Anne of the Island (L.M. Montgomery)

Anne of the Island is the third of six books in L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series. Originally published in 1915, this book, like all of the Anne books, remains timeless. Sourcebooks Fire published this particular edition, and Jacqui Oakley designed the cover. 

This novel takes Anne outside of P.E.I to Redmond College in Kingsport, Nova Scotia. At the start of the novel she is 18 and by the end she 20. We find her a lot more grown-up and less whimsical. She deals with the death of a friend, the marriage of another, and her own uncertain feelings for Gilbert Blythe. Not to give anything away (we all know that they end up together anyway), but this is the book where Anne finally realizes her love for Gilbert. 

Anne of the Island, like all the Anne books, is considered young adult. It took me a little over two hours to read all 268 pages of the book. I have to say, it was just as good as the first time I read it. 

A Little Christmas Present for Myself: Anne of Green Gables (Books 1-6)

I bought myself a little early Christmas present this week. These are the Anne of Green Gables books published by Sourcebooks Fire, an American publishing company. I fell in love with the covers when I saw them and thought they were well worth the $9-$10 I paid for each of them.

A Tangled Web (L.M.Montgomery)

Many readers know L.M. Montgomery for her classic Anne of Green Gables series, or perhaps her renowned Emily of New Moon novels, but over the course of her life, Montgomery published a total of twenty books, the majority of them set on Prince Edward Island.

As I have long known, Christmas is a wonderful time to revisit old classics and discover new ones (as I did today). A Tangled Web, although one of Montgomery's lesser known novels, is perhaps one of her most underrated. I fondly remember reading about Anne and Emily in my childhood, but I never heard a thing about the Dark and the Penhallow families, or the ailing Aunt Becky with her antique, sought-after vase until this morning when I opened the pages of A Tangled Web. 

Set in a small P.E.I town where most residents hold either the Dark or the Penhallow last name, this novel is a comedic--and sometimes hilarious--look at the lives of some of the town's most colourful characters, including two widows, a young woman just engaged, a couple who separated on their wedding night ten years before, and a wandering man who loves and speaks to the moon.

This novel is more than an entertaining series of sketches, however. Montgomery introduces the idea of love at first sight early on. Characters fall in love so quickly that the reader is left reeling and asking herself, can this be real? Surely these men and women have been badly disillusioned. The outcome of the many romances says more about love at first sight than any essay, or internet forum ever could. Like many of Montgomery's novel's A Tangled Web presents readers with a lesson about life and love. It is an indispensable read for any fan of L.M. Montgomery or fan of early and mid-century Canadian Literature.