Anne Paperback – July 6, 2010

Anne is a novel by American author Constance Fenimore Woolson published in 1881. Woolson's works have fallen into obscurity, but I learned about her on a summer vacation to Mackinac Island in northern Michigan. She spent a lot of time on the island, included it in her writings, and has a memorial there. Now she is best known as the niece of James Fenimore Cooper and the good friend of Henry James. I read an excellent biography of Woolson last year, Constance Fenimore Woolson: Portrait of a Lady Novelist by Anne Boyd Rioux, and wanted to read some of Woolson's novels.I started with Anne because it was Woolson's first novel and supposed to be her most popular and accessible. I went into it honestly thinking it might be sort of a slog, but I ended up absolutely loving it! When we meet Anne, she is a teenager living on Mackinac Island with a blended family and in near poverty. But she is happy - she loves the island and there is some really excellent nature writing here by Woolson. When Anne's father dies, she becomes engaged to her childhood sweetheart and they both go off into the world to try to make some money. Anne is sponsored by her wealthy and hard-hearted Aunt to attend a finishing school in New York with the idea that this will set her up to teach and that will be the end of her relationship with her aunt. But Anne is a lovely person, and she meets friends in high places and begins developing complicated relationships in this higher society circle.I was really sad when Anne left the island and worried that losing that setting would make the rest of the book uninteresting, but Woolson sets up a beautiful romance in the middle of the book that includes all the typical drama of the era. There are misunderstandings, hidden feelings, and missed chances between several potential couples. And I was totally enamored. And then the Civil War happens, providing another great background/setting for the action.I will admit that the last fifth of the book takes a plot turn that is a bit far-fetched, but it is not out of line with many novels of the era.I'm sad that this book is not in print and isn't more widely read. If I had to compare her writing with someone, I'd say she has the technique and drama of a Charlotte Brontë and the keen observation of Anthony Trollope. I would really like to read more of her books and hope I can find them! Please give her a try if you are a fan of this era of writing!

I've normally shied away from books written in the 19th century, but after reading Anne I'll have to revise that and say that the story and the characters, though certainly exhibiting the morality and mindset of that era, tell a most engrossing story, a true page turner. Anne is a singular young woman, with a mind of her own and a will to match, and she shines through as the sort of person who inevitably encourages others to change and be better, to stop giving in to the line of least resistance and live more ethical lives.That said, it's not at all a preachy kind of story, but rather engrossing and entertaining. Anne is born and raised on an island in Lake Huron, in the middle of the 19th century. Events find her in New York, meeting and impressing some of the idle rich, but not overly influenced by them. The Civil War comes in to play, and hence the tension that builds until nearly the end of the story. Well done!

I loved this book because it reflects the reality of life. What is true love? Circumstances and situations often cloud our judgment. Timing, separation, difficulties either cement a relationship or crumble it. I also loved the geographical and natural descriptions of the country. Anne's morality, constancy, and sense of duty and responsibility is the central theme of the book. Her personal qualities and her quiet determination show up the weaknesses in the other characters. The only detracting feature of the book was the circumstance that reunited Anne and her lover. It seemed too drastic a measure to affect a happy ending. The intervention of the priest was a brilliant stroke to help the reader understand his reluctance to Anne's earlier betrothal. The ending left us hanging, i wished it provided more on how they would live together but the reader's imagination must play a part too!

This was Woolson's second of five novels, the first published under her own name. Her style wavers between Alcott and Wharton, but is more geared to the "Penny Dreadful" melodrama style of the 19th century. Everything under the sun (a lot of it totally implausible) happens to the heroine, who has three men vying for her, while she remains a moralistic, "innocent" pure virgin. No way! She comes across as a "dumb prig," and I didn't care a hoot for her or her life. The print is infinitesimal in this publication and her paragraphs are DENSE to the max. Very little dialogue. Not recommended. Mediocre quality in plotting and characterization and the publication is practically unreadable.

Excellent writing but published in a very difficult manner. Large pages, extremely small print, very little white space. I decided to attempt reading it and got hooked on the story, characters, and settings. I finally finished it.

This story takes the reader through the lives of the wealthy society of the Eastern cities and the common people as well during the mid 19 th century.

a nice book for younger people and girls that can relate to Anne and everything that happens to her and her reaction to it

What a treasure to read. I visited the beautiful tribute to Ms. Woolson on Mackinac Island and it was wonderful to stand in that spot and look over the harbor as she did many years earlier.