Anne of the Island / Anne's House of Dreams

by L.M. Montgomery

Continues the adventures of Anne Shirley and her friends at college, and experiencing romance as they begin their years pf young adulthood.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Young Adult

461 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Lucy Maud Montgomery was a Canadian author whose novels, stories, essays and poems made her one of the most widely read writers in Canadian literary history. Publishing under the name L. M. Montgomery, she achieved international recognition with the novel Anne of Green Gables, released in 1908, which quickly became a bestseller and introduced readers to the imaginative orphan Anne Shirley. The success of the book transformed Montgomery from a schoolteacher and magazine contributor into a celebrated literary figure whose work reached audiences far beyond Canada. Raised on Prince Edward Island, she drew deeply on its landscapes, rural communities, and storytelling traditions, turning the island into the setting for many of her novels. The popularity of Anne of Green Gables led to numerous sequels, including Anne of Avonlea and Anne of the Island, establishing a beloved series that followed Anne from childhood to adulthood. Montgomery continued to write steadily throughout her life, producing twenty novels and more than a thousand short stories poems and essays. Her fiction often centered on young women, personal growth, and the emotional ties between people and place, combining gentle humor with reflections on memory, imagination, and belonging. Although she enjoyed enormous popularity, Montgomery also faced personal difficulties, including long periods of depression and the strain of caring for her husband, a Presbyterian minister who struggled with mental illness. Writing became both a profession and a refuge, allowing her to transform memories of childhood and observation of everyday life into vivid storytelling. In addition to the Anne series, she created other notable works, including the Emily novels and several stand alone stories that explored identity, creativity, and attachment to home. Her books were translated widely and attracted devoted readers around the world, helping shape the international image of Prince Edward Island as a place of pastoral beauty and warm community life. Scholars later studied her extensive journals letters and manuscripts, which revealed the complex inner life behind the cheerful tone of many of her books. By the time of her death in 1942, Montgomery had become one of the most successful and influential authors in Canadian literature. Her stories about imagination, resilience, and the search for belonging continue to inspire readers of all ages, and Anne Shirley remains one of the most recognizable characters in children's fiction. Through generations of readers, Montgomery's work has encouraged appreciation for storytelling, nature, and the emotional richness of ordinary life. Her legacy also includes a vast body of diaries and correspondence that document the challenges faced by a professional woman writer in the early twentieth century. Institutions such as the L. M. Montgomery Institute have continued to examine her influence on literature culture and tourism, particularly on Prince Edward Island, where sites associated with her fiction attract visitors from many countries. Adaptations of Anne of Green Gables for film, television, and theatre have introduced new audiences to her stories, ensuring that her characters remain part of global popular culture. Though critical opinion once dismissed her as merely a writer for children, later scholarship recognized the depth of her themes and the enduring craft of her storytelling. Today she is remembered as a central figure in Canadian literature whose imaginative vision gave voice to the beauty of rural life while celebrating the hopes of young dreamers who search for belonging.

Reviews

[Gretchen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been my favorite of all the Anne books. Reminds of my college days!

[Jess the Shelf-Declared Bibliophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

Check out my reviews on the main page of each individual book!

[Octavia Cade · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read and reviewed the two volumes collected here separately, so this is really just for my own records. Both got four stars from me, so the average is easy to work out. In a sense, the storyline is almost more cohesive when #4 in the series, Anne of Windy Poplars is cut out. Yes, it's a good book, but it's something of an interruption in the sense that Island is about the evolution of Anne's feelings for Gilbert and ends with their engagement, while Dreams follows their first couple of years of married life. The latter book was always my favourite of the Anne books anyway, and I do like her romance with Gilbert.

[Emma Bunting · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another bit of escapism for me in this delightful story. This book seemed to have more going on in it than the previous one, like new arrivals, sad loses and then the revelation about Dick! That was a bit of a surprise!

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a review of a separate copy of ANNE OF THE ISLAND, but this is my only copy of ANNE'S HOUSE OF DREAMS, so I will just review that. I loved, as always, more of Anne's story, and the beginning of her married life at Four Winds Harbour. Having read Anne at an older age when I myself was older, I love them equally as I did the young Anne when I was young. When I was young, I wasn't so interested in reading about Anne getting married, and having a grown-up life, but I appreciate her growing older as I have. And I love her dearly for it. The characters that come into her life, Miss Lavender, Paul Irving, and of course, the old dear ones, Marilla, Mrs. Lynde, and Diana, are, as always, such a delight, and Anne loves them as much as she could. I do, too. I can appreciate the beauty of her new home, living along the shores of the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick, only a hop, skip, and jump from Anne's own shores...

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book. One of my favorites of the "Anne series". The characters had many of the winning qualities that we expect from LMM's characters but were just a bit more enjoyable this time. Cornelia Bryant's comments and observations were so funny. On the other hand, Captain Jim brought tears to my eyes as Matthew's passing again. Descriptive passages were like poetry and I could almost vuisualize the harbour and the red cliffs. This was at least my 4th reading of this book and it gives more pleasure each time I read it.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is actually one of my favorite books in this series, and I am forever bitter that they mangled the movie version of it so badly. Montgomery is so good at writing real people, quirky crazy people that could still believably live next door. And, despite what most of the writing professors I have had may say, characters do not have do be sick and disturbed or spend 200+ pages doing horrible things to one another in order for them to be interesting.

[Natalie Little · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute.