Review: Anne of Avonlea (novel)

I had no idea what to review today. Even when I sat down to start writing this one I didn't know what it would be about. At last I decided to review this book.

Anne of Avonlea is a 1909 novel by L. M. Montgomery, the first of many sequels to Anne of Green Gables. (Incidentally, it was also the first Anne novel I ever read.) It's been adapted into a 1975 miniseries and a 1987 film.

The story picks up shortly after the first book ended. Anne Shirley has just become the teacher at Avonlea school. We follow her lessons, her struggles with some pupils and parents, her friendships, and the inevitable scrapes she gets into. Along the way we renew our acquaintance with many of Avonlea's residents and meet some newcomers. There's just one problem: the writing often falls into the trap of gooey sentimentality that Anne of Green Gables avoided.

L. M. Montgomery only wrote this book because readers demanded more about Anne. Unfortunately it shows. Some of the characters, including Anne herself, aren't quite as memorable as they were in the first book. Gilbert hardly appears at all, which has the unfortunate side-effect of making Anne's developing love for him come almost out of nowhere. (Anne of the Island, the third book in the series, shows their romance much better.) The newcomers range from the distinctive and comical, like Mr. and Mrs. Harrison, to the flat and underdeveloped, like Miss Lavender and Paul Irving.

All I can remember about Miss Lavender is she's a kindred spirit who calls all her maids Charlotta. Paul is basically a male version of eleven-year-old Anne, but not nearly as interesting. The subplot involving Miss Lavender marrying Paul's father is sweet but doesn't stick in my mind as much as some other romantic subplots L. M. Montgomery wrote.

Much of the book is more like a series of connected short stories than a novel. There's Anne and her friends' attempts to improve Avonlea, and Anne teaching the students, and Marilla's struggles with the twins, but all of these feel like plots on their own instead of all part of the same story. At least all these subplots have enough entertaining moments to keep the reader interested. The incident of the cow in Mr. Harrison's field and Anne's trouble with the henhouse roof are the scenes that stick in my mind the most 😄

Anne of Avonlea isn't quite as good as Anne of Green Gables. It would probably be possible to skip this book entirely without missing much. But it has its good points in spite of its flaws, and I enjoy it enough to reread it on occasion.

Is it available online?: Yes, on Gutenberg.

Rating: 6/10.