Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery (#3)

 This, the third book in the series, shares the story of Anne's college experiences where she earns her B.A. degree. She has roommates and their personalities are fun and interesting. She is not enjoying Gilbert's advances, and totally shuts him down when he tries to profess his love. She falls in love with someone else and soon realizes it's not what she thought. This whole romance is so beautifully depicted. It's obvious that this author knows of the pitfalls of young, immature feelings! 

Here's a quote from page 217, where roommate Priscilla is describing what the Redmond experience has done for her:

"There is so much in the world for us all if we only have the eyes to see it, and the heart to love it, and the hand to gather it to ourselves--so much in men and women, so much in art and literature, so much everywhere in which to delight, and for which to be thankful."

Anne's learning was this (from page 216):

"Humor is the spciest condiment in the feast of existence. Laugh at your mistakes but learn from them, joke over your troubles but gather strength from them, make a jest of your difficulties but overcome them."

These two quotes really sum up the whole spirit of this series. It's a wonderful, uplifting way of learning how to bring goodness into the world. Anne is always seeking out ways to help others. And when she turns down the proposal of the man she thought she loved, she gives a great example of following the spirit. She didn't even realize it until the moment she had to say yes or no, and then the "scales fell off of her eyes" so to speak. She saw it all clearly all at once; her foibles. I've had that experience, so I could really relate to that feeling in that moment. Beautiful story!