Because of formatting issues on the other one, I had to chop it short. I continue the summaries here.
Anne of Ingleside
Apparently this book was added later on, Rilla of Ingleside came first. If so, Montgomery's pretty good at maintaining the continuity. If you like children, these sketches are for you. Anne undoubtedly has some very adorable children. There's Jem, the baby of the House of Dreams, grown up in red-headed glory. Then there's Walter, the dreamy boy who's inherited his mother's literary ability and something more, something that will make him renowned. Nan and Di are the twins, Nan a very pretty girl with chestnut curls like her Father, and Di with Anne's red hair and grey-green eyes, for which reason she is undoubtably Gilbert's favourite. (Funny, I thought favouritism wasn't healthy for children. And I don't see Di's self-esteem having a good future with such a pretty twin.). Shirley belongs to Susan, the general helper at Ingleside. He's her little brown boy. I don't think I'd like my son to be possessed by any other woman, even if they were like a maid, and even if I had so many others. And then there's Rilla, who doesn't feature much in this book, aside from being decidedly chubby and vain and lisping, much as she is at the beginning of Rilla of Ingleside. And these children make up the bulk of the story. Of course, it begins with Anne and Diana renewing their friendship with a wild ramble, but you get the sense that she's a removed from her previous life, as lovely as that was, because it's the natural course of things. Then there's the advent of a terrible aunt, one of Montgomery's crowning triumphs as far as I'm concerned, because she makes me want to laugh and throttle her similtaneously. The rest of the book is sweet sketches of her children and their mishaps (obviously, they've inherited her mother's tendency for scrapes). At the end, there's a final episode between Anne and Gilbert, over the 'other woman' Christine Stuart. I really dislike how Montgomery made her into the 'other woman' character - in Anne of the Island, Gilbert talks of her as "one of the nicest girls he knows" and even Anne through her jealousy, doesn't say anything about any defects of character. But here she's morphed into some terrible, spiteful woman clutching at past beaus, poisoning everyones happiness with her malicious, insinuating speeches. It's too much stereotyping.
Rainbow Valley
I found this one a bit dull. I know I have a loyalty complex, but I dont' think that's what's at work here. I think it's just a case of too many minor characters. There are the 6 children of Anne and Gilbert, and then the children of the neighbours, and so none of them get much time or words, and none of them really stand out, except for Walter, because he's the sensitive but brilliant potential poet. The relationship between John Meredith and Rosemary West was neither touching or convincing - I think by now Montgomery's gotten into the habit of adding a dash of romance into everything she writes, but it's lost its charm. I hate to say this becuase Montgomery was my favourite author as a kid and hugely influencial in my childhood, but I think she's kind of milked her small-town-coziness stories dry.
Rilla of Ingleside
Or not. Rilla is a brilliant character because she gets a reaction out of you. At the beginning she was a vain, infuriating little thing, but undeniably the heroine of the story. There was no getting past her. She isn't much like Anne. Anne was a deep soul in a child's body, both quirky and fiery, but ultimately with a good heart. You know there isn't anyone else like her. The sum of Rilla, on the other hand, is vanity - at least at the beginning.
The beautiful thing about the whole story, however, is how she grows. I love comign of age and growth stories. They speak so much to me because I think we've all got things we need to improve upon and grow out of. I won't spoil it but by the end, Rilla is right up there near Anne, for me.
Coupled with this is the heartwrenching war. You get the same desperate sense of uncertainty as the folks who lived through it, and died a little every time a newspaper bearing casualty lists came along. It's loss and tension and living on even after you don't want to anymore. Someone very special to us dies - but of course you have to read it to know.
