Anne’s House of Dreams opens with an event that Anne fans have been waiting for over at least three books – Anne’s wedding to Gilbert Blythe!  Can I just say a few words about Gilbert?  He’s one of my all-time favorite literary leading men.  I love that he starts out as a boy who tries to tell a girl he likes her by teasing her (“Carrots!  Carrots!”), that he waits patiently in the wings and contents himself with friendship until Anne is ready to return the love he’s been offering for years, and that he and Anne grow together into a strong, united pair.

After the wedding, Anne and Gilbert depart immediately for Four Winds, a harbor town in which Gilbert has inherited a medical practice and found a “house o’ dreams” for Anne.  Anne is delighted with the little house and with the local characters who immediately turn up to welcome her – including Miss Cornelia (Four Winds’ version of Mrs. Rachel Lynde, minus the husband), and Captain Jim, an old sea dog with a tragic past.  But Anne is most fascinated by her nearest neighbor, the reclusive, reticent and beautiful Leslie Moore.  Anne sets out to win Leslie’s confidence and friendship – and it’s no easy task, but our favorite redhead has yet to meet a soul she can’t win over.

Anne and Gilbert have a mostly blissful early marriage, but one tragedy mars their newlywed years – the loss of their first baby, “wee white lady” Joyce.  I remember blazing by that part without much thought when I read these books as a child and a teenager, but this time I was a soppy mess, having had a “wee white lady” of my own.  I kept thinking, there but for the grace of modern medicine go I.  This is why re-reading is great: the more life experience you have, the more you can inform your reading and relate to the characters.  A sad storyline that made little impression on me at age 12 brought a completely different flavor to the book when I read it as a mother who had her own fragile baby.  If anything, it was a better read because I was able to relate to Anne in a new way.

Anne’s House of Dreams is… I think… my second-favorite (after Anne of the Island) of the Anne books.  It’s close, though.  As I mentioned last week, I also love Anne of Windy Poplars, and Rilla of Ingleside… so.  These are just outstanding books.  The characters are so richly realized, the settings so gloriously detailed; the more times I read them, the more I find to love.

This review is part of my challenge to read and blog about 100 classic books in five years for The Classics Club.

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