Anne of Windy Poplars (Anne of Green Gables) by L.M. Montgomery (1984-01-01)

I love the Anne of Green Gables series. This particular book, Windy Poplars, has more description than the other books. It is longer on description and shorter on plot than the other books of the series, but it is well worth reading!

The first Anne of Greene Gables books were wonderful, but this one was hard to get into. So many new characters to get acquainted with and long, long letters to Gilbert. I'm glad I made it through, I enjoyed the ending chapters best.

I ordered this Kindle book separately because it was not included with the "Anne of Green Gables Collection" because of Copyright/Publisher problems. As I stated in the "Collection" review, "Anne of Windy Poplars" along with "Anne of Avonlea" and "Anne of the Island" were the basis of Kevin Sullivan's two-part movie, "Anne of Green Gables, the Sequel," which I enjoyed. This book was written out of order, in 1936 (all the other books, except "Anne of Ingleside" (1939), were published between 1908 and 1921. In the series, this book comes before Anne's marriage in "Anne's House of Dreams." I agree with Andrea Turner's review, "Interesting but a bit out of place," questioning if it was ghostwritten. To be honest, there was something about this book that set my teeth on edge--maybe I just didn't like Gilbert Blythe being out of the picture :). I'm not sure why. I may have just been tired of reading a series of ten books, especially since, as an adult, with only two exceptions "Anne of Green Gables" and "Rilla of Ingleside," I found the others only okay, average, so-so. I have noticed that instead of a few characters with depth, Mrs. Montgomery has many characters without a lot of depth. It seemed that both Mrs. Montgomery and I had difficulty keeping straight all the characters. I think this was a book that Mrs. Montgomery did not want to write, but was "encouraged" to by her publisher and the public, wanting more of Anne. I get the feeling that the Publisher said they wanted more characterization and less flora. And Mrs. Montgomery's response was to add more characters, and some but not much more characterization.

This is the story of Anne teaching in Windy Poplars a little coastal village. Anne rents a room with three older ladies and they all become good friends. Her teaching duties at the Summertide school are difficult in the beginning due to a family named Pringles, who pretty much run the town. It is interesting how Anne eventually wins them over along with the rest of the town. Anne forms a friendship with a little eight year girl next door and takes her under her wing and has some surprises in the land of tomorrow.
Another good one from Maud Lucy Montgomery.

Title: Anne of Windy Poplars by
Author: L.M. Montgomery
Read by: Tara Ward
Publisher: Dreamscape Media, LLC
Length: Approximately 9 hours and 7 minutes
Source: From the Kewaunee Public Library through the Overdrive System

While Gilbert is finishing medical school for three years, Anne is the principal of Summerside High School in the town of Summerside. She resides with Aunt Kate, Aunt Chatty, and Rebecca Dew in a rented room at Windy Poplars. Anne has a troublesome time taking over the reins as principal, but as she is Anne Shirley, she preservers.

This book is different than the first three in the series as it is made of up letters that Anne has written to Gilbert about her experiences. It’s also interesting as Anne of Windy Poplars is the fourth book chronologically by Anne’s age, but it was the seventh book written, twenty years after the series was complete. You could tell at times when Anne says things such as good thing Canada is beyond being involved in wars. That was foreshadowing what will happen in the last book of the series, Rilla of Ingleside.

I loved Tara Ward’s narration. She has a wonderfully expressive voice and acted out the parts giving a new voice to each character. It was a very enjoyable listening experience.

LM Montgomery is such a wonderful character writer. I loved the crabby old lady who wouldn’t let her daughter have a day away and the crabby old man that sulked and wouldn’t speak to his family which led to an explosive family dinner that Anne attended. Anne met a lot of new and interesting characters in this book and almost seemed to have a magical way to solve their problems.

This novel does tell Anne’s story of gaining acceptance in Summerside, especially from the Pringle clan and also how she helped out her fellow teacher, the very cranky Katherine Brooke. Anne also spends a lot of time helping a lot of different people around town. The novel seemed more vignettes of their individual stories. I was having a bit of troubles with my audiobook at times and I would miss a minute (the Overdrive audio player wouldn’t pause in the car when someone would call. Aaah!!) and be very confused on where I was as there were all new characters suddenly. I wish the characters would have interacted more so I didn’t learn about them in one section only to never hear about them again for the rest of the book. I am a great fan of LM Montgomery’s short stories so this worked for me thinking of them as short stories.

Dusty Miller is a fabulous name for a cat – it’s the name of the cat that lives at Windy Poplars. I need a new gray cat just so I can name it that. I almost feel like there should be a book called the “Cats of Green Gables” that describes and pictures the different interesting cats that are in the series.

Favorite Quotes:
“Gilbert darling, don't let's ever be afraid of things. It's such dreadful slavery. Let's be daring and adventurous and expectant. Let's dance to meet life and all it can bring to us, even if it brings scads of trouble and typhoid and twins!" (Anne to Gilbert)”
“Isn't it queer that the things we writhe over at night are seldom wicked things? Just humiliating ones.”

“It was really dreadful to be so different from other people…and yet rather wonderful, too, as if you were a being strayed from another star.”
“Nothing worthwhile is every easy come by.”

Overall, Anne of Windy Poplars is an interesting part of the series that fills in the three-year gap with Anne’s doings and interesting stories, but it is not as strong a novel as the previous three books. That being said, even a not as strong LM Montgomery book is still a very enjoyable experience, and I loved listening to this audiobook.

Glad to have this old friend in electronic form. For that, thank you. Followed by, ARE YOU KIDDING? Does NO ONE proofread these things after they are converted? On a single page, "fairies tablecloths" became "felines tablecloths,". Followed by, instead of "tiny ferns," "tiny fems." REALLY? "Tiny fems?" A 10-year old would have found that odd. The total lack of care demonstrated by these two howlers changed my entire opinion from "how nice" to "how disgusting." If you're going to work with a classic, show it the respect it deserves - or leave it alone. Glad I still have my beat-up old hard copy, which I will use in future.

Sweet, enchanting, and a bit random.Told mostly in letters from Anne to her fiancé, Gilbert Blythe, Anne of Windy Poplars bounces around between characters within the town of Summerside, and you never know where the story will go next. Anne takes on a principal job in Summerside, and boards at the home called “Windy Poplars” that is situated on Spook’s Lane. And of course, as soon as Anne hears what the home is called, she wants to live there. I don’t blame her! It sounds deliciously picturesque, and there’s also an old graveyard nearby as well to wander around in. Windy Poplars belongs to the widows, Aunt Kate and Aunt Chatty, and their live-in help, Rebecca Dew. All three of these characters were delightful, and I hope they appear again in future installments of the series! I just had to laugh when they were each using buttermilk on their face and hiding the fact so the others didn’t notice. And there is also a persnickety cat, named Dusty Miller, who was hilarious to read about as well, especially because Rebecca Dew constantly has to clean up after the cat. Too funny! Besides the stories of the widows and Rebecca Dew, there is the neighbor girl Elizabeth Grayson, who has a sad story in that she is constantly looking for “Tomorrow”. Left by her father to be raised by her grandmother, she is sheltered and unloved, and lives in a world of make-believe. There is the Pringle family, who dislikes Anne Shirley, and goes to great lengths to make her leave the school, and also Katherine Brooke, a cranky vice principal that Anne tries to befriend. My favorites were the love story of Nora and Jim, and also Miss Minerva Tomgallon who lives all alone in a big mansion and has many wild tales to tell of her family. My favorite scene was the dinner scene with Cyrus Taylor. I won’t say anything else about that scene, for spoilers, but it was hilarious and laugh-out-loud! Not a whole lot of memorable plot happens in this book, but I was okay with that. I took this book to be more of a ramble through Anne Shirley’s world, and I’m always pleased to get back to a simpler, kinder time, where people have the time to look outside and appreciate nature.
Bottom Line: An enchanting visit to the world of Anne Shirley.

*Anne of Windy Poplars* is the fourth book, chronologically, and the seventh book to be published, in L. M. Montgomery's *Anne Shirley* series. Montgomery, in the case of this book, and *Anne of Ingleside* went back after the series was over, and filled in gaps in the timeline of the books. This is an important distinction to remember, for the foreshadowing that appears in *Poplars*.

Anne has recently accepted Gilbert Blythe's marriage proposal, but must wait for three years before the two of them can be married, as Gilbert is studying to be a doctor for this time. Instead of living in Green Gables, Anne lives in close-by Summerside, where she accepts a three-year term as the principal of the local high school. Adventures ensue. Obviously. ;)

This book was quite a unique experience for me. I found myself enjoying the adult that Anne has become, but feeling a poignant sense of loss, as she sheds some more of her childlike nature. *She* is the adult, the authority figure, and must act accordingly. Because of this, the fun adventures she gets in are few and far between. Oh, she still does get into them, and they are absolute doozies! Not to mention hilarious. Yet they are more rare. This Anne is very different than the Anne of the first book, and even then the Anne of the third book. She has learned some of the hard lessons of the third book, and is better for it, but not cynical, I hope.

I think that this is why Montgomery chose to write the novel the way that she did. The novel alternates at random intervals between the third-person omniscient narrative, and an epistolary novel told by Anne in her letters to her beloved Gilbert. By reading the letters, we can see that even when Anne is the mature, collected, responsible principal, she is still the Anne that we all know and love. In a way, Anne confides her "real" self to us as she does to Gilbert. These letters made the story more cheerful, and gave me a closer look into the inner workings of Anne's mind.

*Poplars* is not without some melancholy sentiments. For all of the good that she does to and for those around her, changing lives for the better in beautiful, heartwarming ways, there is darkness ahead. It lies just around the corner, like some foreboding phenomena from an Edgar Allen Poe novel. In fact, I felt sad enough to shed a tear or two when I read Anne's thoughts on war, and how she is relieved that it will *never* again come to Canada. Those who have read the entire series, or reviews of the series, know what I read in reviews, that war does come to Canada. Like dark spectre, it stretches out and hurts Anne and Gilbert in a terrible way in their future.

This book is almost the final step in the process of Anne growing up and maturing into a young woman. She will embark on many tragedies and triumphs. She *will* emerge triumphant, and the future beckons to her. Both good and ill await.

Despite the sadness in the book, I extremely enjoyed this necessary chronicle in the life of Anne Shirley. I prefer books that have some value for imparting truths to the reader, and this one certainly does that. We are all like Anne in a way. We all must grow up at some point. The future is uncertain and intimidating, but we must take that first step into it. Anne Shirley does this cheerfully, and with faith in God and the affection of her loved ones. May we do the same. This book was my second-favorite after *Green Gables*, and I highly recommend this fun, engaging, and poignant portrait of a remarkable young lady taking the last steps into womanhood.

My memory of Anne of Windy Poplars is.. non-existent. It's been so long since I've read the books and I see the PBS movies (which are wonderful in their own right) once or twice throughout the year, so it's easy to forget that Anne of Avonlea (the movie edition) is a mix-match of several books in the series.

In Anne of Windy Poplars the dreaded Pringles make their appearance. And it's oh so much more than the movie shows. They are so dreadful, each and every one of them, but everything else is an absolute delight. Windy Poplars, Rebecca Dew, Little Elizabeth and most of all - a character we rarely get to see in the book, Gilbert Blythe.

Wait, how can Gilbert be so wonderful? He's hardly in the book! I'll tell you why - because this book shows the reader just how beautiful love letters can be.

A good portion of Anne of Windy Poplars is composed of Anne's letters to "her dearest of dears" and they are so tender and sweet and filled with so much news and juicy tidbits and sweetness (with just the right amount of "pages omitted") that it set the romantic in me a-fluttering. Anne is learning how to be in love, something we see all too rarely in girls literature today. She has to be patient, to wait to make a life with the one her heart has chosen, but she does it so sweetly it's impossible not to feel the excitement. Romance doesn't need to be rushed. One doesn't need to spend all of ones time before the wedding crushed up against his or her chosen. Anne learns that absence sweetens the deal and her dreams grow because of it. And, in the process, sets aside a beautiful history to share with her own children.

Today we write emails and tweet to one another and love letters such as those in this book are a thing of the past. But they don't have to be - and if you need inspiration, pick up this book.

Although Anne of Windy Poplars is the fourth book chronologically in the Anne of Green Gables series, it was actually the seventh book L.M. Montgomery wrote for the series. Anne of Windy Poplars is an epistolary novel, telling the story of the years between the time Anne Shirley graduated from college and the time she finally marries Gilbert Blythe. During this time Anne is living at Windy Poplars with two elderly widows, and working as the principal of Summerside High School. The letters that make up the bulk of the novel are from Anne to her fiancé.

Anne of Windy Poplars almost surpasses Anne of Green Gables for me. Through Anne's writing, Montgomery really has a chance to illustrate just what a special young woman Anne is. She is a delightful character to read, intelligent and witty with real gumption. Even in the face of overwhelming negativity Anne refuses to back down. She is determined to persevere against all odds, and in the end manages to change every life she touches. This is Anne as I will always think of her - a spirited woman whose heart bursts with love and poetry.

As always, Montgomery seems to cast an even more eccentric set of characters in Anne of Windy Poplars. She has such a way with creating characters that seem to leap off the page. From Aunt Kate and Aunt Chatty at Windy Poplars, to characters like Jen Pringle (and the whole Pringle clan,) Katherine Brooke, Pauline Gibson, and Cousin Ernestine - Montgomery has taken great care to invent highly readable and believable people to live in Anne's world. These are people full of faults but with a great capacity for growth - they just need a little Anne Shirley in their lives!

Anne of Windy Poplars enhances Anne's story beautifully. By using her charming letters to Gilbert, the reader gets to see things through Anne's own eyes. Anne is a gifted writer, as is L.M. Montgomery, obviously. This series of books offers the reader a lyrical look into the life of one of literature's most entertaining heroines. I highly recommend reading it straight through!

I thought I would have much more difficulties going trough this book that covers the three year before Anne's marriage, but I was wrong, because even without Gilbert, Anna's stories are always funny and entertaining. Looking forward to read the next one anyway ;)

Pensavo che mi sarebbe pesato leggere questo libro che copre i tre anni di fidanzamento di Anna, ma mi sbagliavo, perché anche senza Gilbert le storie della nostra eroina sono sempre molto divertenti. Comunque non vedo l'ora di leggere il prossimo ;)

As previous reviewers have already outlined the plot of this continuation of the ANNE OF GREEN GABLES saga (#4 of over 6 books,) I will confine my comments to list the literary characteristics of this beloved, Canadian authoress, whose delightful female protagonist, orphaned Anne Shirley, has charmed readers for a century.

Literary References:

AUTHORS/POETS:
Tennyson "Enoch Arden," "Bugle Song"
Milton
Poe "The Raven"
Dickens
Pauline Johnson
Ralph Waldo Emerson
The BIBLE: "Balm in Gilead"

TITLES: At the Back of the North Wind

CHARACTERS: Becky Sharpe (Vanity Fair).

An underlying current of Canadian patriotism, particularly, Canada's remaining at Peace.

A few gentle barbs at Americans and the USA

Style: combination of epistolary (Anne writes in the first person to Gilbert) alternating with the more common 3rd person (omniscient narrator). Slightly confusing.

Old friends who are shadowy characters in this novel: Gilbert, Marilla Cuthbert
Old friends who appear briefly: Davy and Dora, Miss Rachel Lynde

Overpopulated with female characters, most of whom represent extreme personality types.

References to then-current, Turn-of-Century items, especially articles of clothing.

Themes in this novel: "Everyone needs a companion." "It's nice to be needed."

The Green Gables Cure (formerly, the Prince Edward Island cure) for Katherine and little Elizabeth

This is the last novel in which the verbally-descrpitve, irrepressible Anne is still single, but she has many other adventures as a married woman, as do her offspring.

ANNE during these three years of her engagement to/separation from Gilbert:
--still the matchmaker, though somewhat tamed by a bad experience
--still writes poetic or romanticized references to places dear to her
--still mildly concerned about her red (auburn) hair and nose freckles

Anne's accomplishments:
--routs an entire snobby clan of Pringles without malicious effort.
--wins over sourpuss schoolmarm, Catherine Brook
--reunites an unloved child with her distant father
--cares for animals/ praises their value as companions
--learns a lesson re encouraging elopement
--plans her House of Dreams, by letter at least
--encourages a joy-starved child to dream and hope
--initiates a drama club at the high school where she is principal
--endures three years of waiting for her adored Gilbert
--wants her pupils to love her

A typical LLM charmer-- with its endearing qualities of human nature and gentle humor at the foibles of the human heart. For girls 16 and up, and women who remain girls at all ages.

Anne, even though supposedly a grown up, still manages to get herself into mishaps and adventures - the snobbish Pringle family and an unsympathetic vice principa this time - and still manages to get out of it by her natural charm.
Anne, as a graduate of Princeton is now a principal of a small school. She has to deal with a snobbish local family, and an uncooperative and unfriendly vice principal. In both cases, she manages to unravel a sad story in the past and uses it to get things going her way.
This also applies to the little girl who lives next door to Anne - Elizabeth, or Lizzie, or many other variations on the name, depending on the little girl's mood. This story has a happy ending, too, thanks to Anne - of course!
The characters of the two widows - Anne's landlors - and their house keeper, Rebbeca Dew - are very amusing, and are very similar to other "funny" characters in earlier or latter books in the series - Susan and Rebbeca are a lot alike...

I love Anne although this particular novel is written in the form of letters to Gilbert and I didn't like it as much as the others. I also felt like it had less storyline and just more memoir-like writing. Anne is delicious as always, but not my favorite installment in the series.

"Anne of Windy Willows" is the English title of "Anne of Windy Poplars," because apparently the concept of a Canadian tree was too much for their English brethren (remember, these are the same people who changed Harry Potter's philosopher's stone into a sorcerer's stone). This is definitely the most atypical book in the Anne of Green Gables Series by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Although it is sold as the fourth book in the series it was actually one of the last one written, originally being published in 1936. Anne Shirley, B.A., has taken a job away from Green Gables and as Principal of Summerside High School for three years while she waits for Gilbert Blythe to finish medical school so they can get married. So Gilbert is only present when Anne writes to him as Redmond College in Kingsport (although Montgomery tactfully omits the romantic part of her letters). However, despite these oddities, "Anne of Windy Willows" has sort of become the second most significant novel in the series since it provides the foundation for both sequels to the "Anne of Green Gables" movies, both the 1940's "Anne of Windy Poplars" (with Anne Shirley playing Anne Shirley) and the 1987 "Anne of Avonlea." The latter purports to cover the second through fourth volumes in the Green Gables series, but clearly it is this one that readers will most recognize when they watch.
Anne's adventures as a teacher in a town where the haughty Pringle family aligns against her is but one of the three major plotlines in the novel. There are also Anne's experiences at Windy Poplars on Spook's Lane, where the figure of Rebecca Drew figures largely in Anne's correspondence, along with Aunt Chatty and Aunt Kate. Then there is the mystery of little Elizabeth Grayson, who has been looking forward to Tomorrow as long as she can remember. You see, her mother died when she was born and her heartbroken father has gone off in search of Yesterday. Of course, Anne Shirley is no more likely to put up with something so wrong any more than she would Jen Pringle's fake illness or Katharine Brooke's sourness. There are also visits home each summer to visit Marilla and Mrs. Rachel back at Green Gables. Consequently, "Anne of Windy Willows" is not just an afterthought from Montgomery, who manages to make it fit into the grand scheme of Anne Shirley's life. But let's face the truth here: Anne Shirley as a mother is not the "real" Anne, so going back and reading about her continued misadventures before she married Gilbert is just fine

"What would you think of a man..." Can anyone who has read "Anne of Windy Poplars" possibly forget the dinner scene at Trix's house? L.M. Montgomery peppers this novel with dozens of characters and situations like that one. Fifth in the "Anne" series, this book is packed with entertaining personalities like Aunts Chatty and Kate, Hazel, Trix, Katherine Brooke (spelled with a K!), Miss Valentine, Jen Pringle (and all her clan), and let's not forget Rebecca Dew. This book will lift your spirits high and banish even the deepest blues. The perfect cure for a depressing day.

Anne has her same spunk and personality, but it does not come through often in this book, as most of it is narrated through Anne's letters to Gilbert. There are a few interesting new characters, and Anne's trials as a high school teacher are amusing and touching. This book doesn't fit well with it's 'sequel', "Anne's House of Dreams'" because it was actually squeezed into the series post "Anne of the Island" and "House of Dreams". The unaware reader will wonder why the "Windy Poplars" characters and events are never in or never referred to in the rest of the series. Still a good read, just not the best.

Finally! This book is now available for Kindle! This is a really nice book and if you are an 'Anne fan' you'll love it. This puts Anne in an entirely different setting away from her friends and family and she makes new life long friends. Also the love letters between Anne and Gilbert are very nice to read.

Fourth in the Anne of Green Gables series, and the most tedious. Montgomery seemed so intent on packing it full of interesting characters that she largely obscures the plot. This may have something to do with the fact that this book was written much later most of the books in this series; Anne of Green Gables (1) was published in 1908, followed by Anne of Avonlea (2) in 1909, Anne of the Island (3) in 1915, and Anne's House of Dreams (5) in 1917. This one (4) wasn't published until 1936. My guess is that Montgomery felt pressured by the pre-existing prequels and sequels. This is worth reading if you're reading the whole series, but it certainly isn't up to their standards.

It was different than the other Anne books in that the story was told mostly in letters to Gilbert, her finance'. The characters are lovely and rich and interesting. Anne is wise for her age and she seems to know always the way to handle each situation so as to get the best outcome. Considering her early life in an orphanage, there is no bitterness and a wholehearted love for life.

The first three installments in the "Anne of Green Gables" series have to some of the most wonderful, enchanting, all-around greatest books I have ever read. L.M Montgomery has done an absolutely splendid job bringing to life the red-headed girl with a fiery temper to match, but the farther I progressed into the series, the more disappointed I became. For me, the series became monotonous and depressing; the war kills Anne's beloved child, and I cannot help but despair in the numerous times Anne is mentioned with streaks of gray hair, and wrinkles in her face. This is not the lively girl of Avonlea I have come to so dearly love. So, my advice to you would be to read the first three books, and the first part of the 5th, for the end of the series should not overshadow its timeless, an

I normally do not write reviews, for fear of repeating what others have already said. In this case, however, I am making an exception. I am an avid L. M. Montgomery fan, and I have read every book in the Anne series at least five times each. "Anne of Windy Poplars" has come to be one of my favorites in the series by far. I love the new and fresh characters that are just as endearing as those in Avonlea, and the situations that Anne finds herself in are particularly interesting and relevent. I found more in this book that was challenging and thought-provoking for me than I was expecting, and every time I read it I laugh and learn just a little bit more. It is a book that improves with every reading, which makes it in every sense of the word a true classic.