Anne of Windy Poplars

In this novel from L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series, Anne Shirley spends three years as Principal of Summerside High School while engaged to Gilbert Blythe, a medical student studying at Kingsport.

Anne settles into a boarding house called Windy Poplars on Spook's Lane, home to two elderly widows: the austere Aunt Kate and the sensitive, talkative Aunt Chatty. Their household helper, Rebecca Dew, a blunt and loyal woman, effectively runs the home. Anne is charmed by her tower bedroom and the household cat, Dusty Miller. She quickly learns, however, that a powerful local clan called the Pringles, known as "The Royal Family," controls much of Summerside's social life. The Pringles resent Anne because a cousin of theirs was passed over for the principalship, and two elderly matriarchs, Miss Sarah and Miss Ellen Pringle, lead the opposition from Maplehurst, the Pringle family home.

At school, Anne faces a campaign of insubordination organized by Jen Pringle, a clever student who mocks Anne, refuses homework, and orchestrates pranks. The Pringle parents are evasive when Anne appeals to them, and the family's influence ensures Anne is excluded from community events. Her difficulties are compounded by Katherine Brooke, the Vice-principal, a sarcastic woman who resents Anne for receiving the position she wanted and deliberately sends problem students her way.

Anne finds solace in a friendship with little Elizabeth Grayson, an eight-year-old living next door with her strict great-grandmother and a cold housekeeper. Elizabeth's mother died in childbirth, and her father, Pierce Grayson, lives in Paris and has never contacted her. Imaginative and lonely, Elizabeth speaks constantly of "Tomorrow," a magical future day when wonderful things will happen. Anne resolves to bring warmth into the child's life.

When Anne organizes a school play, Katherine insists Jen take the lead. Anne secretly coaches Sophy Sinclair, a talented but poor student, as an understudy. On performance night, Jen feigns illness to sabotage the production, but Sophy performs brilliantly. The humiliation provokes Jen to write an insult about Anne in a composition, and Anne sends Jen home requiring an apology. Open warfare begins.

The conflict resolves through an accidental discovery. Anne finds an old diary kept by a sailor who served under Captain Abraham Pringle, the patriarch revered by the Maplehurst ladies. The diary praises Abraham but contains a disturbing entry about his brother Myrom: After a shipwreck, Myrom's starving crew resorted to eating a dead crewmate. Anne sends the diary to Miss Sarah with a friendly note, believing the old ladies would appreciate the entries about their father. Miss Sarah and Miss Ellen arrive at Windy Poplars in alarm, convinced Anne is threatening to expose the Myrom entry. When Anne sincerely explains she never intended to show the passage to anyone, Miss Sarah is deeply moved and apologizes. Jen returns as a model student, and the entire Pringle clan embraces Anne.

With the Pringles as allies, Anne becomes involved in the lives of various Summerside residents. She attends a dinner where the patriarch Cyrus Taylor's stubborn silence terrorizes his family and threatens his daughter Esme's hopes of an engagement to Dr. Lennox Carter. Anne impulsively tells Dr. Carter that Mr. Taylor has gone deaf, prompting Cyrus's children to make provocative remarks while Cyrus seethes, unable to respond without revealing he can hear. The evening ends warmly when Cyrus breaks his silence, and Esme's engagement soon follows.

Anne arranges a day of freedom for Pauline Gibson, a meek woman controlled by her domineering eighty-year-old mother, who uses a wheelchair and refuses to let Pauline leave the house. By appealing to Mrs. Gibson's fear of gossip, Anne persuades her to let Pauline attend a cousin's silver wedding. Pauline returns radiant, calling it the most wonderful day of her life.

At Sally Nelson's wedding, Anne befriends Nora Nelson, who confides that she loves Jim Wilcox but pride prevents her from reaching out after a quarrel. Anne impulsively places a lit lamp in the attic window, an old childhood signal between Nora and Jim, then forgets about it. Jim sees the light and sails across the harbor in the middle of the night. In the ensuing commotion, Jim declares he has always wanted to marry Nora, and she accepts.

Anne's second year brings the story of Lewis Allen, a hardworking student who accompanies Anne on a canvassing trip through the countryside. They are turned away by James Armstrong, a reclusive farmer, but Armstrong's young son Teddy shyly offers them his apple turnover and chats warmly about his father. Lewis photographs the boy. Three weeks later, they learn Teddy has died of pneumonia. The photograph, the only image of the child, becomes a lifeline for the grief-stricken father. Lewis's own childhood photograph reveals a striking resemblance to Teddy, and Armstrong realizes Lewis is his nephew, the son of his half-sister. Armstrong invites Lewis to live with him as family.

Anne's most significant second-year achievement is breaking through Katherine Brooke's defenses. She persuades Katherine to spend Christmas at Green Gables, Anne's childhood home. During snowshoe walks through moonlit fields, Katherine confesses a bitter life: unwanted by her parents, raised grudgingly by relatives, and forced through Queen's on a debt she spent years repaying. Anne shares her own orphan childhood, and the two forge a genuine friendship. Katherine begins to transform, laughing freely and shedding years of isolation.

Anne learns a lesson about meddling when Hazel Marr, a dramatic young woman engaged to Terry Garland, begs Anne to tell Terry she does not love him. Anne obliges, but Hazel later accuses Anne of stealing Terry. The couple soon reconciles, and Anne admits she was carried away by the desire to play rescuer.

In her third year, Anne writes secretly to Elizabeth's father in Paris, urging him to take responsibility for his daughter. She also helps Dovie Westcott and Jarvis Morrow, whose romance is blocked by Dovie's domineering father, Franklin Westcott. Anne advises elopement and, when Dovie loses her nerve, marches her out of bed and delivers her to the wedding. When Anne breaks the news to Franklin expecting rage, he reveals he chose Jarvis for Dovie years ago, knowing the Morrow men always want what they are forbidden to have. He deliberately played the tyrannical father to make Jarvis more determined.

The emotional climax arrives in June of Anne's final year. Anne takes Elizabeth on an outing to Flying Cloud, a small harbor island. While Anne steps away, Elizabeth meets a kind stranger who orders her ice cream and regards her with deep tenderness. After they leave the island, Elizabeth is knocked down by runaway horses but is not seriously hurt. Anne brings her back to Flying Cloud, where the stranger is revealed to be Pierce Grayson, Elizabeth's father, who received Anne's letter and came to see his daughter. He tells Elizabeth they will never be separated again, and Elizabeth declares she has found her "Tomorrow."

As Anne prepares to leave Summerside for her marriage to Gilbert, she reflects on three years of transformations: Katherine Brooke has a position as private secretary to a member of Parliament, Lewis Allen is headed to university, and Elizabeth has gone to live with her father in Boston. Rebecca Dew, unable to say goodbye in person, leaves a formal, affectionate letter wishing Anne happiness. As Anne drives away from Windy Poplars, the last thing she sees is a large white bath towel waving frantically from the tower window: Rebecca Dew's farewell.