March 13, 2021

Chronicles of Avonlea

Chronicles of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery, SeaWolf Press, 2020


Facing the demand for more tales of Anne Shirley and Avonlea, L.M. Montgomery gathered old short stories she had previously published to produce Chronicles of Avonlea in 1912. Originally, these stories bore no mention of Anne or Avonlea, but Montgomery edited them to bring the stories into familiar territory. This collection contains the following 12 stories:

"The Hurrying of Ludovic"
"Old Lady Lloyd"
"Each in His Own Tongue"
"Little Joscelyn"
"The Winning of Lucinda"
"Old Man Shaw's Girl"
"Aunt Olivia's Beau"
"The Quarantine at Alexander Abraham's"
"Pa Sloane's Purchase"
"The Courting of Prissy Strong"
"The Miracle at Carmody"
"The End of a Quarrel"


Purchase and read Chronicles of Avonlea:

Chronicles of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery


Created September 5, 2003. Re-posted online March 13, 2021. Last updated March 13, 2021.
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March 12, 2021

Kilmeny of the Orchard

Kilmeny of the Orchard by L.M. Montgomery, L.C. Page, 1910

Kilmeny of the Orchard is a novel by L.M. Montgomery that was first published in 1910. The story begins when Larry West writes a letter to his friend Eric Marshall, asking him to take his teaching position in Lindsay, Prince Edward Island. Eric is a rich and practical man with his future set out perfectly, and he expects to simply fulfill his duty to his friend and then go on with his life as planned. All this changes when he comes across a beautiful girl named Kilmeny Gordon playing haunting music on a violin in an orchard. In this brief encounter, Kilmeny imprints herself in Eric's mind. Strangely though, Kilmeny looks upon Eric in terror.

Purchase and read Kilmeny of the Orchard:

Kilmeny of the Orchard by L.M. Montgomery


Created March 4, 2002. Re-posted online March 12, 2021. Last updated March 12, 2021.
© worldofanneshirley.com

March 10, 2021

Jane of Lantern Hill

Jane of Lantern Hill, Stokes book cover, 1937

L.M. Montgomery wrote Jane of Lantern Hill late in her career. Published in 1937, the novel tells the story of Jane Victoria Stuart. Jane is 11 years old and lives in Toronto, Ontario with her mother Robin and her strict grandmother. Jane believes that her father is dead until she is age 10 when she learns that her mother left her father when she was three years old. She discovers that her father Andrew is actually alive and well and living on Prince Edward Island. When Jane is invited to visit her father on P.E.I. for the summer, they have a chance to develop a relationship, and Jane begins to dream that her parents will one day reunite.

Purchase and read Jane of Lantern Hill:

Jane of Lantern Hill by L.M. Montgomery


Created February 24, 2002. Re-posted online March 10, 2021. Last updated March 10, 2021.
© worldofanneshirley.com

March 09, 2021

Anne of Green Gables Series Chronology

Anne of Green Gables Series Chronology


What is the order of the Anne of Green Gables series?


L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series includes eight novels. These books follow Anne Shirley's life in the following chronological sequence:

1) Anne of Green Gables
2) Anne of Avonlea
3) Anne of the Island
4) Anne of Windy Poplars (Anne of Windy Willows)
5) Anne’s House of Dreams
6) Anne of Ingleside
7) Rainbow Valley
8) Rilla of Ingleside


You might be surprised to learn that L.M. Montgomery wrote and published the Anne of Green Gables series in a different order. Learn more about the publication sequence of the Anne novels here.

Purchase and read Anne of Green Gables:

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables Book Set by L.M. Montgomery


Created September 1, 1999. Re-posted online March 9, 2021. Last updated April 28, 2022.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Pat of Silver Bush

Pat of Silver Bush, Stokes, 1933

Pat of Silver Bush (1933) is the first of two novels that make up the Pat of Silver Bush series by L.M. Montgomery. The protagonist Patricia Gardiner is highly sensitive to her environment. She loves her home and the people around her, and it hurts her to see her world change. Pat contrasts with Anne Shirley and Emily Starr in that she is not an orphan, and she has grown up with a stable home life that she deeply values and clings to.

Pat of Silver Bush is followed by the sequel Mistress Pat.

Purchase and read the Pat of Silver Bush series:

Pat of Silver Bush by L.M. Montgomery Mistress Pat by L.M. Montgomery


Created March 10, 2001. Re-posted online March 9, 2021. Last updated March 9, 2021.
© worldofanneshirley.com

March 08, 2021

Who is Anne Shirley?

Anne of Green Gables book cover

Anne Shirley is a character first introduced to the world in the 1908 novel Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. When we first meet Anne, she is an eleven-year-old girl with a vivid imagination, talkative disposition, and bewitching personality.

Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert are surprised by Anne's arrival in Avonlea, Prince Edward Island. The Cuthbert siblings had planned to adopt a young boy to help Matthew with the farm at Green Gables, but mistakenly they are sent a girl. Fortunately, Anne wins both Matthew and Marilla over, and the Cuthberts adopt Anne giving her a home at Green Gables.


Purchase and read Anne of Green Gables:

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables Book Set by L.M. Montgomery


Created July 15, 1999. Re-posted online March 8, 2021. Last updated March 8, 2021.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Rilla of Ingleside

Rilla of Ingleside book cover


Rilla of Ingleside (1921) is the eighth and final novel in the Anne of Green Gables series. The novel is rare in that it is the only book about the Canadian World War I home front written contemporaneously from a female perspective.

The novel's protagonist is Anne and Gilbert's youngest daughter Bertha Marilla Blythe, who is known by her nickname "Rilla." Rilla is a fun-loving, fifteen-year-old girl. Like most her age, Rilla has not yet gained an awareness of the wider world around her. As the story opens, World War I begins, and Rilla's eldest brother Jem and childhood friend Jerry enlist. Rilla must adapt and mature to her changing world. She organizes a Junior Red Cross for young girls at her mother's suggestion when Anne tells her, "We will all have to do a great many things in the months ahead of us that we have never done before, Rilla."

Eventually Rilla's brother Walter enlists, although he is afraid of war and death, and her youngest brother Shirley heads to the front when he comes of age. Along with worrying about her brothers, Rilla fears for Kenneth Ford. Before leaving for the war, Kenneth kisses Rilla for the first time and asks Rilla to promise not to kiss anyone else until he returns. With her brothers, childhood friends, and sweetheart all at war, Rilla does her part for the war effort. She keeps track of war news and eagerly awaits letters from those she loves until the war comes to an end.

Purchase and read Rilla of Ingleside and the Anne of Green Gables series:

Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables Book Set by L.M. Montgomery


Created November 2, 2002. Re-posted online March 8, 2021. Last updated March 8, 2021.
© worldofanneshirley.com

March 07, 2021

Rainbow Valley

Rainbow Valley, 1919 Cover

Rainbow Valley by L.M. Montgomery is the seventh novel in the Anne of Green Gables series. Published in 1919, the focus of this book shifts away from Anne Shirley Blythe to her six children: Jem, Walter, Nan, Di, Shirley, and Rilla. As the story begins, Anne and Gilbert have just returned home from a three-month trip to Europe.

Upon her arrival home, Miss Cornelia gives Anne the gossip that the church has settled on a new minister. His name is John Meredith, and he's a widower with four children: Gerald ("Jerry"), Faith, Una, and Thomas Carlyle ("Carl"). The Blythe and Meredith children grow close, playing together in little valley behind a maple grove that they call "Rainbow Valley."

Purchase and read Rainbow Valley and the Anne of Green Gables series:

Rainbow Valley by L.M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables Book Set by L.M. Montgomery


Created September 1, 1999. Re-posted online March 7, 2021. Last updated March 7, 2021.
© worldofanneshirley.com