Anne of the Island is L.M. Montgomery’s seventh book, first published in July 1915 by Boston publisher The Page Company (formerly L.C. Page and Company). It is the fourth of eleven books to feature Montgomery’s protagonist Anne Shirley Blythe, preceded by Anne of Green Gables (1908), Anne of Avonlea (1909), and Chronicles of Avonlea (1912), and followed by Anne’s House of Dreams (1917), Rainbow Valley (1919), Further Chronicles of Avonlea (1920), Rilla of Ingleside (1921), Anne of Windy Poplars (1936), Anne of Ingleside (1939), and The Blythes Are Quoted (2009). It was also preceded by Montgomery’s sixth book, The Golden Road (1913).
Montgomery continued expressed reluctance to write a third novel centred on Anne. She had moved on creatively from the character since finishing Anne of Avonlea, and what she saw as her strengths as a fiction writer—comedy—did not seem well suited for a courtship plot involving Anne. Moreover, although she entitled the manuscript “Anne of Redmond,” in reference to the college where Anne completes her undergraduate degree, her publisher insisted on calling the book Anne of the Island.
The publication of Anne of the Island marked the end of a contract with Montgomery’s first publisher, L.C. Page and Company. When attempts to renegotiate the contract went nowhere, she entered into an agreement with the Toronto firm of McClelland, Goodchild, and Stewart, with whom she placed her next book, The Watchman and Other Poems (1916).
Epigraph
“All precious things discovered late
To those that seek them issue forth
For Love in sequel works with Fate,
And draws the veil from hidden worth.”
—Tennyson
Dedication
To
all the girls all over the world
who have “wanted more” about
ANNE
Contents
I. The Shadow of Change
II. Garlands of Autumn
III. Greeting and Farewell
IV. April’s Lady
V. Letters from Home
VI. In the Park
VII. Home Again
VIII. Anne’s First Proposal
IX. An Unwelcome Lover and a Welcome Friend
X. Patty’s Place
XI. The Round of Life
XII. “Averil’s Atonement”
XIII. The Way of Transgressors
XIV. The Summons
XV. A Dream Turned Upside Down
XVI. Adjusted Relationships
XVII. A Letter from Davy
XVIII. Miss Josephine Remembers the Anne-Girl
XIX. An Interlude
XX. Gilbert Speaks
XXI. Roses of Yesterday
XXII. Spring and Anne Return to Green Gables
XXIII. Paul Cannot Find the Rock People
XXIV. Enter Jonas
XXV. Enter Prince Charming
XXVI. Enter Christine
XXVII. Mutual Confidences
XXVIII. A June Evening
XXIX. Diana’s Wedding
XXX. Mrs. Skinner’s Romance
XXXI. Anne to Philippa
XXXII. Tea with Mrs. Douglas
XXXIII. “He Just Kept Coming and Coming”
XXXIV. John Douglas Speaks at Last
XXXV. The Last Redmond Year Opens
XXXVI. The Gardners’ Call
XXXVII. Full-fledged B.A.’s
XXXVIII. False Dawn
XXXIX. Deals with Weddings
XL. A Book of Revelation
XLI. Love Takes Up the Glass of Time
Reviews of Anne of the Island (32)
Montreal Daily Herald, 31 July 1915 (“A Trilogy Completed”). Scrapbook of Reviews, 72. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 155–56.
Sun (New York), 31 July 1915, 5. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 157 (as “[Busy with Affairs of the Heart]”).
Rochester Post, 4 August 1915. Scrapbook of Reviews, 73.
Waterbury (CT) American, 4 August 1915 (“The New Page Book”). Scrapbook of Reviews, 73. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 157.
Pittsburgh Leader, 6 August 1915. Scrapbook of Reviews, 73. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 158 (as “[Ever Charming, Ever Heartsome]”).
Boston Evening Transcript, 7 August 1915, 8. Scrapbook of Reviews, 74. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 158–59 (as “[The Same Old Anne]”).
Wilmington (DE) Every Evening, 7 August 1915. Scrapbook of Reviews, 73. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 159–60 (as “[Possibly the Last, Possibly the Best]”).
Springfield (MA) Republican, 8 August 1915, 15. Scrapbook of Reviews, 73. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 160 (as “[A Fluctuating Participant in Romance]”).
New York World, 12 August 1915 (“The Third Book of Anne”). Scrapbook of Reviews, 75. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 161.
Idaho Daily Statesman (Boise), 24 August 1915, 4.
The Outlook (New York), 25 August 1915, 1009. Children’s Literature Review, edited by Gerard J. Senick (Detroit: Gale, 1985), 8: 137.
The Nation (New York), 26 August 1915, 263. Children’s Literature Review, edited by Gerard J. Senick (Detroit: Gale, 1985), 8: 137 (excerpted). The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 161–62 (excerpted as “[A Perfunctory Fumbling with Obstacles]”).
Mail and Empire (Toronto), 28 August 1915 (“More about Anne”). Scrapbook of Reviews, 80. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 162–63.
Colorado Springs Gazette, 29 August 1915, 16.
Duluth (MN) News Tribune, 5 September 1915, Section 3, 5. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 163 (as “[Presumably the Last]”).
Lexington (KY) Herald, 5 September 1915, Section 4, 3.
The Bookseller, Newsdealer and Stationer (New York), 15 September 1915, 325. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 163 (as “[Good Times at College]”).
The Publishers’ Weekly (New York), 18 September 1915, 790 (Rebecca D. Moore). Scrapbook of Reviews, 79. Children’s Literature Review, edited by Gerard J. Senick (Detroit: Gale, 1985), 8: 137 (excerpted). The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 163–64 (as “[A Story of Young Life]”).
ALA Booklist (Chicago), October 1915, 35. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 164 (as “[A Sunny Young Woman]”).
Wisconsin Library Bulletin (Madison), October 1915, 298. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 165 (as “[Anne Goes to College]”).
Grand Rapids (MI) Press, 1 October 1915, 12.
Boston Advertiser, 2 October 1915 (“‘Anne of Green Gables’ in a New Role”). Scrapbook of Reviews, 86. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 165.
New York Herald, 4 October 1915. Scrapbook of Reviews, 77. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 165–66 (as “[Plenty to Entertain]”).
The Living Age (New York), 16 October 1915, 192. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 166–67 (as “[Sentiment and Fun]”).
Times Literary Supplement (London), 4 November 1915, 395. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 167 (as “[The Simple but Sentimental Chronicle Continued]”).
The Scotsman (Edinburgh), 11 November 1915, 2. Scrapbook of Reviews, 85. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 167 (as “[Slips between the Cup and the Lip]”).
North American (Philadelphia), 13 November 1915 (“Irresistible Heroine of Green Gables and Avonlea”). Scrapbook of Reviews, 82–83. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 167–68.
Daily Graphic (London), 17 November 1915 (“Anne Engaged”). Scrapbook of Reviews, 76. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 169.
The Publishers’ Weekly (New York), 20 November 1915, 122.
Spectator (London). 4 December 1915, 796. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 169 (as “[Anne’s College Life and Engagement]”).
The Bookman (London), Christmas Book Supplement 1915, 82. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 170 (as “[Completed Trilogy]”).
Whit Weekly (Kingston, ON), [ca. 1915]. Scrapbook of Reviews, 74.
Atlanta Christian Index, 20 January 1916. Scrapbook of Reviews, 88.
Published on 1 August 2008; last updated on 30 March 2024. Please contact the site owner with additions, corrections, questions, and suggestions.