What a heartbreaker. I cried and cried at the tragedies of The Great War (WWI) as experienced by the family and friends of the former Anne Shirley— now known as "The Mrs. Doctor." Once Anne married Gilbert, all the dreaminess of the earlier books trudges deeper into the stark darkness of responsibility and tragedy. This book spends so much time in church or on church gossip and other discussions of Christianity— when its not steeped in the military misery of war war war— that the only reason it held my interest was the lifetime of investment i've made in caring about Anne and her world. And the fact that L. M. Montgomery is actually a really excellent writer. I know i read this as a youth, yet how could i have understood the heaviness of the themes until my current wizened age? It was painful and annoying and i'm never going to read it again.