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It occurs to me that though I finished my last reread quite a while ago, I haven't yet typed up my review. Well, here goes. It's difficult for me to know how to describe my feelings about this book. On the one hand, it's the closing volume to my favourite L.M. Montgomery series starring my favourite heroine, Emily, whom I've always felt close to and who was one of the principal helpers in getting me through the pre-teen and teen years when I felt quite alone in my love of books, writing and beauty and in not wanting to meld into the crowd. Having paragons like Emily made it much easier to be me, and so these books will always hold a very special place for my heart; and also just for the immense beauty of their writing and the fascinating characterisations. This book, too, has much that's wonderfully written, and many interesting psychological moments. At the same time, I know I'm not even alone in feeling that this conclusion to the Emily series is less satisfying than it could be. It's so sad, dark and painful, there's so much trouble and relatively little happiness, that it departs from the hopeful and comforting tone of the previous books and makes the reader feel the author puts her characters through way too much trouble for no clear reason. I've always felt that this volume concentrates too much on Emily's romantic difficulties and too little on other aspects of her life and personality, and the result is a little dissatisfying especially as her chosen romantic partner is not characterised deeply enough to make you really feel they belong together. Montgomery generally has difficulties creating interesting love interests, and especially in the Emily books I find that the strongest relationship is between Emily and her best friend Ilse, not between Emily and any of the men interested in her. These criticisms aside, I still love this book greatly. There's a haunting beauty in it, and some bittersweet, mature feeling which I only found myself able to apprec