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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
I went into this book with zero expectations, having read the Anne of Green Gables as a child where much of the writing style and language went over my head and left little impact on me. If you're expecting the happy go lucky, plucky attitude of Anne Shirley, you're not going to get the same story. But if you like historical fiction and you go into this story with an open mind, you may be pleasantly surprised.
Protagonist Jane Victoria Stuart, aged 11-13 through the course of the novel, has a very lonely life where she lives with a single weak-willed parent and a grandmother who despises her very existence. Jane's grandmother lives to criticize and consternate her every move. Jane's mother will never show her affection in her mother's view and is seldom allowed to be alone with her. Jane's schoolmates and cousins belittle and despise her and she has only one friend who is an orphan.
Jane has grown up believing she is an orphan but finds out through a catty classmate that she has a father (and he wishes she'd never been born!). Not long after, a letter from her father arrived, requesting that Jane visit him for the summer so they can get to know each other. Jane's whole life is upended, opening a world of love and acceptance she's never known before. She blooms and develops skills she was never allowed to attempt and her confidence and faith in humanity grows. The charming descriptions of life on P.E.I. were an added bonus. When she returns to her lonely "home" in Toronto, things would never be the same.
This story is truly one about the transforming power of love. I was moved in ways I had not expected. I was really impressed with this book and will be picking up a copy to keep at my soonest convenience.
Protagonist Jane Victoria Stuart, aged 11-13 through the course of the novel, has a very lonely life where she lives with a single weak-willed parent and a grandmother who despises her very existence. Jane's grandmother lives to criticize and consternate her every move. Jane's mother will never show her affection in her mother's view and is seldom allowed to be alone with her. Jane's schoolmates and cousins belittle and despise her and she has only one friend who is an orphan.
Jane has grown up believing she is an orphan but finds out through a catty classmate that she has a father (and he wishes she'd never been born!). Not long after, a letter from her father arrived, requesting that Jane visit him for the summer so they can get to know each other. Jane's whole life is upended, opening a world of love and acceptance she's never known before. She blooms and develops skills she was never allowed to attempt and her confidence and faith in humanity grows. The charming descriptions of life on P.E.I. were an added bonus. When she returns to her lonely "home" in Toronto, things would never be the same.
This story is truly one about the transforming power of love. I was moved in ways I had not expected. I was really impressed with this book and will be picking up a copy to keep at my soonest convenience.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There is no writing as beautiful, as inspiring, as easy to read nor does any book allow me to willingly and happily disappear into the world she creates, as L. M. Montgomery's books. This one was new to me, and I just adored it. I normally detest spineless characters, but even though I still cringed in the beginning, not once did I feel the urge to stop reading. She was a special author who no current author can quite emulate.
Sometimes you stumble across a book in which the turn of every page brings a ridiculous grin to your face. Watching Jane grow was so much fun, definitely one to read and reread for good measure :)
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I always get the itch to read this book around spring time. There are so many turns of phrases in here that I think about all the time. I think that's something I love about works of fiction that you reread frequently. It's not just that the characters become your friends, but that individual sentences become your friends. This book is still such a well of joy to me. Am I going to do another "Anne of Green Gables" reread? Who's to say.
Also, I realized I am very obsessed with works of fiction that like...set up spaces? Like I loved Boxcar children for the same reason. Especially the second book where they live in the barn on Surprise Island. A lot of "Anne" does this too and "Little Women." I just love domestic reads? I should read more fiction like that. I wonder if it would hit the same for me encountering that kind of fiction as an adult. Is it a magic that I can't capture anymore? - 2025
The most underrated of Montgomery’s work (that I’ve encountered). It is a brilliant, engaging stand alone novel. I actually think this is a very interesting look at life in the 1930s. It talks quite a bit about divorce and also self-confidence which are topics I would consider more modern. Also, I love and admire Jane so much as a character. I think we would be great friends. If you like the Anne books, you should definitely give this one a go. - 2019
Also, I realized I am very obsessed with works of fiction that like...set up spaces? Like I loved Boxcar children for the same reason. Especially the second book where they live in the barn on Surprise Island. A lot of "Anne" does this too and "Little Women." I just love domestic reads? I should read more fiction like that. I wonder if it would hit the same for me encountering that kind of fiction as an adult. Is it a magic that I can't capture anymore? - 2025
The most underrated of Montgomery’s work (that I’ve encountered). It is a brilliant, engaging stand alone novel. I actually think this is a very interesting look at life in the 1930s. It talks quite a bit about divorce and also self-confidence which are topics I would consider more modern. Also, I love and admire Jane so much as a character. I think we would be great friends. If you like the Anne books, you should definitely give this one a go. - 2019
This felt different to me than L.M. Montgomery’s other books. I still enjoyed it, but it took so much longer for me to get into. It didn’t feel quite like classic L.M. Montgomery and I was a bit sad.
I loved Jane once she got to Lantern Hill, and I loved her father. Both grandmother and aunt Irene were terribly obnoxious and unkind, and very realistically so. Jane’s mother was bland and had so little personality; she just drifts through life it seems.
Lantern Hill made the book. All the Toronto pieces of the story kind of had to be endured; maybe that was intentionally written in, to highlight the contrast.
Overall, I did enjoy it, but it is not my favorite of L.M. Montgomery‘s work by far.
I loved Jane once she got to Lantern Hill, and I loved her father. Both grandmother and aunt Irene were terribly obnoxious and unkind, and very realistically so. Jane’s mother was bland and had so little personality; she just drifts through life it seems.
Lantern Hill made the book. All the Toronto pieces of the story kind of had to be endured; maybe that was intentionally written in, to highlight the contrast.
Overall, I did enjoy it, but it is not my favorite of L.M. Montgomery‘s work by far.
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Growing up in her grandmother's huge and fancy house in Toronto, Jane's life with her beloved mother is a quiet one. A life of duty and speaking when spoken to and CERTAINLY never speaking of her father. But when Jane's father surprises them all with a request to join him for the summer on Prince Edwards Island, Jane doesn't even WANT to go. Why would she want to spend the summer with a man who doesn't love her in a place she's never seen?
Except, when Jane finally arrives on PEI, it doesn't feel at all like she's never seen it before. In fact, it feels more like "home" than anywhere she's ever lived and it's a place where she is free to be the kind of girls she's always wanted - but it would never be perfect until she can be with her mother also. Will Jane ever be able to have everyone she loves with her at the same time?
OH JANE. I know I can't be quite objective when I talk about this delightful book because it is SO nostalgic to me. I watched a film about Jane so many times growing up and although I now know that the film is far more supernatural than the book, the FEELING of it is still the same. PEI is STILL as magical and Jane's family is still just as broken but you have the same hope it can be mended. I love strong young heroines at the heart of my stories and Jane is particularly delightful. She WANTS to be productive, she wants to be hard-working and capable, with her hands covered in dirt or dough - all things that felt not-allowed in her lady-like life in Toronto. Her descriptions of her carefree (or care-filled, depending on how you look at them) summers on PEI were just a pleasure to read. This one was a total charmer for me.
Except, when Jane finally arrives on PEI, it doesn't feel at all like she's never seen it before. In fact, it feels more like "home" than anywhere she's ever lived and it's a place where she is free to be the kind of girls she's always wanted - but it would never be perfect until she can be with her mother also. Will Jane ever be able to have everyone she loves with her at the same time?
OH JANE. I know I can't be quite objective when I talk about this delightful book because it is SO nostalgic to me. I watched a film about Jane so many times growing up and although I now know that the film is far more supernatural than the book, the FEELING of it is still the same. PEI is STILL as magical and Jane's family is still just as broken but you have the same hope it can be mended. I love strong young heroines at the heart of my stories and Jane is particularly delightful. She WANTS to be productive, she wants to be hard-working and capable, with her hands covered in dirt or dough - all things that felt not-allowed in her lady-like life in Toronto. Her descriptions of her carefree (or care-filled, depending on how you look at them) summers on PEI were just a pleasure to read. This one was a total charmer for me.