Anne of Green Gables (Lucy Maud LM Montgomery) Books in Order

This series gathers the full arc of Anne Shirley's life story, from her arrival as an unwanted orphan at Green Gables to the years when her own children are facing the upheaval of war. It is one long narrative about making and remaking a home, rather than a string of disconnected adventures.

In the early novels, Anne is still finding her feet in Avonlea. The focus is on classrooms and kitchen tables, first friendships with Diana Barry and Gilbert Blythe, the bustle of village life, and Anne's fierce desire to prove she belongs. Younger readers tend to love these books for their scrapes and school pranks, but older readers often notice the quiet pressure of poverty and duty around the edges.

Middle volumes like Anne of the Island and Anne of Windy Poplars stretch the world outward. Anne studies at Redmond College, tries life in a rented cottage with friends, and then heads to Summerside to run a high school. Here the emotional stakes shift from simple belonging to questions of vocation, romance, and how to stay yourself when you are expected to please everyone.

Later books return to domestic spaces, but they are not static. In Anne's House of Dreams Anne and Gilbert set up house near the sea and navigate early marriage, loss, and new neighbours. By Anne of Ingleside the family has grown, and much of the charm comes from watching each child make mistakes, form friendships, and test their parents' patience in ways that echo Anne's own youth.

Rainbow Valley and Rilla of Ingleside are sometimes shelved apart from the earlier books because Anne herself is now a background figure. They reward readers who have followed the series, though, because the worries of the next generation only make sense if you know the long history of Green Gables and Ingleside. The tone is gentler in Rainbow Valley and more urgent and sobering in Rilla, which is rooted in the First World War.

Taken together, the Anne books invite rereading. You can meet them first as a child and laugh over the raspberry cordial incident, then come back years later and see a working mother struggling with grief or with children growing up in dangerous times. This page treats the eight main novels as one connected series so you can decide whether you want to follow Anne from the start or dip into the phase of life that speaks to you most right now.