Anne of Windy Poplars (L.M. Montgomery)

Genre: Period fiction (takes place around 1890 in Canada)
Year Published: 1936

I suppose it speaks volumes about me that, flush with tons of new books from the holidays, I zero in on one series to read straight through. My personal faults notwithstanding, I must say I was rather disappointed with Anne of Windy Poplars. Looking at the Wikipedia entry on Anne of Green Gables, I see that this was written years later as an insert between Anne of the Island and Anne's House of Dreams, so maybe that accounts for the distinct lack of characters from previous books. (That is, maybe Montgomery wrote in the beginning of House of Dreams that Anne hadn't spoken to them all in three years or something, and so essentially tied her own hands.)

I have several other problems with this book, though. First of all, much of it is written in the epistolary style, which I rarely have patience for. Secondly, in those letters, Montgomery is exceedingly coy; whenever Anne starts to write what could be construed as a "love letter," Montgomery just writes, "Several paragraphs omitted." It's really quite irritating.

Perhaps the most egregious problem with the book, though, is how focused it is on Anne solving the problems of near-total strangers while completely ignoring the realities of her day-to-day life. It is written that she goes home to Green Gables probably half a dozen times before we actually read about one of her trips in detail, and the only reason we get to come along on that narrative jaunt is because Anne is transforming her fellow teacher with the love that lives at Green Gables. We don't get to see her teaching at all. I don't believe Gilbert gets a single line of dialogue throughout the entire book. Meanwhile, Montgomery introduces the entire population of Summerside, a town we've never seen before and will probably never see again; Anne goes through and makes sure all the unmarried couples become engaged, finds a little girl's father, gives a woman her first night off from her tyrant mother, transforms the aforementioned teacher's life . . . lather, rinse, repeat.

Amusingly enough, Anne actually thinks to herself when one of her "fixes" goes wrong (perhaps the first, last, and only time this will ever happen), "Admit that you liked the idea of being a sort of dea ex machina." It's not a good thing when I think to myself, "You'd better like it, or you're out of a job!"

I have a feeling I will be much more fond of the books that were written earlier in Montgomery's career. We'll find out soon enough, I suppose, though I hope my next book will veer off this path a bit.

Recommend? Not really. If you're a diehard Anne Shirley fan, I'm sure you'll get a kick out of it, but I don't think the events chronicled are at all vital to the continuity of the series, and you'll be left feeling somewhat cheated.