Dear Kindred Spirits,
This final week of Anne’s House of Dreams took us on quite the emotional roller coaster! What did you think—was it predictable? Were you surprised by the twists and turns? Do you enjoy this level of drama in the Anne series?
Let’s talk about Leslie. She takes Dick Moore (or so she thinks!) to Montreal in the anticipation that surgery might restore his memory—only to discover the man she’s cared for over the last 12 years is not Dick at all, but his cousin George. The real Dick died in Cuba over a decade ago. It’s a bit soap opera-y, but maybe that’s part of the series’ charm—big drama, big emotions, and, more often than not, happy endings.
But it’s not so simple for Leslie. She returns home alone, and while you’d think she'd feel relief, she feels lost. She misses Dick (aka George)—or at least the role she played in his life. After so many years as a caregiver, her identity is tangled up in that experience.
This is so common for caregivers and that complexity felt so real to me. Caregiving often becomes all-consuming, and when it ends, there’s grief—not just for the person, but for the life and self you built around them. Leslie’s every decision for the past 12 years has been dictated by caring for this other person.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere—Anne has another baby! There was no buildup, no hints… just, surprise and welcome! A little red-headed boy named James Matthew. Why do you think Montgomery chose to reveal it this way?
The final few chapters are a whirlwind! We get a political update in the series, which hasn’t occurred for several books. The liberals are voted in for the first time in 18 years and it is a topic of conversations around town. Miss Cornelia suddenly announces her marriage (wait–what?!). And of course Leslie and Owen are reunited and have their own happy ending.
And then comes the emotional passing of Captain Jim. Unlike Matthew’s quiet and sudden death earlier in the series, Captain Jim’s farewell is full of intention and preparation. He sees his life story published, he says his heartfelt goodbyes, he tells others of what he imagines for his own death, a child is named after him, and we assume that he takes his last breath with the sunrise just as he wished. It’s a touching, peaceful close to his chapter.
One line that stayed with me:
“Captain Jim is such good company for others that one can’t imagine him being anything but good company for himself, but he must often be lonely”
After several years of marriage and two babies; the wee lady Joyce and the wee man Jem; Anne and Gilbert prepare to leave their little house of dreams. Anne grieves the loss of her dear home. The move is bittersweet, but softened by Owen buying the house as a summer home for himself and Leslie.
I really felt the weight of that goodbye. Homes are meaningful—they carry our memories, rituals, growth, and loss. I appreciate how often this series highlights the significance of the physical spaces in which we attach ourselves.
I had this same type of mourning after saying goodbye to my last apartment, which was the first home I shared with my now-husband. There is a magic in creating a sense of home with someone else, and while of course we continue to create that magic in our new home, there’s nothing quite like that first home you build together. I loved everything about our rental, the rose bush that crawled up the front porch, the way we overlooked a dog park, the gardens we grew in the raised beds in the backyard.
And for Anne, her house of dreams is also where she buried her first child, and that can only deepen the grief she feels in this moment.
Here is the rental that I so adored, in Denver, Colorado. Do you have a house you think of, where the goodbye—even if you were moving on to something great— was particularly difficult?
So now I turn it over to you:
What are your reflections on Anne’s House of Dreams?
Tell us about your own house of dreams!
How do you feel about Anne’s transition into marriage and motherhood?
Do you still feel the presence of her childlike wonder? Does she still wander amidst the fairyland?
What do you think she has gained—and what might she have lost–in this phase of her life?
This is the last of the Anne books I own from my grandfather’s collection, so I’m currently hunting for a copy of our next read Anne of Ingleside.
📚 I’ll be sending out our reading plan for that on Monday, so stay tuned!
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Thank you for reading
Thank you for reading and joining me on this read-along of Anne of Green Gables!
To get these updates in your inbox, subscribe to Community Corner and turn on notifications for the Kindred Spirits Bookclub.
Your bosom friend,
Bri
This was my favorite book in the series since the first book. So much emotion with starting a family, saying goodbye to a dream home, saying goodbye to a life well lived in Captain Jim, and rebounding from a life of caregiving while embracing a new life moving forward.
My current home will be extremely difficult to walk away from someday, having lived here for over 25 years with an extensive garden outside and an extensive library inside that my life is so wrapped up in. In tge meantime, I just enjoy life.
Good luck with finding a copy of the next book in the series.