Customer Reviews

Rainbow Valley

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I really think the only reason not to find "Rainbow Valley" one of L. M. Montgomery's better novels in the Anne series is because it obviously has the least to do with Anne or her children. Once Anne finally married Gilbert in "Anne's House of Dreams" (1917), Montgomery seemed to be at a loss as what to do with her delightful red-headed orphan now that she was a mother. So when this book was written in 1919 she focused on the four Meredith children who beloned to new Presbyterian minister, John Meredith, who was a widower. I can certainly see where some readers would be less than pleased with this particular direction, but the scene near the end of the novel where little Una Meredith communes with her late mother's wedding dress before going off to get her father a wife is as touching as anything Montgomery ever wrote.

To be clear, "Rainbow Valley" is the fifth of the original six Anne books written by Montgomery, which ended in 1920 with "Rilla of Ingleside." It would not be until 1936 that she would write "Anne of Windy Poplars," which became the fourth book in the series and took us back to when Anne was engaged to Gilbert and waiting for him to finish medical school. In 1939 she wrote her final novel, "Anne of Ingleside," which is the least of the Anne books, taking place before "Rainbow Valley" and engaging in some heavy handed foreshadowing as to what would happen to her characters. This 1919 book is dedicated: "To the memory of Goldwin Lapp, Robert Brookes and Morley Shier who made the supreme sacrifice that the happy valleys of their home land might be kept sacred from the ravage of the invader." So clearly Montgomery was thinking of the next book she would write, that would take place during the First World War.

At this point in time Anne Shirley has been married to Gilbert Blythe for 15 years and is now the mother of six children: James (called Jem), Walter, Nan, Diana (Di), Shirley, and Marilla (Rilla). The Mrs. and the Doctor return home to Four Winds Harbor from a trip to Europe and discover the new minister and his four children: Jerry, Faith, Una and Carl. Without a mother and a father given over to deams, the manse children tend to run a bit wild. However, it seems that when they try to do their very best, it occasions the most local gossip, and the children are worried they will cost their father his job. Of course the Meredith and Blythe children become good friends, and the manswe children have Anne's stamp of approval, which is good enough for us. Two major plots in the novel involve Mary Vance, an orphan girl who finds an unexpected home and continues to cause trouble for all concerned, and Rosemary West, a young woman who John Meredith falls for but whose sister Ellen does not want to be alone and causes romantic complications that Una needs to iron out in the end.

All in all, "Rainbow Valley" reminds me more of "The Story Girl" and "The Golden Road" than any of the other Anne books, with the Meredith children having a series of humorous misadventures. I am also impressed because as you can tell from the ending when Walter Blythe speaks of "The Piper," that Montgomery is already committed to writing about what happens to these children during World War I in her next Anne book, "Rilla of Ingleside." Even though it is atypical "Rainbow Valley" is my second favorite book in the Anne series and I am the proud owner of a first edition copy with the green book cover and the illustration by M.L. Kirk of not Anne but rather Rosemary West, captioned "Rosemary West stepped aside from teh by-path and stood in that spell-weaving place" (page 131).

This book is great! You need to have read all of the Anne of Green Gables books to understand it. Its about Annes cheeky children who meet the new vicars children.The vicars kids are very naughty and their father is in his own little world most of the time, and doesn't spend much time with them. Annes kids really like them and have adventures with them. The vicars kids also have a runaway orphan who lives with them. She is very outgoing and seems quite common.The children don't know what to make of her at first, but she soon becomes their friend. This is my favourite book out of the Anne series I and would reccomend it to anyone.

I was disappointed with the previous segment of the series, so I was not expecting much from Rainbow Valley. Indeed, I put off reading it for a year. I'm sorry now that I did so.

Montgomery returns to the magic and lyricism of the beginning of the Green Gable series. But she does it by leaving Anne. There is only a little about Anne's family, and hardly anything about Anne herself in this book. It is mostly about another family, that of John Meredith, the minister, a widower. By telling the story of this family, and an orphan they befriend, we see some angst in life, some troubles. Which was exactly the problem with the story of Anne's family. She went through many troubles as a girl, but as a mature mother, she had everything perfect. The family was perfect. The marriage was perfect. And it was all quite boring. This is why they don't write about perfect people in the adventure stories that Anne loves. But the Merediths do not have a perfect life, and the troubles they experience, and how they attempt to resolve them, create spice.

These are very believable characters created by Montgomery, and a believable small town focused continually on gossip. It is one of the rare books that does not portray a minister and his family as evil, nor as perfect, but simply as real- perhaps because the book was written in 1919. How the children of the family respond to an emotionally absent father is intriguing, and Faith Meredith's actions the most interesting of them all. I read this on the train from Casablanca to Tangier, and the Moroccans in the train car with me gave me many strange looks as I could not stop laughing uproariously at Faith's actions, nor explain to them what was so amazingly funny.

Well, Anne's children sure have grown up! Jem is now 13, Walter 12, Di & Nan 10, Shirley 8, and Rilla 6! I just ADORE the Blythe children as WELL as the Meredith children. It took me a while to get used to the Meredith clan being main characters, but I now have. The wonderful stories in this book give it a lively feeling. The only thing I don't like is the fact that there seems to be a ghost in Ingleside. His name? Shirley. Where is he in this book besides the beginning? But otherwise, I love it from cover to cover. Let the piper come!

I had already read all the Anne books, when I found this one and I liked more than any other book in the world. I guess I liked it so much because I have always liked the children, and I think that Anne's children and the Meredith clan are the best children, that I have ever read about.

This book is about Anne and Gilbert Blythe's children and their friends, the Merediths. It focuses on the Meredith children, Jerry, Faith, Carl, and Una. They are dear, sweet, fun-loving children always getting into trouble by their own heedlessness. The children have many adventures, including the discovery of Mary Vance, a run-away orphan, and the forming of the Good Conduct Club, which provides many laughs for the reader. From the time the Merediths move in, the town lives in fear of what the minister's children will do next. (Example : cleaning the manse on a SUNDAY and holding a prayer competition in the Methodist graveyard!) If you want a book that will make you laugh and cry, then laugh again, this is the one!

I think this book is as worth-reading as the rest of the other Anne books. I think people who love kids will love this book even more because both the children of Ingleside and the Manse are so cute and witty as usual. Like Anne, I myself also take a special liking to Faith. She is so much like Anne when she was in her Green Gables days. It bought back memories of Anne Shirley especially when Faith made those apologizes and explanations...oh..that blessed child is so much like Anne herself. I also like Walter for his courage to fight for both her mother and Faith. But I think this book has put too much focus on the Meredith clan...and that there really aren't much about Shirley and Rilla in this book.

This book was so void of Anne or even her children, it made you depressed to read it. The story of the Merediths was intresting, but i think they should perhaps have their own story and not take up a whole book of Anne's. It's even harder to find Gilbert, there is NO romance between them at all in this book. This is by far my least favorite Anne book. Bottom line: good book in its self but she should have just cut Anne out of it and started a new series.

I don't quite like Anne of Ingleside as I always want to know more about Anne but Montgomery just focused on Anne's children in the book.However,Rainbow Valley turned out to be completely different.It is as funny,delightful as other novels in the Anne series.Now, I love Anne's children and the manse children very much.But I don't like Mary Vance, she just seemed to be wicked though I know she was actually not, she was just brutally frank. The adventures of the children were as exciting as Anne's.They were all nice little souls.They were angels and to be loved by every one in the world.After reading Anne, I am now looking forward to having the chance to play in graveyards.They are no longer dreadful but beautiful places which bring you much joy and fun as soon as you finish Rainbow Valley. Lastly I think Anne Shirley is Anne Shirley. I can never accept Mrs. Doctor dear or Anne Blythe.

Although this book has little about Anne in it, I think the author was right in focusing on the children. After all, as a mother of 6, I don't think there would be much story to Anne. Obviously her life at this point, even with Susan's help, consisted of working in her home and for her family. This was still during a time when there were few machines to make tasks easier, and the work never ended. All through the book she is there for her children as she was in Anne of Ingleside, but now the story is theirs and that of their friends. She was able to move the story of Anne along while bringing in new characters and fresh storylines. Because of the devices she used, she was able to make the 8th book as interesting as the first one. The author was also possibly employing the same strategies advertisers employ today to sell their wares. She could have been using Anne's name to sell more books. Whatever, it's still a delightful read!