Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery, Fiction, Classics, Family, Girls & Women

by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Overview

Though Anne of Green Gables is written for all ages, it has been considered a children's novel since the mid-twentieth century.

"Matthew Cuthbert, who's that?" she ejaculated. "Where is the boy?" Matthew had been to the train station to fetch the child they were to adopt, a boy. Marilla had insisted on a boy. "There wasn't any boy," said Matthew wretchedly. "There was only her." He nodded at the girl. He didn't know her name. He was embarrassed to realize that he had never even asked her name. "No boy! But there must have been a boy," insisted Marilla. "We sent word to Mrs. Spencer to bring a boy." "Well, she didn't. She brought her. I asked the station-master. And I had to bring her home. She couldn't be left there, no matter where the mistake had come in." "Well, this is a pretty piece of business!" ejaculated Marilla. During this dialogue the child had remained silent, her eyes roving from one to the other, all the animation fading out of her face. Suddenly she seemed to grasp the full meaning of what had been said. Dropping her precious carpet-bag she sprang forward a step and clasped her hands. "You don't want me!" she cried. "You don't want me because I'm not a boy! I might have expected it. Nobody ever did want me. I might have known it was all too beautiful to last. I might have known nobody really did want me. Oh, what shall I do? I'm going to burst into tears!" And burst into tears the little girl did. . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781463898496
Publisher:	Aegypan
Publication date:	07/01/2011
Pages:	242
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.69(d)
Age Range:	Up to 12 Years

About the Author

L.M. Montgomery (1874 - 1942), was the pen name of Lucy Maud Montgomery, a Canadian author best known for a series of novels beginning in 1908 with Anne of Green Gables. The book was an immediate success. The central character, Anne Shirley, an orphaned girl, made Montgomery famous in her lifetime and gave her an international following. The first novel was followed by a series of sequels with Anne as the central character. Montgomery went on to publish 20 novels as well as 530 short stories, 500 poems and 30 essays. Most of the novels were set in Prince Edward Island and locations within Canada's smallest province became a literary landmark and popular tourist site-namely Green Gables farm, the genesis of Prince Edward Island National Park. She was made an officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1935.

Read an Excerpt

Mrs. Rachel Lynde lived just where the Avonlea main road dipped down into a little hollow, fringed with alders and ladies' eardrops and traversed by a brook that had its source away back in the woods of the old Cuthbert place; it was reputed to be an intricate, headlong brook in its earlier course through those woods, with dark secrets of pool and cascade; but by the time it reached Lynde's Hollow it was a quiet, well-conducted little stream, for not even a brook could run past Mrs. Rachel Lynde's door without due regard for decency and decorum; it probably was conscious that Mrs. Rachel was sitting at her window, keeping a sharp eye on everything that passed, from brooks and children up, and that if she noticed anything odd or out of place she would never rest until she had ferreted out the whys and wherefores thereof.

There are plenty of people, in Avonlea and out of it, who can attend closely to their neighbors business by dint of neglecting their own; but Mrs. Rachel Lynde was one of those capable creatures who can manage their own concerns and those of other folks into the bargain. She was a notable housewife; her work was always done and well done; she "ran" the Sewing Circle, helped run the Sunday-school, and was the strongest prop of the, Church Aid Society and Foreign Missions Auxiliary. Yet with all this Mrs. Rachel found abundant time to sit for hours at her kitchen window, knitting "cotton warp" quilts--she had, knitted sixteen of them, as Avonlea housekeepers were wont to tell in awed voices-and keeping a sharp eye on the main road that crossed the hollow and wound up the steep red hill beyond. Since Avonlea occupied a little triangularpeninsula jutting out into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, with water on two sides of it, anybody who went out of it or into it had to pass over that hill road and so run the unseen gauntlet of Mrs. Rachel's all-seeing eye.

She was sitting there one afternoon in early June. The sun was coming in at the window warm and bright; the orchard on the slope below the house was in a bridal flush of pinky-white bloom, hummed over by a myriad of bees. Thomas Lynde-a meek little man whom Avonlea people called "Rachel Lynde's husband"-was sowing his late turnip seed on the hill field beyond the barn; and Matthew Cuthbert ought to have been sowing his on the big red brook field away over by Green Gables. Mrs. Rachel knew that he ought because she had heard him tell Peter Morrison the evening before in William J. Blaire's store over at Carmody that he meant to sow his turnip seed the next afternoon. Peter had asked him, of course, for Matthew Cuthbert had never been known to volunteer information about anything in his whole life.

And yet here was Matthew Cuthbert, at half-past three on the afternoon of a busy day, placidly driving over the hollow and up the hill; moreover, he wore a white collar and his best suit of clothes, which was plain proof that he was going out of Avonlea; and he had the buggy and the sorrel mare, which betokened that he was going a considerable distance. Now, where was Matthew Cuthbert going and why was he going there?

Had it been any other man in Avonlea Mrs. Rachel, deftly putting this and that together, might have given a pretty good guess as to both questions. But Matthew so rarely went from home that it must be something pressing and unusual which was taking him; he was the shyest man alive and hated to have to go among strangers or to any place where he might have to talk. Matthew, dressed up with a white collar and driving in a buggy, was something that didn't happen often. Mrs. Rachel, ponder as she might, could make nothing of it and her afternoo's enjoyment was spoiled.

"I'll just step over to Green Gables after tea and find out from Marilla where he's gone and why," the worthy woman finally concluded. "He doesn't generally go to town this time of year and he new visits; if he'd run out of turnip seed he wouldn't dress up and take the buggy to go for more; he wasn't driving fast enough to be going for the doctor. Yet something must have happened since List night to start him off. I'm clean puzzled, that's what, and I won't know a minute's peace of mind or conscience until I know what has taken Matthew Cuthbert out of Avonlea today-"

Accordingly after tea Mrs. Rachel set out; she had not far to go; the big, rambling orchard-embowered house where the Cuthberts lived was a scant quarter of a mile up the road from Lynde's Hollow. To be sure, the long lane made it a good deal further. Matthew Cuthberfs father, as shy and silent as his son after him, had got as far away as he possibly could from his fellow men without actually retreating into the woods when he founded his homestead. Green Gables was built at the furthest edge of his cleared land and there it was to this day, barely visible from the main road along which all the other Avonlea houses were so sociably situated. Mrs. Rachel Lynde did not call living in such a place living at all.

1. It's just staying, that's what," she said as she stepped along the deep-rutted, grassy lane bordered with wild rose bushes. "Ifs no wonder Matthew and Marilia are both a little odd, living away back here by themselves. Trees aren't much company, though dear knows if they were there'd be enough of them. I'd ruther look at people. To be sure, they seem contented enough; but then, I suppose, they're used to it. A body can get used to anything even to being hanged, as the Irishman said."


From the Paperback edition.

Table of Contents

	Foreword	xi
	Mrs. Rachel Lynde Is Surprised	1
	Matthew Cuthbert Is Surprised	13
	Marilla Cuthbert Is Surprised	33
	Morning at Green Gables	43
	Anne's History	53
	Marilla Makes Up Her Mind	62
	Anne Says Her Prayers	71
	Anne's Bringing-up Is Begun	77
	Mrs. Rachel Lynde Is Properly Horrified	90
	Anne's Apology	101
	Anne's Impressions of Sunday School	112
	A Solemn Vow and Promise	120
	The Delights of Anticipation	129
	Anne's Confession	137
	A Tempest in the School Teapot	150
	Diana Is Invited to Tea with Tragic Results	173
	A New Interest in Life	190
	Anne to the Rescue	200
	A Concert, a Catastrophe, and a Confession	214
	A Good Imagination Gone Wrong	232
	A New Departure in Flavorings	242
	Anne Is Invited Out to Tea	258
	Anne Comes to Grief in an Affair of Honor	264
	Miss Stacey and Her Pupils Get Up a Concert	274
	Matthew Insists on Puffed Sleeves	281
	The Story Club Is Formed	296
	Vanity and Vexation of Spirit	307
	An Unfortunate Lily Maid	318
	An Epoch in Anne's Life	330
	The Queen's Class Is Organized	343
	Where the Brook and River Meet	360
	The Pass List Is Out	370
	The Hotel Concert	383
	A Queen's Girl	397
	The Winter at Queen's	408
	The Glory and the Dream	415
	The Reaper Whose Name Is Death	424
	The Bend in the Road	434

Editorial Reviews

When mischievous orphan Anne Shirley arrives at the Cuthbert farm Green Gables, she knows she wants to stay forever. But the Cuthbert's were expecting a boy orphan -- someone strong enough to help with their farmwork. Can spunky Anne win their hearts? This beautiful picture book adaptation of L. M. Montgomery's classic novel will delight the author's many fans -- and captivate a new audience of younger readers.

barnesandnoble.com

This simplified picture-book retelling of how the 11-year-old orphan comes to Prince Edward Island is adapted from L.M. Montgomery's classic. Ages 5-8. (Apr.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Montgomery is the latest author to join Running Press's ongoing "Courage Classics'' series of budget hardcover reprints of classic works. Along with the full text, this edition includes excerpts from the author's journal. Also new in the line is Short Stories and Tall Tales by Mark Twain ( ISBN 1-56138-323-6 ), which offers pieces gleaned from Running Press's The Unabridged Mark Twain . At this bargain price, both titles are excellent choices.

Library Journal

Gr 5-7-With a full cast and some background music, this radio play version of Lucy Maud Montgomery's classic hits the high points of the original novel. It is quite abbreviated, so each episode in Anne's orphan-girl-made-good story is afforded just enough time to lay out the bones of the plot. However, Anne's spunky and endearing character shines through scene after scene, as does some of the nostalgic charm of Avonlea's Canadian setting and quaint old Green Gables. All the parts are read very well, with a touching intensity that makes up for some of the brevity of plot episodes. A narrator fills in quite smoothly between the scenes for each event. Two nice features for young listeners make this a useful introduction to audio fiction. There is a pleasant chime played at the end of each side, and at the beginning of each side a line or two from the preceding side is repeated, helping to move listeners smoothly through the break in the action. This entertaining version may help lead youngsters to the original novel. School and public libraries seeking to add abridged novels to their collections or to introduce or entice young readers to longer fiction will want to consider this version.-Jane P. Fenn, Corning-Painted Post West High School, NY Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

This keepsake or gift edition provides a beautiful hardcover illustrated by Laura Fernandez and Rick Jacobson and using the complete, unabridged text used in the first 1908 edition of Anne. Any who love the story of the red-headed spunky orphan will consider this a fine keepsake edition.