Anne of Green Gables

A warm, funny, episodic classic in which one talkative orphan changes a brother and sister and a whole village, and in which the last stretch turns sad. It is about one hundred two thousand words by our count, in thirty-eight chapters, and a few passages are old fashioned. Four and a half out of five (my opinion). Read it if: you only know the famous scenes and want the whole story; you like gentle, funny classics with a big-hearted heroine; you want a cozy read with a strong sense of place; you are studying it and want a chapter by chapter map. Skip it if: you want fast plotting: the book moves by episodes; you dislike old-fashioned moralizing and long descriptions of scenery; you want to avoid a sad turn near the end.

A full-spoiler chapter by chapter summary of Anne of Green Gables, from the mistake at Bright River to the bend in the road, with name counts from the Project Gutenberg text. Anne of Green Gables Summary: Plot, Chapter by Chapter →

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An eleven year old orphan, Anne Shirley, is sent by mistake to Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, who asked for a boy to help on their farm in Avonlea. The book follows her through school, friendship and mistakes until she is sixteen. The summary on this page has full spoilers.

The Project Gutenberg ebook is free to read and is the text this page was built from. It has thirty-eight chapters.

Thirty-eight in the Project Gutenberg text, from Mrs. Rachel Lynde Is Surprised to The Bend in the Road. Other editions may number them differently.