Anne of Ingleside has always been my least favorite of the Anne books, and I was never sure why. Now that I've done a little research, I know that it was written long after Montgomery thought she was done with the series — 1939, to be exact — and during a period of personal distress in Montgomery's life. This book is by far the weakest in the series, though still quite an enjoyable read.

Anne's children are quite young in this story; little Rilla, the youngest, appears at age six in one of the last stories. Anne starts to fade out of the series at this point; Anne's House of Dreams is really the last one that really focuses on her, and even then other characters like Leslie Ford and Miss Cornelia are coming to the forefront. Perhaps I rebelled against this inevitable shift in the series and that was my initial, uninformed reason for not caring for it as much as the others. But since then I've noticed other weaknesses as well.

Several of the episodes in the lives of Anne's children are a bit borrowed. The frantic search for Jem reminded me of Marilla's and Anne's search for Dora in Anne of Avonlea. There are three separate stories involving the twins Nan and Di being deceived by a young friend; after the second it became predictable. I never really warmed to Nan; she and Di always stayed in the background. And most of the other stories just weren't that interesting somehow.

Montgomery does do a good job with the advent of Aunt Mary Maria and the misery she causes at Ingleside during her extended stay there. Rebecca Dew has a cameo appearance and the chapter with Rebecca and Susan discussing the ills of the situation is delightful. I also enjoyed the chapter describing the Ladies' Aid meeting at Ingleside and their love of gossip. Somehow the women's unique personalities all come out clearly even when they only get a few sentences of dialogue and one or two narrative lines. Montgomery is such a master at the casual, concise character sketch.

And I will always, always love the concluding chapter in which Anne feels that after fifteen years of marriage Gilbert doesn't care for her anymore, that this is what all marriages come to in the end. Anne is even jealous of the insufferable Christine Stuart! Montgomery really gets into Anne's head and it's a brilliant little look at some common issues of married life: lack of communication, apathy, jealousy, insecurity, and just plain tiredness. The cares of a large family will inevitably wear a couple down. The important thing is that they realize it and take steps to protect their marriage. I do find the end of this book very satisfying, whatever weaknesses are in the rest of it.

Anne fans shouldn't miss this installment in the Blythe family history, and it certainly is amusing and humorous in parts. But it isn't the highlight of the series by any means. ( )

Not my favorite of the series. It's not really about Anne, except for the last ten pages which are like the rest of the series. Most of it is about her kids getting into scrapes. They're cute, but whatever.

The focus of the series begins to shift from Anne, all grown up, married, in a beautiful home surrounded by her children; instead, her children begin to take center stage. It was sweet, and fun, and very dear, but at times hard to read because of the hints and omens of the future, a future I remembered all too well from other times reading the series: the death of a favorite character in the still-far-off Great War. Ingleside still lingers with Anne, and there were glimpses of Diana and the twins and the college friends, all the folk who had become beloved through the series – but not enough. Not my favorite among the Anne books, this, but still solid, stolid, and lovely. ( )

In the sixth book of the series, Anne and Gilbert now have six active children who mostly (except for Shirley) get their own episode. It is interesting to see the similarities between their imaginations and their mother's, but also to see the differences. Given her pre-Green Gables life that we know of, Anne seems to have been much more world-wise than her children, so some of their adventures come of being too trusting (both Nan and Di have this problem) or just having a skewed view of the world (Rilla).

It's especially gratifying to see that Anne tries to take each of their silly episodes seriously, never betraying to them when she wants to laugh long and loud. She shows respect for her children and treats them as she would want to be treated at their age. Hence, Anne is their confidante, and they often bring their trials to her. So there is a lot of Anne's children, but still a lot of Anne too. ( )

I was surprised to find how many years had past between this book and the House of Dreams. Anne and Gilbert now have several children, and this book often features their adventures rather than Anne's, in a way which harks back to the first book. But perhaps the author likes writing about children when writing for children. I found the last chapters mildly irritating, as they introduced a problem which really seemed so out of character. Again I wouldn't recommend this book alone, and I think I'm glad that this is last I own, as I'm rather overwhelmed with too much of a good thing at the moment. ( )