Hello to my fellow kindred spirits, and welcome to the final discussion of Anne of Windy Poplars by L.M. Montgomery! I am absolutely terrible at remembering names, and I spent half this book trying to remember who all these Summerside characters were – did anyone else have this problem?

Please keep r/bookclub’s spoiler policy in mind in the discussion, as not everyone is familiar with the book series or the various adaptations. Anyway, on to the recap!

Section summary

Second year, chapter 9

Anne writes a letter to Gilbert, in which she confesses some of the things she is afraid of, and explains that she has caught this way of thinking from Cousin Ernestine Bugle, who Rebecca Dew refers to as “Miss Much-afraid”. However, she cheers up and suggests that she and Gilbert should make an effort not to be afraid of things as it is such dreadful slavery, and goes on to describe the beautiful weather they have been having.

Second year, chapter 10

Someone called Hazel sighs to Anne about how different she is (#notlikeothergirls), and I had to stop reading for a moment because I had no memory of this character. A quick search through the ebook confirmed she has never been mentioned before, although it gave me a helpful reminder that the only sighting of Gilbert in this book so far was to describe “a tall young man with hazel eyes and the beginnings of a moustache”.

Anyway, back to Hazel. She tells Anne that nobody understands her, but she knew Anne would as soon as they met. She explains to Anne how she went for a moonlit walk with Terry the night before last (Terry has also never been mentioned before this chapter btw) and had agreed to marry him, but is now distraught because it was just the influence of the moon that made her say yes, or something. Anne advises just telling Terry that she doesn’t want to marry him, but Hazel thinks she can’t because people are already congratulating them on their engagement, and everyone thinks Terry is a great catch. She also casually mentions that while she was getting engaged she was actually thinking about a green dress she wanted to wear to a party, but unfortunately that party was cancelled because “Joan’s uncle had to go and die” (how rude!). Anyway Hazel doesn’t want to get married, she would like to have a career like, um, being a nun (even though she isn’t a catholic) or being a nurse who falls in love with her millionaire patient. Someone needs to send this girl to a proper guidance counsellor because her career ideas do not seem to be well thought out.

Anne agrees to talk to Terry and to try to get Hazel out of this situation. Hazel adds that Anne couldn’t possibly understand what a terrible curse it is to be so beautiful. After she leaves, Rebecca Dew describes Hazel as “nothing but skim milk pretending to be cream”, which is probably my favourite part of this chapter. While Hazel is away in Kingsport visiting friends, Anne talks to Terry, who she feels quite motherly towards, although he seems to have different feelings. He tells Anne he isn’t really engaged to Hazel, and that he was swept off his feet by the moonlight as well, and doesn’t know how to rectify the mistake. Anne tells him Hazel also wants to be free, so Terry takes the opportunity to try flattering Anne about how the moonlight makes her look, but thankfully Anne bounces out of there.

Second year, chapter 11

Anne is correcting exam papers in her room, suffering from a cold, when Hazel storms in and accuses her of trying to lure Terry away from her. Apparently Terry had told her that Anne said Hazel wanted to break their “sacred engagement” and that she hadn’t expected Anne to take her seriously when she said she could never marry Terry. She accuses Anne of being jealous of her youth and happiness, and that she should have known she was dangerous with her red hair and green eyes. Anne is angry at first, but somehow finds the humour in this ridiculous situation. Hazel denies having had ideas of pursuing a career, as she is not “one of those dreadful new women”. She storms out again, telling Anne that she will leave her to her conscience. Anne reflects that she enjoyed Hazel’s flattery, and tells herself that she enjoyed the idea of saving people from their own folly.

Second year, chapter 12

A week later, Anne receives a letter from Hazel to tell her that the misunderstanding has all been cleared up, and she and Terry are so happy that they have decided to forgive her for trying to tear them apart, and that perhaps she just wanted material for a story. The couple are going to be married as soon as Hazel’s trousseau is ready, and she knows they will be rapturously happy. She includes a few insults for Anne, including advice on getting rid of her freckles.

Second year, chapter 13

Anne goes home to Avonlea for the summer, but Gilbert won’t be there as he has gone west to work on the building of a new railroad. Anne had convinced Mrs Campbell to let Elizabeth go with her for a fortnight, but and Anne promises to call her Miss Elizabeth when she introduces her to people as it will feel grown up. Elizabeth has a wonderful time on the journey, with fourteen Tomorrows to look forward to, and enjoys her trip as a world of romance. Davy and Dora adore her and spoil her (thankfully Davy doesn’t lock her up anywhere, that we know of anyway). Anne tells Elizabeth she can make as much noise as she likes, because she has to be so quiet at The Evergreens, but she doesn’t want to even though nothing prevents her. When she leaves, Elizabeth wonders if she will ever have such a happy fortnight again.

Katherine Brooke and her dog come to Green Gables for the rest of the summer. Katherine has resigned from her teaching job, and plans to take a secretarial course at Redmond University. Anne had advised her to do this, but will miss having her at the school.

Third year, chapter 1

Anne writes another letter to Gilbert, in which she tells him how she will miss Katherine, and that the new junior teacher is jolly yet shallow. The old red cow at Windy Poplars has died, and instead of getting a new one the widows are going to buy milk and cream, meaning there will be no more giving milk to Elizabeth. Aunt Kate has told Anne that they are going to give Dusty Miller away as Rebecca Dew does nothing but complain about him.

The next day, Anne is going to look after Mrs Raymond’s twins (never mentioned before this chapter) while she is at a funeral in Charlottetown. Anne thinks the children, a boy and a girl aged eight who are called Gerald and Geraldine (oof), are angelic looking. However, Rebecca Dew made a face when she heard Anne was going to look after them because she already knows they’re a pair of holy terrors, and she blames Mrs Raymond’s lack of discipline. They threw Spanish onions at a minister’s wife and KNOCKED OFF HER HAT, so they are clearly evil. Also, their mother is American, which Rebecca seems to think explains everything.

Third year, chapter 2

Anne goes to babysit the twins, who look like little cherubs and smile sweetly when she is introduced to them. Mrs Raymond admits privately to Anne that she may spoil them a little, but she thinks love is better than spanking. She could have taken one of them with her, but the twins have never been separated, and she couldn’t manage both. Just as she leaves, she realises Gerald has the coyote skin from the parlour floor tied around his neck by the paws and she doesn’t want him to ruin it. I have so many questions. Geraldine tries to throw her brother out the bathroom window, and Anne suggests that instead they could sit in the garden together to play games and tell stories.

The doorbell rings, and it is Miss Pamela Drake. She has never been mentioned before this chapter, but she is unpopular as she is always selling stuff people don’t want but is impossible to get rid of as she is impervious to snubs and hints. She tries to sell Anne an encyclopaedia, even though the school already has one, but she is determined. Anne is on the point of signing the documents out of sheer politeness, but Gerald helpfully chooses that moment to use a fishing rod to pull of Miss Drake’s hat, spectacles and false front (I think this is a hairpiece?). Anne mildly reprimands Gerald for being ungentlemanly, but recognises that he rescued her from an awkward position as Miss Drake has stormed off without landing the order. Anne and the twins have a nice lunch, and they help her clear up afterwards, and she reflects that all the children need is wise training and a little firmness.

Third year, chapter 3

Mr James Grand from the high school board of trustees calls by the house after lunch to talk to Anne about school matters. You guessed it – he’s never been mentioned before this chapter. Anne wants to get him on side for some upcoming battle for new equipment, so she asks the twins to play nicely in the backyard while the adults talk, and promises them a nice picnic and blowing soap bubbles if they are good. Gerald demands a quarter each if they behave, and Anne is taken aback but doesn’t seem to see that this does not bode well.

A girl called Ivy Trent comes by. Nope, she has never been mentioned before this chapter. The twins don’t like her because she is well behaved and has lots of nice stuff. She wants to show off her new outfit, which goes down like a cup of cold sick with the twins, especially Geraldine as she doesn’t have a fancy sash or shoulder bows or boots with buttons. She mimics Ivy to annoy her, and Ivy isn’t sure how to react so she tells Gerald that he will be her beau. They argue, and Gerald suggests tearing the bows and sash off her. The twins drag her into the woodshed, rip them off her and paint her legs with some leftover paint, then put a load of burrs in her hair. Ivy says she’ll tell her mother, and they pelt her with the bows as she runs away crying. The twins sneak up the back stairs so Anne won’t see them.

Third year, chapter 4

Mr Grand leaves. Anne wonders where the children have got to, and the silence makes her uneasy. Mrs Trent arrives with a sobbing Ivy, and demands to see Mrs Raymond. She doesn’t blame Anne for what happened to Ivy, which I found a bit weird. As a punishment, Anne makes Geraldine go to bed for two hours, and makes Gerald spend two hours locked in the hall closet which is actually a room with a window and chair. The children protest because they have never been separated.

Geraldine falls asleep, and after an hour Anne thinks that Gerald has taken his punishment like a man and might be forgiven, but it turns out he has escaped out the window. Anne finds him in a pond, poling himself about in a flat, but as she watches the pole gets stuck and Gerald is tipped into the water. Geraldine appears in her nightgown and jumps into the water, which is pretty shallow and only comes up to Gerald’s waist. The children shiver with cold, and Anne has to put them to bed with hot water bottles and calls the doctor, who assures her that they are fine. Mrs Raymond is cross that Anne let her little treasures get into such danger, but Anne is not bothered as the children had disobeyed her. As she leaves, the children hug her and say they hope there will be a funeral every week so she can look after them. Back at Windy Poplars, Anne tells Rebecca Dew that she used to think the adage “children should be seen and not heard” was harsh, but after babysitting those little shits she sees the value of it.

Third year, chapter 5

Anne writes to Gilbert, and tells him how Mrs Raymond begged her to forgive her for her hasty behaviour. She quite likes her, but does not offer to look after the twins again. Much of Summerside society is talking about Jarvis Morrow and Dovie Westcott, who funnily enough have never been mentioned before this chapter. The pair have been engaged for over a year but haven’t got married.

Dovie’s father, Franklin, is severe and everyone thinks he murdered his wife. He has banned Jarvis from their house, despite being a decent lad with good prospects, and Rebecca Dew thinks he wants Dovie to be an old maid so she can be his housekeeper when her Aunt Maggie dies. Anne is fond of the pair, and decides to meddle before Jarvis gets tired of Dovie and goes for some other girl.

Anne is also worried about Elizabeth, who is nearly 10 now, as the two old ladies don’t know what she needs spiritually and emotionally.

Third year, chapter 6

Jarvis tells his woes to Anne, who advises him to elope with Dovie. He has suggested it before, but Dovie is so frightened of her father she won’t do it. Jarvis wants her to come to his sister Julia Stevens’ house where a minister could marry them respectably, then they could spend their honeymoon with his Aunt Bertha in Kingsport which sounds super fun. Anne recommends that Jarvis tell Dovie to choose between him and her father, but Jarvis is worried she will choose her father. Anne thinks they should stop shilly-shallying, and that it is better for him to know one way or the other.

A few days later, Dovie asks Anne for advice; Jarvis has suggested they elope the following week while her father is out of town. Anne says she needs to choose between them, and that being married among his friends isn’t really eloping anyway. Dovie resolves to tell Jarvis to get the marriage licence and that they will marry while her father is away on Tuesday.

Third year, chapter 7

Tuesday is a gloomy November day, Anne reflects that it isn’t a great day for a wedding. She wonders if it will be her fault if the situation doesn’t turn out well. That night, Jarvis knocks on the front door and tells her that they have been waiting for hours but Dovie didn’t come as planned, and he is afraid that her father has caught her. He asks Anne to go to the house to see what’s up. Aunt Maggie lets her in, telling her that Dovie is already in bed.

Anne finds Dovie crying in bed, but she finds this exasperating for some reason. Dovie confesses that she feels there is something disgraceful about eloping, with no church or presents or decorations. Anne orders her to get dressed and come with her, and they put her into her rose taffeta dress. Anne says she can get a trousseau later.

Dovie looks lovely in her dress, and the tears haven’t spoiled her face. Jarvis is a bit irritated, and tells her to stop looking so scared about marrying him and not to cry as it will make her nose swell. The wedding goes ahead, and the couple tell Anne it is all thanks to her. Dovie requests that Anne break the news to her father, and comfortingly says that her father can’t kill Anne. Anne tells Rebecca Dew the whole story when she gets back to Windy Poplars.

Third year, chapter 8

Anne goes to Elmcroft to tell Franklin Westcott about the wedding of Dovie and Jarvis, and wonders which tales of his rage and violence might be true. Mr Westcott isn’t there but is expected soon, so Anne waits for him in the library. When he arrives, Anne recalls that her first impression of him was that of a rather gentlemanly pirate.

She gets straight to the point, and tells him about the wedding. After a long pause, Mr Westcott laughs, and confesses that he wanted Dovie to marry Jarvis since they were children but that he couldn’t back down, so Anne has helped him to save face. His plan the whole time was to make it known that Jarvis couldn’t marry Dovie, as the Morrows have a contrary streak and want what they can’t have, or something. It all worked out as planned, except for the minor detail that Dovie has been living in terror of her father for years.

After that is all cleared up, and Mr Westcott adds that he didn’t kill his wife, Anne heads off to attend a staff meeting. Mr Westcott says he will throw a party for the couple when they return, but will pretend to be heartbroken to keep up appearances. Anne agrees not to give the secret away to anyone. Back at Windy Poplars, Anne tells Rebecca Dew that she thinks Mr Westcott took it ok and that he will forgive Dovie in time.

Third year, chapter 9

Anne writes to Gilbert, and says she will be having supper the next night with Miss Minerva Tomgallon, the old lady of Summerside. As you probably already know, she has never been mentioned before this chapter. Rebecca Dew reacts to the invitation as if Anne has been invited to supper at Buckingham Palace, and says she’s never heard of any principals being invited there before. She recommends that Anne wear her fanciest dress.

Anne also tells Gilbert that she can’t bear the thought of leaving Elizabeth with the two old ladies, so she wrote to her father in Paris, using an address for the company he works at there. She advised that he ought to take Elizabeth as her upbringing is too strict. What prompted this letter is that Elizabeth wrote a letter to god asking him to bring her father back into her life, as she thought god might pay more attention to a letter than an ordinary prayer.

Aunt Kate also found a home for Dusty Miller with Mrs Edmonds, but Rebecca Dew was fuming about it and said she would leave at the end of the month. Aunt Chatty brought Dusty Miller back, and Rebecca has not complained about him since. Anne wonders if the whole thing was just more reverse psychology, but Rebecca feels she has got the better of the widows again.

Third year, chapter 10

Anne goes to Tomgallon House for supper, and wishes she had worn her cream gauze after all as Miss Minerva is regal in black velvet with loads of diamonds, and of course a massive brooch surrounded by a braid of some dead relative’s hair. She tells Anne about some of the visitors they have had in the past, and mentions a family curse. She points out various places where relatives have died in interesting ways, and mentions others who were disfigured or even disappeared – all part of the curse.

Third year, chapter 11

The supper is excellent, but Anne is afraid to speak in case she starts another avalanche of tragedies from Miss Minerva. A sleek black cat arrives and Miss Minerva gives him a saucer of cream, which humanises her for Anne. After supper, and some more family tales, they go to one of the three drawing rooms where Anne does some crocheting and Miss Minerva knits an afghan while telling even more stories. Anne asks if anything pleasant has ever happened in the house, and Miss Minerva says they have, and asks if it is true that Anne is writing a book about everyone in Summerside. She is disappointed when Anne says no, but says she can use any of her stories if she changes the names.

Miss Minerva insists that Anne cannot go home in the rain, and that she should stay the night. They have cinnamon toast and cocoa, then Anne is shown to a guest room. Miss Minerva gives her a nightgown that her mother died in, which is probably my favourite thing from this chapter. Anne is a little frightened of trying to sleep in the house at first, but reminds herself that just as many lovely things must have happened too.

The next day, Miss Minerva tells Anne how much she has enjoyed her visit, and reveals that it was her birthday the day before – there is nobody left to remember her birthday now. Back at Windy Poplars, Anne asks Aunt Chatty if all those things really happened to the Tomgallons, and she says they did. She thinks there might have been a curse from the carpenter who built the house, but she can’t remember the details.

Anne writes to Gilbert and tells him that the old Tomgallon house feels like Yesterday, and she is glad that she doesn’t live in Yesterday. She asks that no matter how old they get, that they don’t ever see life as all tragedy and revel in it the way some people do. She hopes when they get their house of dreams that it will be new, ghostless and traditionless, or at the very least have been occupied by happy people.

Third year, chapter 12

We see things from Elizabeth Grayson’s perspective, and how her life felt different when Anne Shirley arrived in Summerside. She can’t bear the thought of Anne leaving, and knows that her grandmother won’t let her visit Green Gables again.

Anne tries to reassure her, but she never got a response from Elizabeth’s father and she doesn’t know what will become of her.

In June, Anne is going to Flying Cloud to see Mrs Thompson from Ladies’ Aid (of course, she has never been mentioned before this chapter) and asks if she can take Elizabeth with her. Her grandmother agrees because of the whole cannibalism secret from the last section. Anne and Elizabeth go to Flying Cloud, which is an islet about a quarter of a mile offshore with a house on it. They row out in a flat, and Elizabeth is super impressed that Anne can row. Anne goes to find Mrs Thompson, who is out picking wild strawberries, and leaves Elizabeth in the living room as she seems tired.

A man comes through the door and talks to Elizabeth, who is initially frightened but decides he seems friendly. She tells him her name, which he reacts oddly to, and her offers her some refreshment. She notices tenderness in his face as he talks to her. She explains about Tomorrow, and how she has always wanted to get there. As Elizabeth and Anne leave the island, Elizabeth is somehow hit by an out-of-control team of horses attached to a wagon.

Third year, chapter 13

Elizabeth wakes up and wonders where she is, and hears Anne talking to the nice man. Anne explains to her that she was hit by the runaway horses but she rowed her back to the islet and telephoned for a doctor. She also mentions that the man is Elizabeth’s father, which he confirms, and he says that he has come for her. The man thanks Anne for her letter, without which he wouldn’t have found a treasure he didn’t know he possessed.

Third year, chapter 14

Anne writes another letter to Gilbert, her last one from Windy Poplars. She looks forward to not needing to write letters because they will soon belong to each other forever, living in their house of dreams. She reflects on how three years apart sounded like ages at the beginning, but now they have gone, and they were happy years apart from that nonsense with the Pringles at the beginning. She updates him on what a few of the Summerside characters are going to do next, including Elizabeth, who has gone to Boston with her father.

Anne is sorry to leave Windy Poplars, and the other women in the house are sorry to see her go too, and even Dusty Miller seems to. Anne received a letter from Katherine the previous week, who has got a job as an MP’s private secretary. She has another supper with Miss Minerva, who managed to tell her some more family tragedies and gave her a set of aquamarine rings.

When she gets back to Green Gables, Anne plans to do nothing for a week and laze around enjoying herself.

As Anne leaves Windy Poplars, Rebecca Dew is not present, but has left a letter for her as she hates farewells. Anne promises to come back to visit them every summer.

Bookclub Bingo 2024 categories: Historical Fiction, Female Author, Bonus Book, Young Adult

The discussion questions are in the comments below. Thank you for joining us for Anne’s fourth outing!