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A review by savvannnna
Anne of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery
3.0
Anne of Ingleside is a noted departure from the previous books in the Anne series. While it’s still peppered with beautiful little passages, it seems to lack the vivacity of its predecessors and its more formulaic structure doesn’t suit Montgomery’s storytelling as well.
Although it is still titled after Anne, our beloved protagonist is a more minor character in Anne of Ingleside. The story instead follows Anne and Gilbert’s many children and their life at Ingleside, the house the Blythes moved to at the end of Anne’s House of Dreams. It’s some seven years since they moved in. The children are interesting, and Montgomery’s very skilled at earnestly capturing their irrational little minds and their idealism. But the book reads more as a series of short stories than as a novel, as it follows many brief anecdotes from different characters’ perspectives. It lacks the rich character study and meandering though linear plot of the other Anne books as a result.
The story itself is somewhat diffused—less poignant and more repetitive. While there are still beautiful scenes and unusual characters, both are less creative and less engaging. And while the previous books had an amazing tendency to richly portray houses as characters in themselves, full of personality, Ingleside seemed to lack its own defining soul. I was also disappointed to find that the strength and diversity of female characters that I so enjoyed in the previous books has also faded away. They are much more flat and conventional. It doesn’t bother me at all that Anne chose to take on a traditional, matronly role as stay-at-home-mom, but I wish that Montgomery continued to favourably portray alternatives to this lifestyle. I hope that this was not a deliberate choice to do away with unconventionality now that Anne is wholly an adult. Like the other books in the series, Anne of Ingleside has an obnoxious tendency to stereotype and marginalize atheists, French Canadians, Roma, and fat women.
The book in itself is well written and quite funny, but it pales considerably within the context of the series. It lacks the spark of the previous books, and I wonder whether this is because it no longer focuses on the effervescent protagonist and is obliged to divide its attention among so many characters. I would have preferred to continue experiencing the story through Anne’s perspective even though the children are appealing in their own ways. While I respect Montgomery’s attempt to try out a different narrative style, I think the structure she chose was ill suited to the series.
Although it is still titled after Anne, our beloved protagonist is a more minor character in Anne of Ingleside. The story instead follows Anne and Gilbert’s many children and their life at Ingleside, the house the Blythes moved to at the end of Anne’s House of Dreams. It’s some seven years since they moved in. The children are interesting, and Montgomery’s very skilled at earnestly capturing their irrational little minds and their idealism. But the book reads more as a series of short stories than as a novel, as it follows many brief anecdotes from different characters’ perspectives. It lacks the rich character study and meandering though linear plot of the other Anne books as a result.
The story itself is somewhat diffused—less poignant and more repetitive. While there are still beautiful scenes and unusual characters, both are less creative and less engaging. And while the previous books had an amazing tendency to richly portray houses as characters in themselves, full of personality, Ingleside seemed to lack its own defining soul. I was also disappointed to find that the strength and diversity of female characters that I so enjoyed in the previous books has also faded away. They are much more flat and conventional. It doesn’t bother me at all that Anne chose to take on a traditional, matronly role as stay-at-home-mom, but I wish that Montgomery continued to favourably portray alternatives to this lifestyle. I hope that this was not a deliberate choice to do away with unconventionality now that Anne is wholly an adult. Like the other books in the series, Anne of Ingleside has an obnoxious tendency to stereotype and marginalize atheists, French Canadians, Roma, and fat women.
The book in itself is well written and quite funny, but it pales considerably within the context of the series. It lacks the spark of the previous books, and I wonder whether this is because it no longer focuses on the effervescent protagonist and is obliged to divide its attention among so many characters. I would have preferred to continue experiencing the story through Anne’s perspective even though the children are appealing in their own ways. While I respect Montgomery’s attempt to try out a different narrative style, I think the structure she chose was ill suited to the series.