Anne's House of Dreams - LM Montgomery

⭐ 9.0/10

(Originally written by Joseph)

Oh we are so back baby!! I spent all of Fall bouncing off all sorts of books and could never really settle into anything. Then I picked this book up and within 10 minutes knew I should have never left.

Some minor spoilers ahead for the Anneverse.

So this one picks up with Anne and Gilbert getting married, and I thought the opening was very odd because these books are so often about love and marriage, and yet the wedding of our main character takes up about half a page of text and we are off to what's next. I always find it odd what Montgomery decides to spend time on and what she glosses over. But she's the Queen so I won't question it!

But Anne and Gilbert are moving across the island, and there's new zany and ridiculous people to meet. This time the main source of comedy is the man-hater Cornelia who is just so delightful to read. But there's a big group of people, all who know Joseph quite well (hey that's me!), and Anne is up to her deeds of making friends with everyone and changing lives.

So this book introduces a conflict that you think there is finally no way out of, or at least you think that this is going to be a book that introduces new ideas and emotions. It touches on it a tad, but I think this book is the most guilty of manufacturing a happy ending when really what I wanted was for Anne and others to make some tough choices. I know these are kids books for 1920s little girls, but Montgomery should have thought about me when writing!

One other tiny negative I'll mention is that this book, like others, just completely wipes out previous characters and arcs. If you wanted to know how Marilla is doing, you won't find out anything here. Once Anne moves, there is no mention of previous characters, especially in these last 3 books. I suppose that kinda reflects the times, but I want Marilla and Rachel and Diana and Davy! But I suppose Captain Jim is a worthy replacement...

Aside from all of that, this book is just like the others. Funny, light, enjoyable, optimistic, and beautifully written. It's a bit more linear in general which I enjoy, but it's still just a book about silly old Anne and the weird people she befriends.