Hmm, yes. I think of the Anne books as comfort-reading colored with a gloss of nostalgia, but there's a lot of hard-headedness in them. Marilla's failing eyesight and the cold narrative eye on Rachel Lynde's marriage, and poor consumptive Ruby Gillis. But then you get the glorious descriptions of the landscape, and the ridiculous romanticism on top.

Oddly enough, I didn't discover them until I was out of college: I think they were out of print in the US for most of my childhood. Although the miniseries certainly re-invigorated American interest. (I've always thought it was a shame Megan Followes didn't go on to a marvelous career; she's still doing one-off character roles in other people's tv shows.)

Anyway, I just downloaded a bunch of these and read them on my Kindle within the last few months--they're marvelous reading for stressful times--but I'm cranky that Windy Poplars isn't available electronically. Boo, I say.

(Look! I has an icon!)