Rilla of Ingleside

This is the last of the "Anne of Green Gables" series, telling the story of her youngest daughter and how the First World War affected her. The novel begins in June 1914 with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and takes us through until shortly after the end of the war in 1918. We follow Rilla between the ages of fifteen and nineteen, watching her grow and change throughout the novel.

As a story in itself, it is a sweet coming-of-age story, showing us how adversity can force people to become the people they are capable of being. In this case, Rilla, a self-confessed 'lily of the field', adopts a baby whose mother has died and whose father is at the front, bringing the child up with only minimal help from her parents, organises a Junior Red Cross and gets engaged.

However, what I find most interesting about this novel is not the story itself (though I do enjoy it - I'm a sucker for a decent romantic novel), but the setting of the story. I read it first when I was probably about fourteen (oh, how time passes...) and knew, really, very little about the First War. That is to say, I knew the basic facts, but I had only studied it twice, so wasn't fully informed. I come to it now, having studied the War a further three times (in French class, History and English lit.) and what a difference it makes!

Most of the War literature one reads was written either by the soldiers themselves or by people who had some experience of the War - I imagine because it was so much more readable than the jingoistic nonsense others spewed out. This, however, was definitely written from a distance and I found it fascinating seeing how the War was viewed by women as far away as Canada - the picture they had of the War was so different to the one we see today.

For a start, they believe all official communications, whereas we worldly people are well aware that much of them were lies and propaganda. For example, whenever someone was killed, the family in question was always told that they had died instantly - something we now know to have been rarely the case. The characters in this novel believe it completely, which I find very hard to empathise with, knowing what I know.

I think the reason it's still readable is firstly that it isn't solely concerned with the War - it is first and foremost the story of a young girl growing up - and secondly that she isn't trying to persuade us we should be going to war. Generally I like it, though I am aware that part of that is nostalgia and part of it is interest in the way she saw the War. As to whether you'll like it - well, all I can say is try it and see!