Editors Reads Verdict
Anne of Avonlea is a warm and satisfying continuation that deepens Montgomery's portrait of Prince Edward Island while showing Anne stepping into early adulthood — less eventful than its predecessor but no less charming.
What We Loved
- Anne's voice remains irresistible — her observations and enthusiasms are as vivid as ever
- The new characters, particularly Paul Irving and Mr. Harrison, are genuinely funny and well-drawn
- Montgomery's PEI landscape is rendered with the same luminous specificity as in the first novel
Minor Drawbacks
- The episodic structure is looser than Anne of Green Gables, with less narrative momentum
- Anne's romantic development is deliberately muted, which some readers may find frustrating
Key Takeaways
- → Teaching is a form of imaginative generosity — Anne gives her students something of herself
- → Community is built through small acts of loyalty, tact, and neighbourly effort
- → Growing up does not require abandoning the imaginative habits of childhood
| Author | L.M. Montgomery |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Bantam Classics |
| Pages | 272 |
| Published | July 1, 1909 |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fiction, Classic, Coming-of-Age |
Anne at Sixteen
When Anne of Avonlea opens, Anne Shirley has left girlhood behind — just. She is sixteen, newly appointed as teacher at the Avonlea school, and still very much the same person who arrived at Green Gables five years earlier: red-haired, imaginative, verbal, prone to disasters arising from inattention. What has changed is her position. She is now partly responsible for the children of the community she once disrupted as one of their number.
Montgomery published the sequel in 1909, the year after Anne of Green Gables became a runaway success. The pressure to produce a follow-up quickly shows in the novel’s structure, which is more episodic than its predecessor — a series of vignettes about Anne’s first years of teaching, the adventures of the Improvement Society she helps found, and the expanding cast of Avonlea characters. But Montgomery’s prose remains as sure and specific as ever, and Avonlea in autumn and spring is as beautifully rendered as anything in the first book.
New Faces
The novel’s best new addition is Paul Irving, a sensitive, imaginative boy in Anne’s class whose inner world mirrors Anne’s own. Their relationship — teacher recognising in pupil the child she herself was — is one of Montgomery’s warmest and most unforced inventions. The curmudgeonly Mr. Harrison, whose parrot causes repeated comic havoc, is a classic Montgomery creation: difficult, specific, and ultimately redeemed by the attentions of the right person.
Anne’s relationships with Marilla and with the twin orphans Davy and Dora, who join the Green Gables household, provide the emotional anchor. Davy in particular — mischievous, honest to the point of rudeness, irrepressible — is the novel’s comic engine, a younger-generation version of what Anne herself might have been had she been less verbally gifted and more physically reckless.
Our rating: 4.3/5 — A gentle, warm, and thoroughly pleasing continuation of Anne’s story, most rewarding for readers already devoted to Avonlea.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is "Anne of Avonlea" about?
Anne Shirley is now sixteen and a teacher at Avonlea school, navigating new friendships, her growing responsibilities at Green Gables, and the same imaginative intensity that has always defined her.
What are the key takeaways from "Anne of Avonlea"?
Teaching is a form of imaginative generosity — Anne gives her students something of herself Community is built through small acts of loyalty, tact, and neighbourly effort Growing up does not require abandoning the imaginative habits of childhood
Is "Anne of Avonlea" worth reading?
Anne of Avonlea is a warm and satisfying continuation that deepens Montgomery's portrait of Prince Edward Island while showing Anne stepping into early adulthood — less eventful than its predecessor but no less charming.
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