Anne of Manhattan

I've shared on my blog several times that I am a huge fan of Anne of Green Gables and that I have really enjoyed retellings of Anne of Green Gables such as Marilla of Green Gables and Anne With An E. So when I found out that Anne of Manhattan would be released this year, it was a highly anticipated read for me. It is a contemporary retelling of Anne of Green Gables focusing on Anne falling in love with her childhood nemesis Gilbert as they become acquainted again by becoming thesis partners in the same education masters degree in Manhattan. I know that I have read some criticism that it feels like a generic contemporary love story but I felt like the story dealt with the aspects of her life as an orphan coming to Green Gables nicely through flashbacks.  I must admit that I have always wanted to read a retelling of Anne of Green Gables that explores a sexier aspects of Anne and Gilbert's relationship. Making them graduate students in modern day New York sets the scene to let the chemistry between the two of them explode!   And on a deeper level, the major conflict that heightens the drama of their romance uplifted how being an orphan effected her attitude towards relationships. I really enjoyed this book, but one of the risks in an adaptation is what to keep and what to leave out. While the enemies to lovers romance being played out in a sexy way was a lot of fun, I was disappointed that her friendship Diana was not explored more. However I must acknowledge that I am evaluating this book against stories from an entire series of books while I am formulating these opinions. The friendship with Diana is central to the first book in LM Montgomery's Anne series and the romance that she develops with Gilbert is hinted at in the first book but developed further in later books.

Having grown up watching the iconic 1985 television adaptation of the book, part of the fun of this book was imagining the late Jonathan Crombie as Gilbert in the sexy scenes or Meagan Follows portraying Anne as the Kevin Sullivan production captured my heart for Anne Shirley as a child. Maybe my enjoyment of this book is the sense of nostalgia of looking at beloved characters from a fresh perspective. The risk is that its not how I would imagine an adult version of Anne Shirley as I am reading what someone else imagined. However, for a contemporary twist focusing on the sweet and sexy aspects of her relationship with Gilbert, this is definitely a fun read.