122. Anne of Windy Poplars
Anne of Windy Poplars. L.M. Montgomery. 1936. 288 pages. [Source: Bought]
First sentence: DEAREST:
Isn’t that an address! Did you ever hear anything so
delicious? Windy Poplars is the name of my new home and I love
it. I also love Spook’s Lane, which has no legal existence. It
should be Trent Street but it is never called Trent Street except
on the rare occasions when it is mentioned in the Weekly
Courier . . . and then people look at each other and say,
‘Where on earth is that?’ Spook’s Lane it is . . . although for
what reason I cannot tell you. I have already asked Rebecca Dew
about it, but all she can say is that it has always been Spook’s
Lane and there was some old yarn years ago of its being haunted.
But she has never seen anything worse-looking than herself
in it.
Premise/plot: Anne and Gilbert are engaged at last! But Gilbert still
has three years of school to go, and, so Anne finds herself a job as
principal of a school in Summerside. Anne of Windy Poplars gives us an
intimate look at those three years. Much of the book provides glimpses
into the letters Anne writes Gilbert. But there are some traditional
chapters as well.
My thoughts: Anne of Windy Poplars is such a delightful (late) addition
to the Anne series by L.M. Montgomery. I love, love, love it. Even if
Gilbert himself is absent. (We only see her letters to him, never his
letters to her.)
This book showcases what Montgomery does BEST: bring her characters to
life. It doesn’t seem to matter if we spend two paragraphs with a
character or two chapters. I CARE about every character she introduces.
Some of the characters we meet in this one: Aunt Kate, Aunt Chatty,
Rebecca Dew, Dusty Miller (cats count as characters, right?!), Little
Elizabeth, Nora Nelson, Jim Wilcox, Esme Taylor, Dr. Lennox Carter,
Cyrus Taylor, Teddy Armstrong, Lewis Allen, Katherine Brooke, Mrs.
Adoniram Gibson and Pauline, Cousin Ernestine Bugle, Jarvis Morrow,
Dovie Westcott, Frank Westcott.
Favorite quotes:
I have a scratchy pen and I can’t write love-letters with a scratchy
pen…or a sharp pen…or a stub pen. So you’ll only get that kind of
letter from me when I have exactly the right kind of pen.
You know I’ve always been one to whom adventures come unsought. I just seem to attract them, as it were.
School begins tomorrow. I shall have to teach geometry! Surely that can’t be any worse than learning it.
Isn’t it queer that the things we writhe over at night are seldom wicked things? Just humiliating ones.
I don’t like reading about martyrs because they always make me feel
petty and ashamed…ashamed to admit I hate to get out of bed on frosty
mornings and shrink from a visit to the dentist!
Nobody is ever too old to dream. And dreams never grow old.
I said drenched and I mean drenched.
Oh, no, babies are never common,” said Anne, bringing a bowl of water for Mrs. Gibson’s roses. “Every one is a miracle.”
It seems so strange to read over the stories of those old wars…things
that can never happen again. I don’t suppose any of us will ever have
more than an academic interest in ‘battles long ago.’ It’s impossible to
think of Canada ever being at war again. I am so thankful that phase of
history is over.
Nobody is ever too old to wear just what she wants to wear. You wouldn’t want to wear it if you were too old.
© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky’s Book Reviews
