23rd January
latest news: Anna's sweet and sticky pork buns

Arts Sections

Music
Performing Arts
Film
Art and Literature
Arts Features and Multimedia
TV
Games
Original Work

Latest articles from this section

Lucien Freud

The Year in Culture

Tuesday, 17th January 2012

Anne Mellar’s bumper edition of the year in culture

Indiana Jones

Archaeological Fiction: Discovering the truth or digging to nowhere?

Sunday, 1st January 2012

James Metcalf on the fictionality of the latest archaeological page-turners

godot

Have you read...Waiting for Godot?

Monday, 19th December 2011

Stephen Puddicombe looks at the unusual appeal of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot

margaret atwood

In Other Worlds: Atwood and the ‘SF Word’

Sunday, 18th December 2011

Ciaran Rafferty investigates the science of book classification

More articles from this section

candles
Sculpture 1
A Christmas Carol
Book sculpture
Immortal  Engines
Narnia
Oscar Wilde
Carol Ann Duffy
Hirst - skull

My Childhood Book - Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables
Anne sporting her trademark red hair
Thursday, 15th July 2010
Oh, Anne Shirley. How I wanted to be you when I was ten. I read all of those sort of books when I was growing up (What Katy Did, Heidi, Pollyanna) and I always found the heroines infuriatingly good. Pollyanna was by far the worst. She was just so insipid, with her Glad Game and her stupid name, that I never really believed that she spread joy around her; if I’d met her, I’d have probably punched her.

Anne Shirley was different. Sure, she was essentially a good person, but it was her faults that endeared her to me more than anything: her continual battle with her “lifelong sorrow” (her red hair); her profound yearning for a pretty dress with puffed sleeves; her uncanny ability to get herself into scrapes; and her stubborn pride. She’s a bit excessive, a bit odd, but that makes me love her all the more.

Anne of Green Gables is the first in a series of books that L.M. Montgomery wrote about the red haired orphan, and tells the tale of her arrival in Avonlea. Siblings Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert decide to adopt a young boy to help around their farm; a misunderstanding brings a young girl, Anne, to their home instead. Her long speeches and odd ways instantly charm Matthew, and Marilla isn’t far behind: against all logic, they decide to keep her, and so the strange young soul begins her journey towards becoming Anne of Green Gables.

For all the quaint tales of Anne’s triumphs and despairs, it’s the relationships that make this book work. You see, when Anne brings joy into the lives of the Cuthberts, I believe it. Matthew adores her and hangs on her every word from the beginning. Marilla takes longer to soften, but when she does, Anne becomes her comfort and joy. I’m still charmed by the whole section where Matthew notices that Anne dresses differently to the other girls, and goes out to try and get her a dress with puffed sleeves. Matthew telling Anne that she’s “my girl – my girl that I’m proud of” is one of my favourite speeches in anything, ever, while Marilla’s silent but sure love for the girl is equally real.

Anne charms most of the residents of Avonlea, including a certain young Gilbert Blythe. He doesn’t feature much in this first book: he calls her “carrots” the first time they meet, she cracks a slate over his head, and refuses to forgive him for years, not relenting until the second last page of the book. It’s the beginning of a beautiful friendship that, of course, develops into something more. I loved reading all of the books in this series, as they follow Anne from her teaching days, via university and six marriage proposals, to her inevitable destiny, marriage to Gilbert. Clever, funny, handsome and patient: Gilbert Blythe is the man of my literary dreams.

And through all this, Anne Shirley grows and develops, becoming a good wife and a brilliant mother, but still keeping her original spark and charm. In all honesty, I still want to be her.

Check out The Yorker's Twitter account for all the latest news Go to The Yorker's Fan Page on Facebook

Add Comment

You must log in to submit a comment.