Customer Reviews

Anne of Windy Poplars (Anne of Green Gables Novels)

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've read Anne books 1-5 and still have three to go (I've also read "Chronicles of Avonlea," "Further Chronicles of Avonlea," "The Road to Yesterday," "The Story Girl" and "The Golden Road"), and "Anne of Windy Poplars" is my absolute favourite next to "Anne of Green Gables." "Windy Poplars" captures Anne's vivid prose, wit and imagination perfectly, and the numerous side plots ensure that the novel never becomes dull. Much of the story is written as letters from Anne to Gilbert in which she describes her new life in Summerside, her room at Windy Poplars, the household intrigues between Aunts Chatty and Kathy and the tomatolike housekeeper Rebecca Dew, and the schemes of the spiteful Pringle clan in attempting to bring Anne down. At first the chapters upon chapters of letters seemed daunting, but I gradually grew to love Anne's narrations ("In passing, isn't "dusk" a lovely word?" Anne writes to Gilbert. "It sounds so velvety and shadowy and...and...dusky. In daylight I belong to the world....in the night to sleep and eternity. But in the dark I'm free from both and belong only to myself..and to you." Although some are love letters, Montgomery tastefully omits the romantic portions.

Although I found some of the other Anne novels to be a bit taxing (among them Anne's House of Dreams"), "Windy Poplars" is an absolute delight from start to finish and features an extremely memorable cast of characters: Minerva Tomgallon, Jen Pringle, Rebecca Dew, Nora Nelson, Katherine Brooke, Pauline Gibson, Little Elizabeth, Cousin Ernestine, Gerald and Geraldine among them. Some of the adventures are too conveniently arranged, but overall the book feels natural and reads well. Anne's constant adventures, musings and near-disasters are sure to entertain kindred spirits around the globe. Somehow "Anne of Windy Poplars" seemed to paint a portrait of the real Anne: in the prime of her youth, radiant, mischievous, in love, kindred spirit and poet, eager to savour all the experiences placed before her. Anne is older and wiser, but still a carefree girl at heart. In the later novels I could never reconcile Anne as married with children and abandoning her writings. This is the real Anne.

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.

"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.

I've read Anne books 1-5 and still have three to go (I've also read "Chronicles of Avonlea," "Further Chronicles of Avonlea," "The Road to Yesterday," "The Story Girl" and "The Golden Road"), and "Anne of Windy Poplars" is my absolute favourite next to "Anne of Green Gables." "Windy Poplars" captures Anne's vivid prose, wit and imagination perfectly, and the numerous side plots ensure that the novel never becomes dull. Much of the story is written as letters from Anne to Gilbert in which she describes her new life in Summerside, her room at Windy Poplars, the household intrigues between Aunts Chatty and Kathy and the tomatolike housekeeper Rebecca Dew, and the schemes of the spiteful Pringle clan in attempting to bring Anne down. At first the chapters upon chapters of letters seemed daunting, but I gradually grew to love Anne's narrations ("In passing, isn't "dusk" a lovely word?" Anne writes to Gilbert. "It sounds so velvety and shadowy and...and...dusky. In daylight I belong to the world....in the night to sleep and eternity. But in the dark I'm free from both and belong only to myself..and to you." Although some are love letters, Montgomery tastefully omits the romantic portions.

Although I found some of the other Anne novels to be a bit taxing (among them "Anne's House of Dreams"), "Windy Poplars" is an absolute delight from start to finish and features an extremely memorable cast of characters, Minerva Tomgallon, Jen Pringle, Rebecca Dew, Nora Nelson, Katherine Brooke, Pauline Gibson, Little Elizabeth, Cousin Ernestine, Gerald and Geraldine among them. Some of the adventures are too conveniently arranged, but overall the book feels natural and reads well. Anne's constant adventures, musings and near-disasters are sure to entertain kindred spirits around the globe. Somehow "Anne of Windy Poplars" seemed to paint a portrait of the real Anne: in the prime of her youth, radiant, mischievous, in love, kindred spirit and poet, eager to savour all the experiences placed before her. Anne is older and wiser, but still a carefree girl at heart. In the later novels I could never reconcile Anne as married with children and abandoning her writings. This is the real Anne.

I've read the entire "Anne" saga more times than I can count, at least once a year since I was 10 (that's a minimum of 15 times). This book is the "odd one out" in the series but is also one of my favorites.

Written mostly as letters from Anne to her now fiancé Gilbert while he is studying medicine and she is working as the Principal of Summerside High School, this book is much more personal than the other Anne books in my opinion.We get to see Anne as she finally grows into herself and is happy with her life and its direction.

Anne's struggles to win over the somewhat eccentric townsfolk of Summerside are alternately hilarious and touching. If you've ever been on the outside looking in, you will truly appreciate her trials.

As usual L. M. Montgomery's writing is absolutely wonderfully descriptive and very true to the era she depicts. The little "homey" touches in her writing endear her work to me more and more as I get older.

If you love Anne, please read this book and get to know Miss Shirley in a more personal way than many of the other books allow. The basic L.M. Montgomery ingredients are there as well as the usual heaping dose of charm.

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...

Anne of Windy Poplars is the fourth installment of the Anne of Green Gables series. It is mostly set in a city called Summerside. Anne has left Redmond College to begin a job as principal of Summerside High School. She ends up staying in a place called "Windy Poplars" with two widows and an old maid. Throughout the story Anne has to face winning the affections of the Pringle family, solving marital problems between her friends, and helping a little girl named Elizabeth find laughter in the world.

As with the rest of the series, this book is a thrilling read, with sorrows and triumphs. I feel that this book is missing something that the others have (it is probably the absence of Gilbert, who rarely shows up in this book), but it is fun and exciting all the same.

I would recommend this book to all fans of Anne of Green Gables, as well as to those who are simply looking for laughter and magic in their life.

Like the rest of the series, I enjoyed this one as much as the first. The author changes be technique a bit here and uses a lot of Anne's letter, as well as others. On the other hand, the author sticks to her wonderful style, syntax and story line. Again, as with other books by L.M. Montgomery, the reader must remember when they were written. My wife and I have been reading these books for years now and they have lost none of their charm. (As a side note, being a very old man, one might think the romantic aspects of the books might not appeal to me...wrong! I too, like a couple of the other reviewers was just a wee bit put off by Montgomery's excluding mush the the romantic lines in Anne's letters). Recommend this one highly.

I didn't really like the form that the book was in, with only letters from Anne-- I would've liked to see some from Gilbert!-- and at times, it got a little boring. However, L.M. Montgomery created many delightful characters, and Anne is still her bright, cheerful self, even if she is a little grown up. An overall good read!

When I first read this book, I didn't really like it that much. At the time I was too excited about reading Anne of the Island where Anne and Gilbert kissed. I wanted more of them! (Which can be found in Anne's House of Dreams.) But I have been rereading this and have found that I really like it! It is wonderfully written (after all, it is by L.M. Montgomery!) and it very humorous! If you are an Anne fan, this is a must and might be better the second time you read it. Enjoy!