Anne's House of Dreams (Anne of Green Gables, No. 5)

I'll always have a special place for the earlier books, especially 'Anne of the Island', but nothing is unmatched to 'Anne's House of Dreams'. I always have a certain problem when reading Anne books. Although I enjoy the plot and characters, I resent the melancholy, wistful feel to it everytime Anne goes into a new chapter of her life. There was the last chapter of the first book; 'A Bend in The Road', where the simple description and mood of the scene was so heart-wrenching that I almost cried. 'Anne of Avonlea' was just as sentimental as the previous book, with Anne realizing she cannot turn back time to when she was eleven. We, as readers feel the impact too. We have come to love each and every one character in Avonlea and we cannot stand to watch the years go by and be forced accept that the people are changing. 'Anne of the Island' cured that depressing tone slightly by bringing in cheerful college life but still retained the usual Avonlea village scenes into it. A romance brewing between Gilbert and Anne also helped distract readers from getting too upset about Anne growing up and leaving her childhood days forever. But nevertheless the proposal scene at the last chapter brought up those suppressed feelings out once again and left us smiling a bittersweet smile at the closing descriptions of the book. But in 'Anne's House of Dreams', we are introduced to a whole new atmosphere. No longer is Anne running dreamily into magical forests and delighting in fairy brooks, listening to the whispers of the trees or playacting as a Fair Maiden with her childhood friends. The fairy-tale, static forests of Avonlea are replaced with a vast sea, salty breezes and spicy scents of seagrass in the air. Whereas the previous books were stuffy and melancholic, this book is wonderfully refreshing and light. Instead of feeling that everything is going to end (growing older, beloved characters dying, leaving Green Gables and Avonlea), we find ourself anticipating Anne's new life as a married woman. And the plot construction! I've never read an Anne series with a plot so tight and focused. The twist at the end concerning Leslie's husband was the cream of the crop, and I've also enjoyed the beautiful life-story of Captain Jim. Even Anne and Gilbert are involved into this snug plot, they are mostly the benefactors of the events: Gilbert's idea to cure Leslie's husband and Anne's idea to have Captain Jim's life-story written down. On the other hand, I would complain that there weren't many scenes of the old characters; save Gilbert (duh) and Marilla. It's as if Anne is losing contact with her old life, which makes me a bit sad. I was dying to know more about Davy, Diana, Paul Irving, the Pyes, and even Charlie Sloane. I would love the series more if Anne remained in Avonlea and raised her family in the midst of the atmosphere that we have come to recognize and cherish. What's the use of getting us attached to the 'Lake of Shining Waters' and 'The White Way of Del

"Anne's House of Dreams" is my least favorite of L. M. Montgomery's novels in the Anne of Green Gables series, which does not mean it is not a first-rate novel. For me, I guess it was a bit anticlimactic for Anne and Gilbert to finally get married, especially after it took three novels for the Anne girl to admit what everybody else knew from the start, that Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe were made for each other. But then I read the books in the order they are numbered and not the order in which Montgomery wrote them, in which case I would have skipped "Anne of Windy Poplars" and would therefore not have been bothered by all that time between the engagement and the wedding. In this fifth Anne of Green Gables novel the newlyweds move into their House of Dreams and start their life together. For the first time Anne is more of an observer than a participant, as the two main characters of the book turn out to be the storytelling Captain Jim and the tragic but romantic figure of Leslie Moore. The most fascinating part of the novel is that the only way you can tell Anne is about to have a baby is that she stops going outside and Marilla shows up (and I have to admit I was shocked, shocked I tell you, that her son's first name is James rather than Matthew). Perhaps no other aspect of Montgomery's work gives us as good an indication that she is writing about another time. After this volume the emphasis will be more on Anne's children and their friends than our beloved red-haired orphan, so "Anne's House of Dreams" is very much a transitional book in the series. As she becomes an adult and starts living a grown up life, Anne Shirley becomes less interesting to Montgomery than the children (and in "Rainbow Valley" the interesting ones are even the Blythe kids). It is nice to say that if this is the "low" point in the series, then other writers should be so lucky with their high points.

I return to this book in the "Anne" series perhaps more than any of the others. Each re-reading uncovers a new delight. This book encompasses the first years of Anne and Gilbert's married life, spent in the seaside town of Four Winds Harbor.I can't decide which character in the book is my favorite. Maybe it's Cornelia Bryant, outspoken but good hearted, whose rants about the uselessness of men accompany her ever-present needlework. Or it could be the beautiful, heartbroken Leslie Moore, whose natural intelligence and vivacity have been dulled, but not extinguished, by a series of tragic life events. Or maybe it's gentle Captain Jim, who captivates the Blythes with his tales of world travel, sea adventures, and the lost love of his life. The book contains an interwoven medley of incidents large and small, joyous and sad, culminating in the revelation of a spectacular truth that has a powerful impact on the major characters.

The Anne novels never cease to amaze me. With all the trashy romance novels out there today, it would be hard for someone to call this book "romantic" in its simple, pure ways, but it is. The setting of the story is described so well that I could nearly feel the ocean air on my face. There was also a vivid cast of characters that was very much alive. The plot itself is far more complicated than other Anne books, but that does not reduce the quality of the author's work, nor does the book lose its poetical sense. Anne's House of Dreams is like reading a very long poem that is difficult to forget.

1,000 words can't describe how much I love this book. This book is where after agonizing along with Anne she finally gets married to Gilbert. They settle into a place called Four Winds. Through the story of there first years of marriage they experience their joy over Jem their first born and the pain of losing a child. They make life long friends that are as pleasant as Diana Barry and Rachel Lynde. L.M. Montgomery makes the charecters come alive. They go through things that we can relate to today. Her excellant writing makes this easy to read whether you are 10 or 100. I highly recommend that if you enjoy this book you need to read the first four books. Then there is three more books. If that isn't enough there are two movies. I hope that you enjoy this series as much as I have.