Anne’s married adulthood begins

Now that I’m halfway through the Anne series, I can say that it’s been a deeply delightful journey. The second half of the series chronicles Anne’s adult married life, and I’ll be curious to see how reading it for the first time since I’ve been married will change my views on the next four books.

Anne has finally married her beloved Gilbert Blythe and they have set off to start their new life together in Four Winds Harbor, far from her beloved Green Gables. As a newly married couple, Anne and Gilbert set up house together while he establishes his medical practice, and they make friends in the area: the lighthouse warden Captain Jim, a former sea captain with tales of his long life abroad; Miss Cornelia, a man-hating but kindhearted woman who cares for her neighbors and their families; and Leslie Moore, a cold young woman broken by life’s disappointments. Anne’s own tragedies and disappointments await, but she endures them all with the love of her community in her heart and at her hearth.

The House of Dreams may seem like a silly and schlocky name for Anne’s bridal home, but there’s something sweet about the descriptions of Anne and Gilbert setting up their bookshelves, making homey little jokes, and sharing sweet little secrets together. It’s a picture of marital happiness that few books depict, and that Montgomery was missing in her own life, and it shows the “after” portion of the wedding that many romances neglect altogether. It’s a worthy entry in the series.

Cross-posted to my blog.