Perennials Podcast Book Club

In the last chapter of Anne of Green Gables, Marilla receives unwelcome news, and Anne makes a choice that changes the direction of her future. Anne and Gilbert share an exchange that has been years in the making.

In Chapter 37, Green Gables is marked by a heartbreaking death. Anne touches deep grief for the first time, and wrestles with enjoying life while holding space for what has been lost. 

In Chapter 36 of Anne of Green Gables, one of Anne's dreams comes true: she wins the Avery scholarship, which means that she can go to Redmond College in the fall. She returns to Green Gables for the summer, happy and satisfied but also exhausted by all of her hard work--and it turns out that Matthew and Marilla are exhausted too. Both are facing health problems and money worries, and Anne is worr...

In Chapter 35 of Anne of Green Gables, Anne notices that Gilbert has been spending a lot of time with Ruby Gillis, and we see the seeds planted for Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me." While Anne's friends worry themselves half to death over exams, Anne takes the longview and tells them to focus on the chestnut buds. Life is good, and Anne is here for it. After the chapter reading, you'll hear cha...

In Chapter 34 of Anne of Green Gables, Anne says goodbye to Diana, Matthew and Marilla and departs for her first semester at Queen's College. Though she'll be back at Green Gables in a week to visit, this goodbye is a doozy, especially for Marilla. Will Marilla tell Anne what she means to her? Will Anne make friends at Queen's? And will Anne realize that there's more to Gilbert than his splendid c...

In Chapter 33 of Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, Anne is reciting "The Maiden's Vow" at a concert at the White Sands Hotel. Diana helps Anne get ready at Green Gables, and the girls ride over with Jane Andrews and her brother Billy. When Anne gets to the performers' dressing room, she suddenly is struck by how wealthy many of the performers are, and is paralyzed by stage fright -- until s...

In Chapter 32 of Anne of Green Gables, Anne and her classmates go to take the dreaded Entrance exams for Queen's College. Anne tries to stick to Miss Stacy's good advice to not cram and to spend her time in between exams walking and sleeping. Afterwards, the wait for results is excruciating. Will Anne make top of the list? Will she beat Gilbert? And will Moody Spurgeon fail History and have to bec...

In Chapter 31 of Anne of Green Gables, Anne leaves behind her last summer as a little girl, refreshed and ready to enter rigorously into her studies -- and into her teenage years. Taller, quieter, and less ready to use big words, Anne starts to study hard and socialize outside of Green Gables more. Marilla feels an unfamiliar sadness when she realizes Anne is taller than her. In today's reflection...

In Chapter 30 of Anne of Green Gables, Anne joins Miss. Stacy's class of students who are studying to take the Entrance exams for Queen's College, and Anne reaches a turning point in her growing up - her last summer as a little girl. She starts to learn about the ambition and plans of her classmates, and Miss. Stacy encourages the teenage girls to think seriously about forming good habits to solid...

In Chapter 29 of Anne of Green Gables, Anne and Diana are invited to visit Aunt Josephine's house in the city. Anne is ecstatic to accept the invitation, and finds herself encountering things she has only dreamed about before: silk curtains, spare rooms, horse races and ice cream enjoyed at nearly midnight. Yet Anne finds that everything she has dreamed of isn't exactly what she thought it would b...

In Chapter 28 of Anne of Green Gables, Anne and her friends decide to act out Tennyson's poem "Lancelot and Elaine" by having Anne, portraying the dead Elaine, float across the pond and under the bridge to the waiting Lancelot (Diana) and Guinevere (Jane) in Camelot. Unfortunately for Anne, her funeral vessel springs a leak, and she finds herself alone in the middle of the water on a sinking flat....

In Chapter 27 of Anne of Green Gables, Marilla comes home expecting to find Anne stoking the fire and preparing supper, but Anne is nowhere to be found. Marilla eventually finds her cowering in her bedroom, covering her face and asking Marilla not to look at her - which is kid language for "I did something bad." What did Anne do to her head? How was a peddler involved in the debacle? And will Mari...

In Chapter 26, Anne turns thirteen years old and officially enters her teen years. She wonders whether she has any hope of growing up to be "perfect" like the minister's wife, and resolves not to engage in any more "uncharitable speech." Meanwhile, Diana wishes to be better at making up stories, and Anne creates a Story Club to help her friends cultivate their imaginations. Things to reflect on in...

In Chapter 25 of Anne of Green Gables, Matthew wakes up and decides to do something special for Anne, even if it means going outside of his comfort zone and leaving Marilla out of it. Will Marilla allow Anne to keep Matthew's Christmas gift? Will Anne have the nerve to get up onstage at the school concert and deliver her recitation? And what can we learn about giving and receiving from this specia...

In Chapter 24, Anne returns to school amidst the glory of October, and her dreams come true when Miss Stacy announces the students will be putting on a Christmas concert. Unfortunately, gross beauty standards rear their ugly heads once again. As usual, Anne finds a listening ear in Matthew when Marilla has no patience for her raptures.    This chapter leaves us with some questions: who gets to dec...

In Chapter 23, Anne goes to a party at Diana's house, and the girls start daring each other. Anne pricks Josie Pye's pride, and Josie in return dares Anne to walk the ridgepole of Mr. Barry's kitchen roof. Of course, Anne can't turn down the dare. Will she make it across the roof? Will she take a hard fall? Will Josie have to live the rest of her life with a dark stain upon her soul?

In Chapter 22 of Anne of Green Gables, Anne gets invited out to tea with her favorite Sunday School teacher, Mrs. Allan. From the moment of the invitation, Anne basically turns into  Kristen Wiig as Sue on SNL  - a sundae of excitement with a big ol' dollop of hot anxiety melted on top.  Will the tea get rained out? Will Anne commit some majorly embarrassing social faux pas? And will Marilla ever...

In Chapter 21 of Anne of Green Gables, Anne's school teacher leaves town (byeeeee Professor Patriarchy!) and a new minister and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Allan, arrive. Mr. Allan prays like he means it, and Mrs. Allan, who assumes the role of teacher, actually welcomes questions? Anne can't wait for the couple to visit Green Gables and is eager to bake a cake for her new kindred spirit, but she fears...

In Chapter 20 of Anne of Green Gables, it's springtime and everything is coming up roses, except for the spruce grove which, in Anne's imagination, is now absolutely teeming with ghosts, goblins, ghouls and all manner of dreaded "white things." Will Anne have the courage to journey through the Haunted Wood to fetch an apron pattern for Marilla? Will she survive the harrowing trip? And for the love...

In Chapter 19 of Anne of Green Gables, Diana invites Anne to a late night concert and sleepover at her house for her birthday. Anne can't wait to have the honor of spending the night in the Barrys' spare room, like a proper guest. But when Diana and Anne go barreling into the spare room and dive onto the bed, they find someone under the covers. Who did Anne and Diana unwittingly attack in their sl...

In Chapter 18 of Anne of Green Gables, Anne and Matthew are enjoying a cozy winter evening at home, while Marilla, Mrs. Lynde, and many other Avonlea residents (including both doctors...which seems like a bad idea, in hindsight) are off at a political rally a few towns over. Diana comes flying to Green Gables in tears, because her baby sister has fallen sick and the babysitter is totally clueless...

In Chapter 17 of Anne of Green Gables, Diana tells Anne she loves her and the two share a tearful goodbye, though their souls will of course commune forevermore. Anne returns to school, and the rivalry between her and Gilbert heats up. Who will get top marks on the next exam? Will Anne ever master decimals? And will Anne's love for Diana truly prove inextinguishable?  Chapter reading: 0:14 - 10:39...

In Chapter 16 of Anne of Green Gables, Anne invites Diana over for tea and Diana ends up stumbling home drunk as a skunk. What was up with that raspberry cordial that Anne served her, and will Mrs. Barry ever forgive Diana's bosom friend? Chapter reading: 0:14 - 19:12 Reflections on the chapter: 19:17 - 26:06 Original air date: May 10, 2020

In Chapter 15 of Anne of Green Gables, Anne starts school, so you know we're in for a wild ride! After an uneventful but enjoyable first few weeks, Gilbert Blythe pulls Anne's braid and calls her "Carrots," and let's just say he ends up with a slate tablet broken over his head. Will Anne ever forgive Gilbert? Will she return to school? And will her creepy teacher stop hitting on his sixteen-year-o...

In Chapter 14 of Anne of Green Gables, Marilla's prized amethyst brooch goes missing, and Anne was the last one to touch it. Anne swears she didn't lose it, but the evidence is stacked against her. Is Anne telling the truth? Will Marilla believe her and let her attend the much-anticipated Sunday School picnic? Will Anne finally get to try ice cream? Or will she remain locked in the east gable fore...