Another good installment for the Anne of Green Gables series, although for me none of them can match up to the first book. Anne is finally grown up, and we see her going to Redmond College and making new friends, as she is so good at doing. And what a wonderful ending! ( )

A marvellous, romantic read. Just lovely. ( )

Anne of the Island picks up the story with Anne, Gilbert, and Charlie going off to Redmond College. Mrs. Lynde, now a widow, has moved in with Marilla at Green Gables, thus enabling Anne to go off to school. So Anne joins the ranks of the coeds and has her college years enriched by new friendships and academic challenges.

The romantic tension picks up in this story, with Gilbert declaring himself and meeting with a firm rebuff. Anne is certain that he doesn't fit her ideal, though she values him greatly as a friend. When a tall, dark, melancholy man does come along, Anne is swept off her feet and only realizes at the last moment how flat life would be with a humorless hero. Anne is a believable character; she makes mistakes in her relationships and suffers the humiliations and jealousies that most people experience at some point in their lives.

I have always enjoyed this installment because Anne is an adult, but very much still herself. Her adventures at Redmond are always less important than the characters and their interactions. I get the impression that Redmond and really all the external circumstances of Anne's history are frames for the character sketches and funny episodes at which Montgomery excels. I love the descriptions of Anne's girlfriends in college; Philippa Gordon has to be one of the funniest, most lovable side characters in fiction. Aunt Jamesina isn't bad either, though I've always felt we didn't get to see enough of her.

I found it interesting that Montgomery makes an effort in several places to defend humor. At one point she has Anne quote one of their professors, who says that humor is the best condiment for the feast life spreads for us. Montgomery's body of work testifies to this truth and I'm thankful to partake of her contribution to the feast.

This is a very satisfying read and another of my favorites in the series. Long live Anne! ( )

my favorite one of the series-- loved the ending!!! ( )

This was a reread of a book I last read as a young teen. I had remembered it, along with Anne of Windy Poplars, as a fairly boring read in the midst of a good series. Part of it was probably my age, as this book is all about Anne's time in Redmond with college friends, studying for her B.A. and declining several proposals for marriage. The story was a faster read than I remembered, though it still has its flaws, in my opinion, particularly in the tendency to introduce random characters and only keep them around for only a chapter or two. Plus some of the dialog at the end just struck me as a little bit cheesy (but I was tired and possibly more critical as a result). But it is still an old favorite, and I'll probably revisit it again someday. ( )