Anne's House of Dreams

I have just finished reading the book and my heart is overwhelmed by a flurry of emotions. This book has made me laugh, weep, and gasp for all the right reasons. Anne's House of Dreams is a complete departure from her predecessors, because it discusses more complex, mature themes than the last books. I find that the general tone of the book is in keeping with the position of Anne in her life, where she has completely crossed the threshold of womanhood and left her adolescence in fond memories in the past. Anne is wrought with different sets of challenges and introduced to a different environment in Four Winds where her ans Gilbert's house of dreams is situated. And new friends were made along the way. I truly admire LMM's ability to discuss such complex themes as grief, regret, and womanhood in a children's book delicately and concisely. It makes me think that her years of being a teacher might have played a role in her ability to broach such difficult subjects to children in bite-size, manageable manner.

I enjoy witnessing Anne's progress through womanhood, but most of all, i enjoy picturing the beautiful life she's having with her love, Gilbert in their heavenly house of dreams. It seems that Gilbert's dream of having home with a hearth, a cat and a dog, the footsteps of friends, and Anne- has finally come true.

I wish I had an Anne in my life to fix me up as it is quite obvious I am not one, feel just a little resentful that she can be so oblivious to the suffering of people even when it is so obvious to others like me, but it really helps that she accepts people as they are without much resentment, even if she couldn't understand their feeling and actions.

It was so great to read this book again. It brought back wonderful childhood memories sitting in my backyard getting lost in Anne's life!