The pandemic with all its uncertainty has me seeking solace in the familiar. I often find myself revisiting things that previously brought me joy. The initial pull is comfort and the secondary motive is to see if the movie, book, or album still holds. Does it still bring me joy, for the same reason, for different reasons, or simply as a totem from a particular time in my life?
If there is one book that represents my childhood, it is the L.M. Montgomery classic Anne of Green Gables. It is the first book I fell in love with and like many firsts, it was a gateway to so much more. Anne of Green Gables and the five subsequent “Anne” books introduced me to the wonderful world of serials where the story spans more than one spine and you get the luxury of time to develop a relationship with characters.
Anne was my entry to the Victorian cannon which would become my primary wheelhouse for the next decade. Anne’s nature loving, free-spirited soul planted the seed of romanticism that still lives within me today.
I read Anne many times throughout my youth. I was curious if it would read infantile revisiting as an adult. Mark Twain called it “the sweetest creation of child life yet written” when it was published in 1908. 113 years later and that praise still stands.
A coming-of-age tale about an orphan resonates just as strongly with an adult as it does an adolescent. This is what makes it a classic. Although the main character is youthful the heart of the story is eternal.
What did read differently this time was my perspective. Obviously reading it as a kid I identified with Anne. When I first read it I was around the same age as Anne when she was mistakenly placed into the care of the Cuthberts. This time around I identified with Marilla, a childless spinster whose life is irrevocably changed by little Miss Shirley. There is a bittersweet beauty in reading the same book decades later and seeing it through a different lens.
Now I can see the charm of the novel goes beyond Anne’s purview. I was able to clearly see the story from Marilla’s eyes for the first time. To really see the depth in her and Matthew’s decision to take Anne in: going outside of their comfort zone, opening their heart and home, and rolling with the flow of life. All to show how one’s life really begins when you let others in.
I am grateful I let Anne back into my life all these years later. Her story still brings me joy. Following in the liberated footsteps of Jo March and the other romantic heroines before her, Anne affirms so many of the other loves she introduced me to: my love of words, language, books, and most of all nature. Like Anne my heart blooms when it is outside amid fresh air and flora.
“Anne has as many shades as a rainbow and every shade is the prettiest while it lasts.”
#anneofgreengables #lmmontgomery #puffininbloom #riflepaperco #anariflebond #classics #classicbooks #hardcover #instabooks #booksofinstagram #bookblurbs #bookblog #bookblogger #bookreviews #booksforlife #kindredspirit #idratherbereading #themithoughts
留言