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• Anne of Green Gables (1908) •
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"To the Memory of my Mother and Father."
(Clara Woolner MacNeill and Hugh John Montgomery)
Summary:
When Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert decide to adopt an orphan to help Matthew on the farm and in the
house with chores, they want a boy. However, much to their surprise, Anne Shirley, a
skinny girl with stubborn red hair, a fiery temper, and an enormous
imagination, shows up! Anne, who had never had a real home
or had been loved in her eleven years of life, is fascinated by the beauty of Avonlea
and the lovely Green Gables. She has many hopes of growing up in
the quaint little town and finally belonging to people who would love and care for her. However,
her dreams are instantly shattered when Marilla Cuthbert tells
her they had not expected a girl.
Marilla insists Anne is sent back to the asylum and that a boy comes
instead or give her to Mr.s, who needs a girl to help with the chores
and babies. No matter how Anne tries to enjoy what may be her first and last stay
at Green Gables, she cries herself to sleep and hopes for the best.
Luckily, her uncanny yet undeniable charm wins over her foster parents. From that day forward, her life entirely changes. She forms a strong bond with Diana Barry, a raven-haired girl who sails along with Anne's sudden ideas, and a rival, the noteworthy Gilbert Blythe. Anne always gets into trouble or awkward situations, but she always manages to pull through in the most amazing ways. She immediately catches the attention of other people for she is different from other girls and an inspiration for all. Towards the end of this book, Anne emerges as a brilliant and refined young woman in her next stage of life. This novel is the first book of the series, and although it is set in the late 19th century, it never fails to provoke interest in all ages of readers. The characters are each well described and anyone can relate to them easily. L.M. Montgomery also makes references to the beautiful sceneries in P.E.I., Canada. This book guarantees to make its readers excited, tearful, or a mixture of emotions!
Notable Quotes:
"I suppose you are Mr. Matthew Cuthbert of Green Gables?" she said in a peculiarly clear, sweet voice. "I'm very glad to see you. I was beginning to be afraid you weren't coming for me and I was imagining all the things that might have happened to prevent you. I had made up my mind that if you didn't come for me tonight I'd go down the track to that big wild cherry tree at the bend, and climb up into it to stay all night. I wouldn't be a bit afraid, and it would be lovely to sleep in a wild cherry tree all white with bloom in the moonshine, don't you think? You could imagine you were dwelling in marble halls, couldn't you? And I was quite sure you would come for me in the morning, if you didn't tonight." (Chapter 2)
"Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it's such an interesting world. It wouldn't be half so interesting if we know all about everything, would it? There'd be no scope for imagination then, would there?" (Chapter 2)
"It's so easy to be wicked without knowing it, isn't it?" (Chapter 2)
"It's all very well to read about sorrows and imagine yourself living through them heroically, but it's not so nice when you really come to have them, is it? " (Chapter 4)
"You'd find it easier to be bad than good if you had red hair," said Anne reproachfully. "People who haven't red hair don't know what trouble is." (Chapter 7)
"The night was clear and frosty, all ebony of shadow and silver of snowy slope; big stars were shining over the silent fields; here and there the dark pointed firs stood up with snow powdering their branches and the wind whistling through them. " (Chapter 18)
"The goblins of her fancy lurked in every shadow about her, reaching out their cold, fleshless hands to grasp the terrified small girl who had called them into being. " (Chapter 20)
"There's such a lot of different Annes in me. I sometimes think that is why I'm such a troublesome person. If I was just the one Anne it would be ever so much more comfortable, but then it wouldn't be half so interesting." (Chapter 20)
"Mrs. Lynde says that sound doctrine in the man and good housekeeping in the woman make an ideal combination for a minister's family." (Chapter 21)
"Look at that sea, girls--all silver and shadow and vision of things not seen. We couldn't enjoy its loveliness any more if we had millions of dollars and ropes of diamonds. " (Chapter 33)
"I'm not a bit changed--not really. I'm only just pruned down and branched out. The real ME--back here--is just the same." (Chapter 34)
"Next to trying and winning, the best thing is trying and failing" (Chapter 35)
"Anne always remembered the silvery, peaceful beauty and fragrant calm of that night. It was the last night before sorrow touched her life; and no life is ever quite the same again when once that cold, sanctifying touch has been laid upon it." (Chapter 36)
"For we pay a price for everything we get or take in this world; and although ambitions are well worth having, they are not to be cheaply won, but exact their dues of work and self-denial, anxiety and discouragement." (Chapter 36)
"When I left Queen's my future seemed to stretch out before me like a straight road. I thought I could see along it for many a milestone. Now there is a bend in it. I don't know what lies around the bend, but I'm going to believe that the best does. It has a fascination of its own, that bend, Marilla." (Chapter 38)
Trivia:
Anne's bosom friend's name was Laura and then Gertrude before it was Diana.
Bibliography: Author's last name, first name (Unavailable). "Anne of Green Gables Quotes." Litquotes. 2005. Perry Internet Consulting. December 25, 2005. <http://www.litquotes.com/quote_title_resp.php?TName=Anne%20of%20Green%20Gables>.