Anne of Avonlea is L.M. Montgomery’s second book, first published in September 1909 by Boston publisher L.C. Page and Company. It is the second of eleven books to feature Montgomery’s protagonist Anne Shirley Blythe, preceded by Anne of Green Gables (1908) and followed by Chronicles of Avonlea (1912), Anne of the Island (1915), 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 followed by Montgomery’s third book, Kilmeny of the Orchard (1910).
Although legend suggests that Montgomery wrote Anne of Avonlea as a response to the runaway success of Anne of Green Gables, she actually was asked to produce a sequel immediately upon signing a contract for her first book. In fact, the publication of Anne of Avonlea was delayed by a few months because Green Gables continued to sell too well.
The novel was the basis for two television miniseries: the BBC production of Anne of Avonlea (which also borrowed from Anne of the Island) and the Sullivan Entertainment production Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel (which on the Disney Channel aired as Anne of Avonlea: The Continuing Story of Anne of Green Gables).
Epigraph
“Flowers spring to blossom where she walks
The careful ways of duty,
Our hard, stiff lines of life with her
Are flowing curves of beauty.” —Whittier
Dedication
To
my former teacher,
Hattie Gordon Smith,
in grateful remembrance of her
sympathy and encouragement
Contents
I. An Irate Neighbour
II. Selling in Haste and Repenting at Leisure
III. Mr. Harrison at Home
IV. Different Opinions
V. A Full-fledged Schoolma’am
VI. All Sorts and Conditions of Men . . . and Women
VII. The Pointing of Duty
VIII. Marilla Adopts Twins
IX. A Question of Colour
X. Davy in Search of a Sensation
XI. Facts and Fancies
XII. A Jonah Day
XIII. A Golden Picnic
XIV. A Danger Averted
XV. The Beginning of Vacation
XVI. The Substance of Things Hoped For
XVII. A Chapter of Accidents
XVIII. An Adventure on the Tory Road
XIX. Just a Happy Day
XX. The Way It Often Happens
XXI. Sweet Miss Lavendar
XXII. Odds and Ends
XXIII. Miss Lavendar’s Romance
XXIV. A Prophet in His Own Country
XXV. An Avonlea Scandal
XXVI. Around the Bend
XXVII. An Afternoon at the Stone House
XXVIII. The Prince Comes Back to the Enchanted Palace
XXIX. Poetry and Prose
XXX. A Wedding at the Stone House
Reviews of Anne of Avonlea (50)
The Nation (New York), 2 September 1909, 212. Children’s Literature Review, edited by Gerard J. Senick (Detroit: Gale, 1985), 8: 134. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 70 (as “[The Next Few Years of Anne’s Life]”).
Boston Globe, 4 September 1909, 7. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 71 (as “[A Pretty Story Prettily Told]”).
Evening Star (Washington, DC), 18 September 1909, Part 3, 6. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 71 (as “[Anne of the Bronze Tresses]”).
Globe (Toronto), 18 September 1909, 14. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 72–73 (as “[A Prose Lyric of Rural Life]”).
Baltimore Sun, 19 September 1909, Second Section, 21 (“Anne of Green Gables Again”).
Los Angeles Sunday Herald, 19 September 1909, Junior Section, 5, 7 (Florence Bosard Lawrence). The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 73–74 (as “[Quiet Days in a Country Village]”).
Philadelphia Inquirer, “A Sequel to Anne of Green Gables.” 20 September 1909, 5.
New York Observer, 23 September 1909, 405.
Lethbridge Daily Herald, 25 September 1909, 7 (Anne). The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 74–75 (as “[Radiating Sunshine]”).
San Francisco Call, 26 September 1909, 7. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 75(as “[‘Let Well Enough Alone’]”).
Syracuse Herald, 27 September 1909, 4 (“More about Anne”).
The Bookman (New York), October 1909, 152 (Margaret Merwin). Children’s Literature Review, edited by Gerard J. Senick (Detroit: Gale, 1985), 8: 134–35 (excerpted). The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 75–76 (as “[Not Quite as Bewitching]”).
Insurance and Commercial Magazine (New York), October 1909, 153.
The Outlook (New York), 2 October 1909, 276. Children’s Literature Review, edited by Gerard J. Senick (Detroit: Gale, 1985), 8: 135 (excerpted). The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 76 (as “[A Little More Sentimental]”).
Zion’s Herald (Boston), 6 October 1909, 1265.
Boston Herald, 9 October 1909, 8 (“The Reappearance of Anne”). The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 76–77.
Times Literary Supplement (London), 14 October 1909, 379.
The Congregationalist and Christian World (Boston), 16 October 1909, 503.
Post-Standard (Syracuse), 16 October 1909, 4.
The Scotsman (Edinburgh), 21 October 1909, 2. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 77 (as “[Studies in Canadian Village Life]”).
Seattle Sunday Times, 31 October 1909, 8.
The Bookman (London), November 1909, 102–3. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 77–78 (as “[An Ideal Heroine]”).
The Home Journal (Toronto), November 1909, 9.
The Smart Set (New York), November 1909, 160.
The Christian Register (Boston), 4 November 1909, 1197.
Vogue (New York), 6 November 1909, 777. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 78–79 (as “[Sympathetic Prose Epic]”).
Tampa Morning Tribune, 21 November 1909, 22.
Life (New York), 25 November 1909, 746 (J.B. Kerfoot).
The Canadian Courier (Toronto), 27 November 1909, 13 (Jean Graham). The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 79 (as “[A Pleasing Chapter in Canadian Fiction]”).
Hartford (CT) Courant, 27 November 1909, 27.
ALA Booklist (Chicago), December 1909, 134.
The Canadian Magazine (Toronto), December 1909, 199. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 79–80 (as “[A Separate Entity]”).
Record of Christian Work (East Northfield, MA), December 1909, 1004–5 (A.M.V.).
St. Andrew’s Cross (Boston), December 1909, 5.
Duluth (MN) Evening Herald, 4 December 1909, 15.
The Living Age (New York), 11 December 1909, 702. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 80–81 (as “[An Exceedingly Pretty Story of Young Girlhood]”).
Plain Dealer (Cleveland), 11 December 1909, 6.
Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City), 12 December 1909, 36 (“Anne Grows Up”). The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 81.
Indianapolis Star, 15 December 1909, 9.
The Christian Advocate (New York), 16 December 1909, 2034.
The Independent (New York), 16 December 1909, 1355. Children’s Literature Review, edited by Gerard J. Senick (Detroit: Gale, 1985), 8: 135 (excerpted). The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 81 (as “[A Somewhat Commonplace Story]”).
Trenton (NJ) Evening Times, 20 December 1909, 2.
Saturday Night (Toronto), 1 January 1910, 15 (Hal.). The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 82 (as “[Commonplace, If Pretty]”).
New York Tribune, 8 January 1910, 8.
The Register (Adelaide, Australia), 8 January 1910, 4 (“Peaceful, Helpful Lives”).
Otago Daily Times (New Zealand), 5 February 1910, 5.
Argus (Melbourne, Australia), 11 February 1910, 5 (“A Young ‘School-Marm’”).
British Journal of Nursing, 5 March 1910, 196–97 (P.G.Y.).
Des Moines News, 12 March 1910, 5 (Robert A. Turner).
Los Angeles Herald Sunday Magazine, 17 April 1910, 2.
Published on 1 August 2008; last updated on 30 March 2024. Please contact the site owner with additions, corrections, questions, and suggestions.