Anne Shirley leaves home to attend Redmond College and pursue a degree. Some of her classmates are going with her, including her childhood enemy turned friend Gilbert Blythe, while other childhood friends are staying in Avonlea to work, get married, and start families. She is also leaving behind her friends and family, but will stay in touch with them through letters and visits home during winter breaks and summer vacations. The story follows the adventures of Anne and her friends during their college years, focusing on the female relationships and emotional growth of the characters.

Anne of the Island is chronologically the third novel in the Anne of Green Gables series , but is the fourth one to have been published. It’s written with L. M. Montgomery’s signature blend of humor, literary allusions, keen observations of human nature, and enchanting descriptions of the natural world.