Anne of Windy Poplars

Anne of Windy Poplars by L.M. Montgomery
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love the Anne of Green Gables series so much, that I feel terrible knocking a star off this review. So let's get the negative out of the way first, and then I'll perform the gushing this book truly deserves.

The negative = the pacing. This book is a little bit different from the three previous Anne books in that most of it consists of Anne's letters to Gilbert. In that vein, the pacing is mostly composed of short stories about Anne's adventures in Summerside, the town in which she is serving as a high school principal for three years while her fiance becomes a doctor. It's not that I didn't enjoy each of the vignettes about the characters Anne meets (and usually reforms), but overall it made the book feel a bit more choppy and slow then the previous books. Thus, only four stars instead of five.

The positive = just about everything else. Lucy Maud Montgomery has a talent for making happy endings compelling to me. She also has a talent for making me cry happy tears when beloved characters get their dearest wishes even when such endings are completely cliche and fairly unbelievable. What else can I say? Following Anne Shirley on her journey always makes me happy, always makes me want to write and read poetry, always makes sunsets more crimson and stars more twinkly bright. I find writing an objective critique of the story or writing style as impossible as it would be for me to hate a kitten. One just can't.

All of that being said, I did love the first three Anne books more than Windy Poplars. Mostly because I find them more re-readable. But I'm sure the antics of Dusty Miller (That Cat!), Rebecca Dew, Minerva Tomgallon, Katherine Brook, and all the rest will stick with me for a long time...

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