Anne of Green Gables (AmazonClassics Edition) recap

Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert intend to adopt a boy to help at Green Gables, but a mistake sends them Anne Shirley, an imaginative red-haired orphan. Matthew immediately cares for her; Marilla gradually decides to keep her and grows to love her. Anne's temper and romantic ideas cause repeated disasters, yet she finds a devoted friend in Diana Barry, proves resourceful in a crisis, and wins a place in Avonlea's community. She treats Gilbert Blythe as an enemy after he mocks her hair, and their academic rivalry drives both toward Queen's Academy. Anne earns the Avery Scholarship, but Matthew dies and Marilla's failing eyesight endangers Green Gables. Anne gives up further study to stay home and teach. Gilbert surrenders the Avonlea school for her benefit, and she finally reconciles with him, accepting an altered future rooted in the home she once feared she would lose.

Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, unmarried siblings who live at Green Gables in Avonlea, decide to adopt an orphan boy who can help Matthew with farm work. Through a misunderstanding, eleven-year-old Anne Shirley is waiting at the station instead. Matthew, shy and gentle, is quickly charmed during the drive home by her nonstop conversation and delight in the landscape. Practical Marilla insists that the error must be corrected, devastating Anne, who has already begun to imagine Green Gables as her home. Anne explains that she has spent her childhood moving between difficult households and an orphan asylum, with little affection or security. When Marilla takes her to Mrs. Spencer to resolve the mistake, another woman offers to take Anne chiefly as unpaid help with children. Marilla recoils from that prospect and realizes she is unwilling to surrender the girl. She brings Anne back to Green Gables and decides to keep her on trial, while making clear that the lively child will require careful upbringing.

Anne begins learning the routines and expectations of Green Gables. Her unconventional prayer, elaborate imagination, and strong emotions repeatedly test Marilla's patience, but they also reveal how unfamiliar she is with being cared for. When outspoken neighbor Rachel Lynde criticizes Anne's appearance, Anne furiously insults her. Marilla requires an apology; Anne eventually delivers an extravagant one that satisfies Rachel and restores peace. Matthew remains Anne's quiet ally, while Marilla's stern guidance increasingly carries genuine concern. Anne attends church and Sunday school, though she is more interested in the flowers on her hat and in imaginative possibilities than in the dull lessons. Her greatest wish is to have a close friend. Marilla arranges for her to meet Diana Barry, the girl living across the pond. Anne and Diana immediately pledge lasting friendship, and Anne begins to feel that Avonlea can give her both the belonging and companionship she has long wanted.

Anne's delight in Avonlea is repeatedly interrupted by impulsive mistakes. After Marilla's brooch disappears, Anne invents a confession so she will be allowed to attend a picnic, only for the brooch to be found where Marilla left it. At school Gilbert Blythe teases Anne about her red hair. She breaks her slate over his head and refuses his apology, beginning a rivalry that continues even when their teacher punishes her unfairly. During a tea party Anne accidentally serves Diana currant wine instead of raspberry cordial. Mrs. Barry assumes Anne deliberately made Diana drunk and forbids the friendship. The separation leaves both girls miserable. Anne later faces an emergency when Diana's little sister Minnie May develops croup while the adults are away. Drawing on her earlier experience caring for children, Anne directs the treatment that keeps Minnie May alive until the doctor arrives. A grateful Mrs. Barry acknowledges Anne's competence and allows her friendship with Diana to resume.

Anne and Diana's midnight attempt to frighten a friend goes wrong when they leap onto a bed occupied by Diana's formidable Aunt Josephine. Anne's sincere apology and lively personality eventually win the older woman over, and the girls gain an unexpected friend. Anne continues to turn romantic ideas into mishaps: while acting out a story, she is stranded in a leaking boat and must accept rescue from Gilbert, yet she still rejects his attempt at reconciliation. Other disasters include flavoring a cake with liniment and falling from a roof after accepting a dare. Beneath the accidents, Anne is becoming more secure and capable. A new teacher, Miss Stacy, encourages the pupils with nature studies, exercises, and plans for a school concert. Matthew, recognizing how different Anne looks from the other girls, insists that she receive a fashionable dress with puffed sleeves. The successful Christmas concert and Matthew's gift confirm that Anne is no longer merely a trial resident at Green Gables but a cherished member of the household and community.

Anne's adventures gradually give way to adolescence and disciplined ambition. Attempts to dye her hated red hair leave it green and force a severe haircut; a reenactment of an Arthurian scene leaves her boat sinking. Miss Stacy organizes an advanced class to prepare selected pupils for the Queen's Academy entrance examination. Anne studies intensely alongside Diana, Jane, Ruby, Josie, and Gilbert. Her rivalry with Gilbert becomes quieter but remains a powerful motivation, even as she begins to understand that her old anger has isolated her from someone she respects. The passing seasons bring physical and emotional change, and Marilla feels both pride and sorrow as the talkative child matures. Anne and Gilbert tie for first place in the entrance results. At a hotel concert, Anne initially feels out of place among fashionable visitors, but her recitation wins the audience. She then leaves Avonlea for Queen's Academy, where she misses Green Gables while working through the compressed teacher-training course and competing with Gilbert for academic honors.

At Queen's Academy, Gilbert wins the gold medal while Anne receives the Avery Scholarship, which would fund further study at Redmond College. She returns to Green Gables full of plans, but family circumstances overturn them. The Abbey Bank fails, wiping out Matthew and Marilla's savings, and the shock contributes to Matthew's sudden death. Anne and Marilla grieve together, their restraint giving way to a more openly expressed love. Marilla then reveals that her eyesight is failing and that she may have to sell Green Gables because she cannot run it alone. Anne gives up the scholarship and chooses to remain home, planning to teach locally and continue studying independently. Gilbert, who had secured the Avonlea school, gives it up so Anne can take the post and accepts another assignment farther away. Anne thanks him, ends their long quarrel, and agrees that they can be friends. Her future has narrowed from her earlier plans, but Green Gables will remain their home, and she meets the changed path with hope.

Matthew dies suddenly after learning that the bank holding the Cuthberts' savings has failed. Soon afterward Marilla's worsening eyesight threatens to force her to sell Green Gables, because she cannot manage the farm alone. Anne, who has won the Avery Scholarship and planned to continue her education at Redmond College, gives up the scholarship so she can remain with Marilla and teach nearby. Gilbert has been appointed to the Avonlea school, but he quietly gives up the post so Anne can take it and accepts a more distant school himself. His generosity ends their long estrangement, and Anne finally offers the friendship he has wanted. Green Gables is preserved, Marilla is no longer alone, and Anne faces a smaller life than she expected but sees it as a beginning rather than a defeat.