Rilla of Ingleside
Encyclopedia
Rilla of Ingleside is the final book in the Anne of Green Gables
series by Lucy Maud Montgomery
, but was the sixth of the eight "Anne" novels she wrote. This book draws the focus back onto a single character, Anne
and Gilbert
's youngest daughter Bertha Marilla "Rilla" Blythe. It has a more serious tone, as it takes place during World War I
and the three Blythe boys -- Jem, Walter, and Shirley -- along with Rilla's sweetheart Ken Ford, and playmates Jerry Meredith and Carl Meredith -- end up fighting in Europe with the Canadian Expeditionary Force
.
The book is dedicated: "To the memory of FREDERICA CAMPBELL MACFARLANE who went away from me when the dawn broke on January 25, 1919 -- a true friend, a rare personality, a loyal and courageous soul." Frederica, Maud's cousin and best friend, grew up in Park Corner, PEI, but died in the worldwide flu epidemic. She may have been the model for Diana Barry, Anne of Green Gables' "bosom friend": both had unusual, non-Christian first names, and the fictional Diana's husband was named, perhaps not coincidentally, Fred Wright.
Rilla of Ingleside is the only Canadian novel written from a woman's perspective about the First World War by a contemporary.
A new, restored and annotated edition of Rilla of Ingleside, edited by Benjamin Lefebvre (editor of Montgomery's The Blythes Are Quoted
) and Andrea McKenzie, was published by Viking Canada in October 2010.
, Europe is on the brink of the First World War, and Anne's youngest daughter Rilla is an irrepressible almost-15-year-old, excited about her first adult party and blissfully unaware of the chaos that the Western world is about to enter. Her parents worry because Rilla seems not to have any ambition, is not interested in attending college, and is more concerned with having fun. (In an aside, it is revealed that Marilla has died; her date of death is not specified but Rilla states it was before she was old enough to know her very well.)
Once the Continent descends into war, Jem Blythe and Jerry Meredith promptly enlist, upsetting Anne, Nan, and Faith Meredith (who Rilla suspects is engaged to Jem). Rilla's brother Walter, who is of age, does not enlist, ostensibly due to a recent bout with typhoid but truly because he fears the ugliness of war and death. He confides in Rilla that he feels he is a coward.
The enlisted boys report to Kingsport for training. Jem's dog, Little Dog Monday, takes up a vigil at the Glen train station waiting for Jem to come back. Rilla's siblings Nan, Di, and Walter return to Redmond College, and Shirley returns to Queen's Academy, leaving Rilla anxiously alone at home with her parents, their spinster housekeeper Susan Baker, and Gertrude Oliver, a teacher who is boarding with the Blythes while her fiance reports to the front.
As the war drags on, Rilla matures, organizing the Junior Red Cross in her village. While collecting donations for the war effort, she comes across a house where a young mother has just died with her husband away at war, leaving no one to care for her two-week-old son. Rilla takes the sickly little boy back to Ingleside in a soup tureen, naming him "James Kitchener Anderson" after his father and Herbert Kitchener, British Secretary of State for War. Rilla's father Gilbert challenges her to raise the war orphan, and although she doesn't like babies at all, she rises to the occasion, eventually coming to love "Jims" as her own.
Rilla and her family pay anxious attention to all the war news as the conflict spreads and thousands die. Rilla grows much closer to Walter, who some townsfolk and fellow students have branded a slacker, an insult he feels deeply. Rilla feels that Walter finally regards her as a chum, not just as his little sister. Walter eventually does enlist, as does Rilla's newfound love interest, Kenneth Ford (the son of Owen and Leslie Ford, who met in Anne's House of Dreams
), who asks her to promise she will not kiss anyone else until he returns.
As the war continues, Walter is killed in action at Courcelette
. His death had been foreshadowed in the earlier book Anne of Ingleside
(written years after this one). In Walter's last letter to Rilla, written the day before his death, he tells her that he is no longer afraid, and believes it may be better for him to die than to go on living with his memories of war forever spoiling life's beauty. Rilla gives the letter to Una Meredith, who Rilla suspects had been in love with Walter, though she had never spoken of it to either of them.
Anne's youngest son, Shirley, comes of age and immediately joins the flying corps. Jerry Meredith is wounded at Vimy Ridge, and in early May 1918, Jem is reported wounded and missing following a trench raid. The Blythes spend nearly five months not knowing Jem's fate until they finally receive a telegram from him: he had been taken prisoner in Germany, but eventually escaped to Holland and is now proceeding to England for medical treatment.
When the war finally ends, the rest of the boys from Glen St. Mary return home. Mary Vance and Miller Douglas announce plans to marry, with Miller deciding to pursue a career in Mr. Flagg's store after losing a leg in the war. Jem returns on the afternoon train and is met by a joyful Little Dog Monday. Jims' father returns with a young English bride, and takes Jims to live with them nearby; Rilla is glad she can still remain part of Jims' life.
Life after war resumes. Jem plans to return to college, since he and Faith cannot be married until he finishes studying medicine. Faith, Nan, and Diana plan to teach school, while Jerry, Carl, and Shirley will return to Redmond, along with Una, who plans to take a Household Science course.
Finally, Kenneth returns home and proposes to Rilla with the question "Is it Rilla-my-Rilla?" -- to which Rilla lisps, "Yeth."
Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Green Gables is a bestselling novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery published in 1908. Set in 1878, it was written as fiction for readers of all ages, but in recent decades has been considered a children's book...
series by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Lucy Maud Montgomery
Lucy Maud Montgomery OBE , called "Maud" by family and friends and publicly known as L.M. Montgomery, was a Canadian author best known for a series of novels beginning with Anne of Green Gables, published in 1908. Anne of Green Gables was an immediate success...
, but was the sixth of the eight "Anne" novels she wrote. This book draws the focus back onto a single character, Anne
Anne Shirley
Anne Shirley is a fictional character introduced in the 1908 novel Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Montgomery wrote in her journal that the idea for Anne's story came from relatives who, planning to adopt an orphaned boy, received a girl instead...
and Gilbert
Gilbert Blythe
Gilbert Blythe is a fictional character in Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series of novels.In the CBC Television film adaptations of the 1980s, Gilbert Blythe is portrayed by Jonathan Crombie. For the 1934 film adaption, Gilbert is portrayed by Tom Brown. In the Japanese anime...
's youngest daughter Bertha Marilla "Rilla" Blythe. It has a more serious tone, as it takes place during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and the three Blythe boys -- Jem, Walter, and Shirley -- along with Rilla's sweetheart Ken Ford, and playmates Jerry Meredith and Carl Meredith -- end up fighting in Europe with the Canadian Expeditionary Force
Canadian Expeditionary Force
The Canadian Expeditionary Force was the designation of the field force created by Canada for service overseas in the First World War. Units of the C.E.F. were divided into field formation in France, where they were organized first into separate divisions and later joined together into a single...
.
The book is dedicated: "To the memory of FREDERICA CAMPBELL MACFARLANE who went away from me when the dawn broke on January 25, 1919 -- a true friend, a rare personality, a loyal and courageous soul." Frederica, Maud's cousin and best friend, grew up in Park Corner, PEI, but died in the worldwide flu epidemic. She may have been the model for Diana Barry, Anne of Green Gables' "bosom friend": both had unusual, non-Christian first names, and the fictional Diana's husband was named, perhaps not coincidentally, Fred Wright.
Rilla of Ingleside is the only Canadian novel written from a woman's perspective about the First World War by a contemporary.
A new, restored and annotated edition of Rilla of Ingleside, edited by Benjamin Lefebvre (editor of Montgomery's The Blythes Are Quoted
The Blythes Are Quoted
The Blythes Are Quoted is a book completed by L.M. Montgomery near the end of her life as the ninth book in her beloved Anne of Green Gables series...
) and Andrea McKenzie, was published by Viking Canada in October 2010.
Plot summary
Set almost a decade after Rainbow ValleyRainbow Valley
Rainbow Valley is the seventh book in the chronology of the Anne of Green Gables series by Lucy Maud Montgomery, although it was the fifth book published...
, Europe is on the brink of the First World War, and Anne's youngest daughter Rilla is an irrepressible almost-15-year-old, excited about her first adult party and blissfully unaware of the chaos that the Western world is about to enter. Her parents worry because Rilla seems not to have any ambition, is not interested in attending college, and is more concerned with having fun. (In an aside, it is revealed that Marilla has died; her date of death is not specified but Rilla states it was before she was old enough to know her very well.)
Once the Continent descends into war, Jem Blythe and Jerry Meredith promptly enlist, upsetting Anne, Nan, and Faith Meredith (who Rilla suspects is engaged to Jem). Rilla's brother Walter, who is of age, does not enlist, ostensibly due to a recent bout with typhoid but truly because he fears the ugliness of war and death. He confides in Rilla that he feels he is a coward.
The enlisted boys report to Kingsport for training. Jem's dog, Little Dog Monday, takes up a vigil at the Glen train station waiting for Jem to come back. Rilla's siblings Nan, Di, and Walter return to Redmond College, and Shirley returns to Queen's Academy, leaving Rilla anxiously alone at home with her parents, their spinster housekeeper Susan Baker, and Gertrude Oliver, a teacher who is boarding with the Blythes while her fiance reports to the front.
As the war drags on, Rilla matures, organizing the Junior Red Cross in her village. While collecting donations for the war effort, she comes across a house where a young mother has just died with her husband away at war, leaving no one to care for her two-week-old son. Rilla takes the sickly little boy back to Ingleside in a soup tureen, naming him "James Kitchener Anderson" after his father and Herbert Kitchener, British Secretary of State for War. Rilla's father Gilbert challenges her to raise the war orphan, and although she doesn't like babies at all, she rises to the occasion, eventually coming to love "Jims" as her own.
Rilla and her family pay anxious attention to all the war news as the conflict spreads and thousands die. Rilla grows much closer to Walter, who some townsfolk and fellow students have branded a slacker, an insult he feels deeply. Rilla feels that Walter finally regards her as a chum, not just as his little sister. Walter eventually does enlist, as does Rilla's newfound love interest, Kenneth Ford (the son of Owen and Leslie Ford, who met in Anne's House of Dreams
Anne's House of Dreams
Anne's House of Dreams is a novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery. It was first published in 1917 by McClelland, Goodchild and Stewart....
), who asks her to promise she will not kiss anyone else until he returns.
As the war continues, Walter is killed in action at Courcelette
Battle of Flers-Courcelette
The Battle of Flers-Courcelette, was a battle within the Franco-British Somme Offensive which took place in the summer and autumn of 1916. Launched on the 15th of September 1916 the battle went on for one week. Flers-Courcelette began with the overall objective of cutting a hole in the German...
. His death had been foreshadowed in the earlier book Anne of Ingleside
Anne of Ingleside
Anne of Ingleside is a children's novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery. It was first published in August 1939 by George G. Harrap & Co Ltd. It is the sixth book in the chronology and the final book to be published....
(written years after this one). In Walter's last letter to Rilla, written the day before his death, he tells her that he is no longer afraid, and believes it may be better for him to die than to go on living with his memories of war forever spoiling life's beauty. Rilla gives the letter to Una Meredith, who Rilla suspects had been in love with Walter, though she had never spoken of it to either of them.
Anne's youngest son, Shirley, comes of age and immediately joins the flying corps. Jerry Meredith is wounded at Vimy Ridge, and in early May 1918, Jem is reported wounded and missing following a trench raid. The Blythes spend nearly five months not knowing Jem's fate until they finally receive a telegram from him: he had been taken prisoner in Germany, but eventually escaped to Holland and is now proceeding to England for medical treatment.
When the war finally ends, the rest of the boys from Glen St. Mary return home. Mary Vance and Miller Douglas announce plans to marry, with Miller deciding to pursue a career in Mr. Flagg's store after losing a leg in the war. Jem returns on the afternoon train and is met by a joyful Little Dog Monday. Jims' father returns with a young English bride, and takes Jims to live with them nearby; Rilla is glad she can still remain part of Jims' life.
Life after war resumes. Jem plans to return to college, since he and Faith cannot be married until he finishes studying medicine. Faith, Nan, and Diana plan to teach school, while Jerry, Carl, and Shirley will return to Redmond, along with Una, who plans to take a Household Science course.
Finally, Kenneth returns home and proposes to Rilla with the question "Is it Rilla-my-Rilla?" -- to which Rilla lisps, "Yeth."
Series
Montgomery continued the story of Anne Shirley in a series of sequels. They are listed in the order of Anne's age in each novel.| # | Book | Date published | Anne Shirley's age |
| 1 | Anne of Green Gables Anne of Green Gables Anne of Green Gables is a bestselling novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery published in 1908. Set in 1878, it was written as fiction for readers of all ages, but in recent decades has been considered a children's book... |
1908 | 11 — 16 |
| 2 | Anne of Avonlea Anne of Avonlea -Plot introduction:Following Anne of Green Gables , the book covers the second chapter in the life of Anne Shirley. This book follows Anne from the age of 16 to 18, during the two years that she teaches at Avonlea school. It includes many of the characters from Anne of Green Gables, as well as new... |
1909 | 16 — 18 |
| 3 | Anne of the Island Anne of the Island Anne of the Island is a the third book in the Anne of Green Gables series, written by Lucy Maud Montgomery about Anne Shirley.Anne of the Island was published in 1915, seven years after the bestselling Anne of Green Gables... |
1915 | 18 — 22 |
| 4 | Anne of Windy Poplars Anne of Windy Poplars Anne of Windy Poplars, also published as Anne of Windy Willows in the UK, Australia and Japan, is an epistolary novel by L. M. Montgomery. First published in 1936 by McClelland and Stewart, it details Anne Shirley's experiences over three years teaching at a high school in Summerside, Prince Edward... |
1936 | 22 — 25 |
| 5 | Anne's House of Dreams Anne's House of Dreams Anne's House of Dreams is a novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery. It was first published in 1917 by McClelland, Goodchild and Stewart.... |
1917 | 25 — 27 |
| 6 | Anne of Ingleside Anne of Ingleside Anne of Ingleside is a children's novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery. It was first published in August 1939 by George G. Harrap & Co Ltd. It is the sixth book in the chronology and the final book to be published.... |
1939 | 34 — 40 |
| 7 | Rainbow Valley Rainbow Valley Rainbow Valley is the seventh book in the chronology of the Anne of Green Gables series by Lucy Maud Montgomery, although it was the fifth book published... |
1919 | 41 |
| 8 | Rilla of Ingleside | 1921 | 49 — 53 |
| # | Book | Date published | Anne Shirley's age |
| — | Chronicles of Avonlea Chronicles of Avonlea Chronicles of Avonlea is a collection of short stories by L. M. Montgomery, related to the Anne of Green Gables series. It features an abundance of stories relating to the fictional Canadian village of Avonlea, and was first published in 1912.... |
1912 | — |
| — | Further Chronicles of Avonlea Further Chronicles of Avonlea Further Chronicles of Avonlea is a collection of short stories by L. M. Montgomery and is a sequel to Chronicles of Avonlea. Published in 1920, it includes a number of stories relating to the inhabitants of the fictional Canadian village of Avonlea and its region, located on Prince Edward Island.-... |
1920 | — |
| — | The Blythes Are Quoted The Blythes Are Quoted The Blythes Are Quoted is a book completed by L.M. Montgomery near the end of her life as the ninth book in her beloved Anne of Green Gables series... |
2009 | — |
External links
- A searchable online version of Rilla of Ingleside
- The Anne Shirley Homepage - A great resource for all Anne fans with galleries, fan art, time lines, recipes and calendars.
- An L.M. Montgomery Resource Page - excellent resource on L.M. Montgomery and her novels