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Plot Summary
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Plot Summary
Rainbow Valley, a novel in L. M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series, shifts focus from Anne Shirley Blythe to the children growing up around her in the small Canadian village of Glen St. Mary, on Prince Edward Island, in the years before World War I.
Anne and her husband, Dr. Gilbert Blythe, return to their home, Ingleside, after three months in Europe. Their housekeeper Susan Baker and old friend Miss Cornelia (formally Mrs. Marshall Elliott) share local news. The Glen's Presbyterian church has called a new minister, the Reverend John Knox Meredith, a brilliant but hopelessly absent-minded widower. His wife, Cecilia, died four years earlier, and he arrived with four children and his mother's elderly cousin Aunt Martha as housekeeper. The manse, the minister's residence, is in disarray. His children, Jerry (12), Faith (11), Una (10), and Carl (nine), run wild, play among tombstones in the old Methodist graveyard, and scandalize the community. Anne, however, recognizes them as kindred spirits.
The Blythe children, led by sturdy Jem and including the twins Nan and Di, gather for a trout supper in Rainbow Valley, a sheltered hollow that Walter, the family's dreamy, poetry-loving second son, named after seeing a rainbow arch over it. The Meredith children smell the cooking, come down from the manse hill, and join the meal. The two families bond instantly.
The Merediths soon discover Mary Vance, a starving runaway of about 12, hiding in a neighbor's barn. Mary fled from Mrs. Wiley, a cruel woman living across the harbor who took her from an orphan asylum and abused her for four years. The Merediths bring Mary to the manse, where she stays on, cleaning the house and becoming a lively, if sometimes difficult, companion. When Mary bullies little Rilla Blythe, Miss Cornelia investigates and discovers that Mrs. Wiley died the morning after Mary ran away. The Hopetown asylum writes to reclaim Mary. Shy, timid Una screws up her courage and begs Miss Cornelia to take Mary in. Moved by the plea, Miss Cornelia agrees, and Mary gains a permanent home. Before leaving, Mary fills Una's head with terrifying stories about stepmothers, planting a fear that troubles the girl for months.
When Mr. Meredith departs for Nova Scotia, Faith and Una lose track of the days and mistake Sunday for Monday, cleaning house on the Sabbath in full view of passing churchgoers. The scandal is enormous. Faith rises before a packed congregation to explain the innocent mistake, declares her father blameless, and insists he is the best father in the world. Her speech creates even more talk, and the next day she further scandalizes the Glen by daring Walter to ride a pig through the main street while she rides another.
One autumn evening, Mr. Meredith meets Rosemary West by chance at a hidden spring in Rainbow Valley. Rosemary is an unmarried woman in her mid-thirties who lives on the hill with her older sister Ellen and who lost her fiancé years ago in a shipwreck. They talk freely about books and music, and a quiet friendship develops. He begins visiting the West house regularly, though the formidable Ellen is always present.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Alec Davis, the wealthiest woman in the congregation, demands to adopt Una. Mr. Meredith, remembering Cecilia's dying request to keep Una close, refuses. Mrs. Davis storms out of the church and stops paying her large subscription, threatening the minister's salary. Faith resolves to act and walks to the home of Norman Douglas, a wealthy, hot-tempered man who left the church 20 years ago. Norman roars at her and orders her out, but she storms back in a fury and delivers a blistering tirade. Delighted by her spirit, Norman agrees to return to church and restore his financial contribution.
At school, a bully named Dan Reese taunts Faith and insults Anne. Walter, who has always avoided fighting, strikes Dan impulsively, knocking him off a fence. Dan demands a rematch, and after an agonizing night of dread, Walter thrashes him decisively. Mr. Meredith encounters Walter afterward and approves, telling him that fighting is sometimes justified when women are insulted.
Faith's beloved pet rooster, Adam, is killed by Aunt Martha to feed a visiting minister. When the minister lectures Faith in the study, his coat-tails catch fire from the grate, and Faith watches in silence. He demands to know why she said nothing; she replies that he told her not to interrupt. Afterward, Faith seeks comfort from Rosemary in Rainbow Valley, and the two become close friends. Mr. Meredith notices Faith's admiration for Rosemary and realizes his own feelings have blossomed into love.
He proposes to Rosemary on a night when Ellen is away. Rosemary loves him but cannot say yes: Years earlier, after their mother's death, the sisters clasped hands over their mother's Bible and vowed never to marry, so that the grief-stricken Ellen would never be left alone. Ellen refuses to release Rosemary from the vow. Rosemary writes Mr. Meredith a cold letter of refusal, and their friendship ends.
The manse children form a Good-Conduct Club at Jem's suggestion to regulate their own behavior and punish themselves for anything that might disgrace their father. A series of well-intentioned disasters follows: Faith gives away her only good stockings and goes to church bare-legged, then writes a letter to the local newspaper confessing the episode and other misdeeds. Anne delivers an impassioned defense of the Merediths, and Miss Cornelia vows to stop apologizing for them.
The children hold a graveyard concert on the Methodists' prayer-meeting night and fast as punishment until Una faints from hunger during a service. Faith explains to her father that they are bringing themselves up because "there is nobody to do it" (191). Mr. Meredith is anguished but cannot bring himself to marry anyone while he still loves Rosemary. After a ghost scare, the club sentences Carl to sit alone on a tombstone until midnight. It rains, and Carl develops double pneumonia and nearly dies. Norman Douglas brings food to the manse nightly during Carl's illness, often driving up the hill afterward to see Ellen.
Norman asks Rosemary to release Ellen from their mutual promise so he can marry Ellen. Rosemary agrees, but Ellen refuses to leave her sister alone, and the sisters reach a stalemate. Then Una, overhearing her father speak his anguish about Rosemary aloud in his study, understands his suffering for the first time. She visits her mother's wedding dress, a private shrine kept in a closet, and whispers that she must act for his sake. The next afternoon, Una walks to the West homestead and timidly asks Rosemary to marry her father. Rosemary explains her refusal was never because of the children. Una whispers what she overheard, and Rosemary realizes Mr. Meredith still loves her. She reassures Una that she will be a friend and helper, not a cruel stepmother, then writes a note asking Mr. Meredith to meet her at the spring at sunset. Una delivers it, and he reads it with joy.
A double wedding is announced: Mr. Meredith will marry Rosemary, and Norman Douglas will marry Ellen. On a final September evening, all the children gather in Rainbow Valley before Jem leaves for Queen's Academy. Walter speaks of the Pied Piper, the legendary musician whose irresistible piping leads children away, coming down the valley and piping the boys away round the world while the girls sit and wait. The narrator observes that the shadow of the Great Conflict has not yet arrived; the lads who will fight on the fields of France and Flanders are still roguish schoolboys. Jem springs up, tall and splendid, and cries a joyful welcome to the Piper. The novel closes on the threshold of a world-altering conflict the children cannot yet see.
Anne and her husband, Dr. Gilbert Blythe, return to their home, Ingleside, after three months in Europe. Their housekeeper Susan Baker and old friend Miss Cornelia (formally Mrs. Marshall Elliott) share local news. The Glen's Presbyterian church has called a new minister, the Reverend John Knox Meredith, a brilliant but hopelessly absent-minded widower. His wife, Cecilia, died four years earlier, and he arrived with four children and his mother's elderly cousin Aunt Martha as housekeeper. The manse, the minister's residence, is in disarray. His children, Jerry (12), Faith (11), Una (10), and Carl (nine), run wild, play among tombstones in the old Methodist graveyard, and scandalize the community. Anne, however, recognizes them as kindred spirits.
The Blythe children, led by sturdy Jem and including the twins Nan and Di, gather for a trout supper in Rainbow Valley, a sheltered hollow that Walter, the family's dreamy, poetry-loving second son, named after seeing a rainbow arch over it. The Meredith children smell the cooking, come down from the manse hill, and join the meal. The two families bond instantly.
The Merediths soon discover Mary Vance, a starving runaway of about 12, hiding in a neighbor's barn. Mary fled from Mrs. Wiley, a cruel woman living across the harbor who took her from an orphan asylum and abused her for four years. The Merediths bring Mary to the manse, where she stays on, cleaning the house and becoming a lively, if sometimes difficult, companion. When Mary bullies little Rilla Blythe, Miss Cornelia investigates and discovers that Mrs. Wiley died the morning after Mary ran away. The Hopetown asylum writes to reclaim Mary. Shy, timid Una screws up her courage and begs Miss Cornelia to take Mary in. Moved by the plea, Miss Cornelia agrees, and Mary gains a permanent home. Before leaving, Mary fills Una's head with terrifying stories about stepmothers, planting a fear that troubles the girl for months.
When Mr. Meredith departs for Nova Scotia, Faith and Una lose track of the days and mistake Sunday for Monday, cleaning house on the Sabbath in full view of passing churchgoers. The scandal is enormous. Faith rises before a packed congregation to explain the innocent mistake, declares her father blameless, and insists he is the best father in the world. Her speech creates even more talk, and the next day she further scandalizes the Glen by daring Walter to ride a pig through the main street while she rides another.
One autumn evening, Mr. Meredith meets Rosemary West by chance at a hidden spring in Rainbow Valley. Rosemary is an unmarried woman in her mid-thirties who lives on the hill with her older sister Ellen and who lost her fiancé years ago in a shipwreck. They talk freely about books and music, and a quiet friendship develops. He begins visiting the West house regularly, though the formidable Ellen is always present.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Alec Davis, the wealthiest woman in the congregation, demands to adopt Una. Mr. Meredith, remembering Cecilia's dying request to keep Una close, refuses. Mrs. Davis storms out of the church and stops paying her large subscription, threatening the minister's salary. Faith resolves to act and walks to the home of Norman Douglas, a wealthy, hot-tempered man who left the church 20 years ago. Norman roars at her and orders her out, but she storms back in a fury and delivers a blistering tirade. Delighted by her spirit, Norman agrees to return to church and restore his financial contribution.
At school, a bully named Dan Reese taunts Faith and insults Anne. Walter, who has always avoided fighting, strikes Dan impulsively, knocking him off a fence. Dan demands a rematch, and after an agonizing night of dread, Walter thrashes him decisively. Mr. Meredith encounters Walter afterward and approves, telling him that fighting is sometimes justified when women are insulted.
Faith's beloved pet rooster, Adam, is killed by Aunt Martha to feed a visiting minister. When the minister lectures Faith in the study, his coat-tails catch fire from the grate, and Faith watches in silence. He demands to know why she said nothing; she replies that he told her not to interrupt. Afterward, Faith seeks comfort from Rosemary in Rainbow Valley, and the two become close friends. Mr. Meredith notices Faith's admiration for Rosemary and realizes his own feelings have blossomed into love.
He proposes to Rosemary on a night when Ellen is away. Rosemary loves him but cannot say yes: Years earlier, after their mother's death, the sisters clasped hands over their mother's Bible and vowed never to marry, so that the grief-stricken Ellen would never be left alone. Ellen refuses to release Rosemary from the vow. Rosemary writes Mr. Meredith a cold letter of refusal, and their friendship ends.
The manse children form a Good-Conduct Club at Jem's suggestion to regulate their own behavior and punish themselves for anything that might disgrace their father. A series of well-intentioned disasters follows: Faith gives away her only good stockings and goes to church bare-legged, then writes a letter to the local newspaper confessing the episode and other misdeeds. Anne delivers an impassioned defense of the Merediths, and Miss Cornelia vows to stop apologizing for them.
The children hold a graveyard concert on the Methodists' prayer-meeting night and fast as punishment until Una faints from hunger during a service. Faith explains to her father that they are bringing themselves up because "there is nobody to do it" (191). Mr. Meredith is anguished but cannot bring himself to marry anyone while he still loves Rosemary. After a ghost scare, the club sentences Carl to sit alone on a tombstone until midnight. It rains, and Carl develops double pneumonia and nearly dies. Norman Douglas brings food to the manse nightly during Carl's illness, often driving up the hill afterward to see Ellen.
Norman asks Rosemary to release Ellen from their mutual promise so he can marry Ellen. Rosemary agrees, but Ellen refuses to leave her sister alone, and the sisters reach a stalemate. Then Una, overhearing her father speak his anguish about Rosemary aloud in his study, understands his suffering for the first time. She visits her mother's wedding dress, a private shrine kept in a closet, and whispers that she must act for his sake. The next afternoon, Una walks to the West homestead and timidly asks Rosemary to marry her father. Rosemary explains her refusal was never because of the children. Una whispers what she overheard, and Rosemary realizes Mr. Meredith still loves her. She reassures Una that she will be a friend and helper, not a cruel stepmother, then writes a note asking Mr. Meredith to meet her at the spring at sunset. Una delivers it, and he reads it with joy.
A double wedding is announced: Mr. Meredith will marry Rosemary, and Norman Douglas will marry Ellen. On a final September evening, all the children gather in Rainbow Valley before Jem leaves for Queen's Academy. Walter speaks of the Pied Piper, the legendary musician whose irresistible piping leads children away, coming down the valley and piping the boys away round the world while the girls sit and wait. The narrator observes that the shadow of the Great Conflict has not yet arrived; the lads who will fight on the fields of France and Flanders are still roguish schoolboys. Jem springs up, tall and splendid, and cries a joyful welcome to the Piper. The novel closes on the threshold of a world-altering conflict the children cannot yet see.
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By Lucy Maud Montgomery
