Anne Shirley, the original Hermione Granger, is possibly the most infamous redhead in the world. Her stories are used in countless curricula across the globe, and has been produced as a ballet, as several plays, in addition to television movies and series. Green Gables is certainly a Pinterest-worthy location. I may be biased as a Canadian, but I do believe that Anne of Green Gables is Canada’s answer to Jane Austen! This is a quick intro to Anne of Green Gables, the amazing author behind her, and why you should be reading it NOW….
Growing up as a young girl in Canada, Anne Shirley was a frequent figure in my childhood. I read Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island, and so on. I watched the PBS 1985 and 1987 made for TV movies (and still do…), and for anyone who remembers, the spin-offs Road to Avonlea and Emily of New Moon. I was, and still am, in love with Green Gables and Avonlea. Now, for anyone who doesn’t know the story of Anne, here is the first synopsis:
As soon as Anne Shirley arrives at the snug white farmhouse called Green Gables, she is sure she wants to stay forever . . . but will the Cuthberts send her back to to the orphanage? Anne knows she’s not what they expected—a skinny girl with fiery red hair and a temper to match. If only she can convince them to let her stay, she’ll try very hard not to keep rushing headlong into scrapes and blurting out the first thing that comes to her mind. Anne is not like anyone else, the Cuthberts agree; she is special—a girl with an enormous imagination. This orphan girl dreams of the day when she can call herself Anne of Green Gables.
Anne Shirley: a Balance
I re-read the Anne series, even now- there is something for readers of any age. Something that strikes me now as an adult i s just how balanced Anne of Green Gables is. Yes, Anne is a dreamy girl who Romanticises everything but she is also a girl who was abused by her adoptive family. She is a young woman whose parents were never there for her.. And she is a woman whose family goes through world wars that many of us can’t actually understand.
I do love Jane Austen’s works, but you see similar tragedies in all of her novels. A missed connection resulting in an almost spinster. A lack of brothers/husbands to protect them. A death that occurs outside of the novel. There is something wonderful about a comfortable and expected story, but it can feel like the same characters and dilemmas are rather interchangeable. However, LM Montgomery very much brings the tragedy directly to her readers, and doesn’t let you shy away from it. (More impressive when you consider that was written for girls and young women, not adults.) It is this balance that makes you feel the weight of the situation along with the levity of Anne’s spirit.
LM Montgomery: More Interesting Than You Know
People to this day poor over every aspect of Jane Austen’s life. Exactly what room and bed she slept in on a visit, how she was introduced to fruit, and what specific path she walked. Well, I believe that Lucy Maud Montgomery’s life is deserving of the same attention! So much of her life would be familiar to us in twenty first century. Much of her inspiration came from women’s magazines, fashion plates, and other publications. She read the mass market paperbacks of her time, just like so many of us. And she had quite a complicated relationship with the opposite sex. Although I do love my Austen, there is so much more to dig into with Montgomery’s life. (It also happens to give a wonderful look into life in Canada in the early twentieth century, a fascinating time in our past.) Should you want a book to delve into, Looking for Anne: How Lucy Maud Montgomery Dreamed Up a Literary Classic is a perfect primer for anyone new to LM Montgomery’s life.
Marilla of Green Gables
If you read my Christmas Eve reading plans post, you will know that I have the Marilla prequel loaded on my Kobo ready to read! I decided to save it for my flights to and from the UK, so I will be diving into it in less than a week. If you don’t know, Marilla Cuthbert is the woman who takes Anne in to live at Green Gables. Although this obviously isn’t written by LM Montgomery, the story lends itself well to continuation. You can follow Anne and her children through nine books, as well as other characters in the two short story collections about Avonlea. Because she built this world and community, it doesn’t have that awkward fan fiction vibe that Austen-inspired novels tend to have. (And Austen only wrote the novels she wrote, as much as people try to dig for more…)
The Wisdom of Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Green Gables is one of the most quotable books written- who hasn’t seen the “I am so glad I live in a world with Octobers” quote floating around Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest every October 1st? However, LM Montgomery has much better quotes, both from her fictional writings and her own correspondence. (Some people just have a way with words; she was one of those people.) Anne Shirley’s quotes are everything that I want to, and hopefully I can have that much sage wisdom at some point in my life… These are some of my favourite Anne quotes!
“It is ever so much easier to be good if your clothes are fashionable.” Anne of Green Gables
“People laugh at me because I use big words. But if you have big ideas, you have to use big words to express them, haven’t you?” Anne of Green Gables
“Dear old world’, she murmured, ‘you are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you.” Anne of Green Gables
Have you read Anne of Green Gables ever? And do you have any go to books that have lasted from childhood to adulthood?
Cheers,
The Historian
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Bloglovin’
I need to give Anne another try. You have certainly made a great case for the series. I was introduced to her when I was a kid by an aunt who was a fan. Unfortunately, I did not like that aunt and (being an immature pre-teen) denounced everything she liked – ah, childhood.
I am and have always been a big Anne fan and love reading biographies about L.M. Montgomeries life., as well as having read all four volumes of her published journals – which are a fascinating view into the darker side of her life – which was not all sunshine and roses. They were published by the University of Guelph fifty years after her death. I was disappointed in the novel Marilla of Green Gables – somehow I expected more from it, perhaps unrealistically, but I didn’t feel it measured up or was even believable…..did she really expect Gilberts father was going to wait 25 years for her? IMO, the Marilla in the novel did not match the Marilla in L.M. Montgomerys books. It was readable, but just barely.