By Lauren Evans

Ten years ago, nestled in the coveted corner seat of our family caravan during the inevitably rainy Easter holiday, sat a young me, nursing a dog-eared copy of my Mum’s Anne of Green Gables. Gifted to me during a nostalgic trip through the attic, my yellowed copy of the series was well-worn and well-loved, with a slight tinge of attic smell – a pattern that only endured through my many years rereading it. Given a new lease of life in the lovely clothbound replacements I’ve found (with all pages intact!), Anne has given me years of reading and re-reading, each experience changing as I myself grow up.

L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables and its following 7 novels are an ode to childhood, womanhood, and the beauty of life’s small moments, as we follow the life of orphan, Anne Shirley, through the joys and disappointments of growing up. Having read the series upon the precipice of my secondary school transition, Anne of Green Gables struck a chord with my younger self, who felt plagued by both the hope and trepidation for teenagedom – and provided a perfect stepping stone from my most recent series encounter, The Little House on the Prairie. As a young aspiring writer, Anne’s pithy remarks about life and the imagination felt very dramatic, making me feel almost as ‘worldly’ as Anne seemed (also sparking my mortifying diary phase of referring to my friends as ‘kindred spirits’). Anne felt familiar and relatable, a perfect encapsulation of what it felt to be a young and rather fanciful girl, who read too many books with words that proved embarrassing to pronounce.

“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?”

L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

A world founded upon young Anne’s vibrant and fervent imagination, and punctuated by tales of childish folly, L.M Montgomery’s inerring ability to capture the beauty and naivety of childhood makes the series a poignant and nostalgic read for even the eldest of readers. Having re-read the series this year, this feeling has grown to be almost bittersweet, as I’ve recognised L.M. Montgomery’s ability to capture the rose-tinted essence of childhood just a moment too late. Anne of Green Gables’ pithy remarks have become not at all dramatic, but instead a profound and lovely commentary on the act of growing up, with her shift to university life at Redmond has become all the more relatable with Anne’s first experiences of love, money, and responsibility. Each book marks a different stage of Anne’s life, and upon each re-read, I have grown alongside her, leaving a memory of myself at each age. Following her marriage, first job, children, and various residences, the series’ endurability speaks to Montgomery’s ability to capture the realities and small joys of life itself.

“Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It’s splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world”

L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

Experience of life aside, Anne of Green Gables provides a similarly beautiful rendition of womanhood and feminine experience – at once warming and nostalgic, whilst progressive and inspiring. Standing against the stereotypical literary canon, Anne’s wit, intellect and literary nature provides a strong and independent female protagonist that speaks to young women everywhere. I could certainly take a few lessons from her academic prowess when facing my own final year of university!

L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables is both a beautiful ode to imagination, childhood and hope, but also holds the memory and awe of each young girl that encounters Anne. The series’ ability to endure the shifting perspectives of age and maturity provides a myriad of lenses through which to love each novel. Anne’s perseverance to see the light and beauty of the world around her is a breath of fresh air and a nostalgic reminder of childhood’s innocence. I would urge every person to adventure beyond the first (and most acclaimed novel), as I will be, curled up on the same caravan seat, this summer.

Image Credit: Netflix