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At long last, Anne has realized her cherished ambition to attend Redmond College in Kingsport, Nova Scotia, and study for her B.A.  It took two years of working and saving to come up with her tuition, but when Anne finally reaches the longed-for day, she’s reluctant to leave her beloved Prince Edward Island.  She has some company in her exile, though: Queens Academy friend Priscilla will be studying at Redmond too, as will Gilbert Blythe and Charlie Sloane from Avonlea.  Anne arrives in Kingsport and quickly reunites with Priscilla, but even with her old friends around her, she feels countrified and out of place.  If we know anything about Anne, though, it’s this: it’s impossible to keep her down for long.

Sure enough, Anne begins to put “soul-roots” into Kingsport and soon finds that the big, unfriendly city starts to feel like home.  She’s helped along the way by long rambles in a charming graveyard and by her rollicking social life with Priscilla, Gilbert, and new pal Philippa Gordon.  When Anne and Priscilla’s friend Stella (another Queens graduate) comes to join them, the girls move into a sweet, charming cottage called “Patty’s Place,” complete with two china dogs guarding their hearth and Stella’s Aunt Jamesina keeping house for them.  Patty’s place is the scene of many girlish adventures over the next few years: studies, parties, and love affairs.

Yes, romance has begun to pop up in Anne’s world!  She receives several marriage proposals: two are laughably awful, but the other two… I won’t spoil things, but Anne has some big decisions to make.  There’s Roy Gardner: handsome, rich, and charming – in short, everything Anne has always believed her Prince Charming would be.  But then there’s Gilbert, who makes no secret of the fact that he wants more than just Anne’s friendship.  The question is, are Anne’s feelings for Gilbert deepening, or will he always be just friend material?

Anne of the Island is my favorite of the Anne books, and has been since the first time I read the series.  I love seeing Anne initially out of her element, and watching her fall in love with Kingsport and grow into a serious, purposeful young woman.  The safe, cozy atmosphere of Patty’s Place is the perfect place for Anne to spread her wings, knowing her girlfriends are right there to call her on her nonsense if necessary, while they all support and cheer one another on.  Her romantic misadventures are both amusing and dramatic, and the final scenes of the book – when it becomes terribly clear to Anne just who the right man for her is, but it might be too late – are heart-stirring.  I can’t think of a single thing I’d change about Anne of the Island – basically, it’s perfect.

Buy Anne of the Island, by L.M. Montgomery, here (not an affiliate link), or support your local indie bookstore!  I’m submitting this review as part of my Classics Club challenge.