green Gables to live with Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert. Matthew and Marilla are a brother and sister, who I believe would be in their sixty’s. Matthew and Marilla had initially asked for a boy child to adopt, to have some assistance on their farm. I don’t believe that in today’s society that this would be a good enough reason to adopt a child, but what do I know? After much soul searching, they eventually decided to keep Anne. Anne develops an instant closeness with Matthew, and I love reading the parts with the two of them together. Anne is plucky, talkative, imaginative and lovable, and I have no idea how she manages to get herself into so many scrapes. But as Anne says ‘Tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet’. I love reading as Anne entwines herself with the town, makes ‘bosom’ friends with Dianna Barry, and an antagonistic relationship with Gilbert Blythe.
I wish I could get up to Prince Edward Island when I next go to Canada, but it’s horrifically expensive to get there, and I am the only one who is truely interested. But I know I will get there one day, to see the Lake of Shining Waters, Lovers Lane, and the White Way of Delight, as well as Green Gables. After all, I am the one with Anne, spelt with an E, as part of my name. It is also a series that I have on both my Kindle and on my Bookshelf. I can’t wait for my niece to read this. Honestly, I think that all young girls should. It’s such a positive book in today’s world! I’m going to keep reading the rest of the series over the next few weeks, and I can highly recommend that anyone who hasn’t yet read it should. I’ll be keeping my eye out for the rest of the series for my niece, as well as Seven Little Australians and the Enid Blyton books, which I also love.
Books, Boots and Bakeries 