Anne's House of Dreams

L.M. Montgomery's Anne's House of Dreams was first published in 1917. This novel is the fifth book in the Anne of Green Gables series. The story begins as Anne Shirley marries Gilbert Blythe at Green Gables. The newlyweds then move to a home on the shore at Four Winds Point, and Gilbert begins his work as a doctor in the nearby village of Glen St. Mary. Anne calls their new home her "House of Dreams."

Anne and Gilbert's new neighbors include Captain Jim, a storytelling lighthouse keeper, who was formerly a sailor, and Miss Cornelia, a woman with strong opinions. Anne also tries to befriend the embittered Leslie Moore. During their time living in their House of Dreams, Anne and Gilbert experience both joy and sorrow as they begin their married life together.

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Created September 1, 1999. Re-posted online March 5, 2021. Last updated March 5, 2021.
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Anne of Windy Poplars

Anne of Windy Poplars (1936) is the fourth novel in the Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery. After Anne graduates from Redmond, she returns to Prince Edward Island and takes a job as the principal of Summerside High School. She lives in a home called Windy Poplars with two elderly women, Aunt Kate and Aunt Chatty, and their housekeeper, Rebecca Dew. Anne faces several challenges in Summerside, including having to deal with the bitter vice principal Katherine Brooke and the clannish and unwelcoming Pringle family who run the town.

The plot of Anne of Windy Poplars falls between Anne of the Island (1915) and Anne’s House of Dreams (1917), but the novel was written roughly two decades later in 1936. L.M. Montgomery returned to Anne Shirley in the 1930s to tell the story of Anne's years in Summerside before her marriage to Gilbert. Compared to the other Anne novels, Anne of Windy Poplars is unusual in that much of the story is told through extracts of letters written by Anne Shirley to her fiancé Gilbert Blythe.

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Created September 1, 1999. Re-posted online March 4, 2021. Last updated March 4, 2021.
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Anne of the Island

Anne of the Island, published in 1915, is the third novel in the Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery. In this book, Anne leaves her home in Avonlea, Prince Edward Island for Redmond College in Nova Scotia to study for her B.A. Anne's childhood classmates Gilbert Blythe and Charlie Sloane head off to attend Redmond as well. While at college, Anne interacts with these familiar faces, and she also makes new friends like the beautiful Philippa Gordon. During her time at college, Gilbert proposes marriage, but Anne turns him down. Anne is then courted by the dark and handsome Roy Gardner, and she must eventually decide if they truly belong together.

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Created September 1, 1999. Re-posted online March 3, 2021. Last updated March 3, 2021.
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Anne of Avonlea

Anne of Avonlea, the sequel to Anne of Green Gables, was published in 1909 as the second novel in the Anne of Green Gables series. Anne Shirley is now 16 years old and teaching at the Avonlea school. As reflected in the title of the book, Anne's circle of influence has widened from affecting her home in Anne of Green Gables to influencing her town in Anne of Avonlea.

We follow Anne as she experiences both the rewards and challenges of being a new teacher. Outside of the classroom, Anne and her friends endeavor to improve Avonlea by forming an Avonlea Village Improvement Society (AVIS). Their efforts have varied results. Meanwhile, Marilla takes in twins named Davy and Dora, who are her distant relations, after their mother dies. The twins add a new energy to Green Gables.

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Created September 1, 1999. Re-posted online March 2, 2021. Last updated March 2, 2021.
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Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables is a novel published by L.M. Montgomery in 1908. The story begins when Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert decide to adopt a young boy to help them on their farm. The two elderly siblings send word of their request through a neighbor instead of visiting the orphanage themselves. The Cuthberts are surprised when their neighbor makes an error and returns with a young girl named Anne Shirley instead of the boy they expect.

The Cuthberts at first seem ill-equipped and unlikely to raise Anne. Matthew is extremely shy and afraid of women and girls. Marilla is orderly, sarcastic, and has difficultly expressing affection. In contrast, Anne is wildly imaginative, talkative, and prone to making mishaps. But the unexpected happens, and instead of sending Anne back to the orphanage, the Cuthberts decide to keep her and raise her. In forming this unusual family, Anne finds her first home, and Marilla and Matthew grow and develop in their own ways.

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Created September 1, 1999. Re-posted online March 1, 2021. Last updated March 1, 2021.
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Anne of Green Gables Anime Doll by Takara Tomy

On July 31, 2016, Takara Tomy Toys is releasing a limited and exclusive Anne of Green Gables doll based on the 1979 anime series by Nippon Animation. The beautiful anime, also known as Akage no An, was directed by Isao Takahata as part of the World Masterpiece Theater series. The Anne of Green Gables doll was designed to celebrate 40 years of Nippon Animation. Read more about the Takara Tomy Toy release here.

The sweet Anne Shirley doll is part of the "Rikaraizu" series, which faithfully represents anime characters. The Anne of Green Gables doll is approximately 23 cm tall and has two outfits (shown below):


Anne's first outfit is the brown wincey dress she arrived at Green Gables wearing. The second outfit is the beautiful dress with puffed sleeves that Matthew Cuthbert gives Anne for Christmas. The doll can be posed on its own stand, and it comes with a hat, bag, shoes, and other accessories.

Created July 31, 2016. Re-posted online March 7, 2023. Last updated January 20, 2024.
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Google Doodle Celebrates Lucy Maud Montgomery on her 141st Birthday

Today's Google Doodle celebrates L.M. Montgomery's 141st birthday with three animated doodles by Olivia When featuring scenes from Montgomery's beloved story Anne of Green Gables.

In one Google Doodle, Anne Shirley and Diana Barry are laying in a field of field of flowers. Anne is writing, while Diana is reading. The pair are wearing flower crowns in their hair.

In a second Google Doodle, Anne Shirley turns green when she tastes the layered cake she prepared for Mrs. Allen's visit to the Cuthbert home. Anne accidentally flavored her cake with anodyne liniment, thinking it was vanilla. Marilla had poured her liniment into an old vanilla bottle and hadn't relabeled the bottle.



A third Google Doodle pictures show scenes on the Lake of Shining Waters, with Anne walking to school, Anne and Diana running together, and Gilbert Blythe saving Anne after she played Elaine, in the chapter titled, "An Unfortunate Lily Maid."



Google posted the following info about the L.M. Montgomery Google Doodles:

Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote her first novel in 1905. It was rejected by every single publishing house that received it. A few years later, Montgomery tried shopping it again and succeeded. Her story about the adventures of a red-headed girl in Prince Edward Island became a smash hit. That novel ultimately became one of Canada’s most all-time popular books, being translated into around 20 languages and selling more than 50 million copies to date. Anne of Green Gables and its many sequels made Montgomery a wildly successful author and turned PEI into a destination for the book’s thousands of fans.

One of Canada’s most celebrated writers, Montgomery also wrote hundreds of poems and short stories as well as a number of novels apart from the Anne series. She was the first Canadian woman to be made a member of the British Royal Society of Arts and was also appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. Today, on what would have been her 141st birthday, we salute Lucy Maud Montgomery with a Doodle that pays tribute to her most iconic book.

Doodler Olivia When, herself an Anne of Green Gables fan, wanted to honor Montgomery by illustrating several scenes from the beloved novel, including a particularly memorable one in which Anne mistakenly bakes a cake with liniment (a medicated oil) instead of vanilla. Here’s to Anne with an “e” Shirley and her revered creator, Lucy Maud Montgomery.

Created November 30, 2015. Re-posted online September 4, 2023. Last updated September 4, 2023.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Christina Hendricks on Anne of Green Gables

I love finding mentions of Anne Shirley and L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables in interviews. Here’s my most recent find.

Christina Hendricks is an actress and model who stars as Joan Holloway on the television series Mad Men. The show is a period drama about a fictional advertising agency set in the 1960s. Christina Hendricks’s talent and striking beauty have made Joan Holloway a favorite on the show. In May of this year, in a poll of female readers, Hendricks was named Esquire’s sexist woman of the year.

This July, prior to the debut of the fourth season of Mad Men, Leslie Gornstein interviewed Christina Hendricks for the Los Angeles Times Magazine. It was a great interview, in which Gornstein asked Hendricks about Joan and Mad Men, her playing the accordion, her seeing Tom Waits perform and once dining with him and his wife, her three-episode role on Firefly, and her appearances in several music videos. She also spoke about finding red carpet gowns, dressing in retro costumes, and the Joan Holloway Barbie doll.

Best of all (for me, at least), Leslie Gornstein asked Christina Hendricks about how she began dying her hair red:

You’ve said you started dying your blond hair red at age 10. How exactly did you sell that choice to your folks?
They did it to me! I was obsessed with the Canadian novel Anne of Green Gables. I decided I was Anne of Green Gables. There was something that spoke to me about her, and I wanted to have her beautiful red hair. So my mother said, “Let’s just go to the drugstore and get one of those cover-the-gray rinses!” My hair was very blond at the time, but it went carrot red. And I was over the moon. I went to school the next day and felt like myself. And then I went back [to that color] over and over again. What a cool mom, right?

I think we can all agree that Christina Hendricks’s Mom was super cool for supporting her daughter’s obsession with Anne of Green Gables. And I adore Christina Hendricks’s red hair.

Reference:
Gornstein, Leslie. (2010, July) Past Perfect Christina Hendricks. Los Angeles Times Magazine. Originally retrieved from: https://www.latimesmagazine.com/2010/07/christina-hendricks.html (presently, dead link). Archived at: https://web.archive.org/web/20101227122133/https://www.latimesmagazine.com/2010/07/christina-hendricks.html

Image credits:
Left: Photograph of Christina Hendricks by Joshua Jordan with styling by Hayley Atkin from "Past Perfect Christina Hendricks", Los Angeles Times Magazine, published July 2010.
Right: Screen capture of Megan Follows as Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel © Sullivan Entertainment.

Created July 6, 2010.  Re-posted online October 8, 2022. Last updated September 4, 2023.
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