I could write a novel about all of my Anne thoughts (I read the books over and over as a kid, of course, but also have reread the entire series several times as an adult, most recently a couple of years ago when my friend and I went on a road trip from Maine to PEI and felt it was ~thematically appropriate~ to spend countless hours in the car driving around Maritime Canada listening to the Anne books on audio) but in the context of this post, I would like to note that a couple of years ago I saw a post somewhere on the internet about the later books in the series that INFURIATED me because the author was basically like, "What happened to Anne Shirley?" -- it was a feminist critique of the fact that Anne never follows through on her dreams of becoming a famous author, and instead is delighted to just settle down with Gilbert and have a bunch of children, and...look. Obviously, I, an author fulfilling my lifelong dream of being such, would not trade my writing career for anything, but can we *please* exercise some critical thinking here, and perhaps consider how someone who was an ORPHAN growing up in an environment of CHILD ABUSE might find her happiest, most fulfilled life doing something as ordinary as living in a quiet town on an island with her childhood sweetheart and a whole bunch of children? And see the value that Anne might find in that life? I was just so annoyed by someone's attempt to, like, retrofit what THEY thought Anne's happy ending should have been onto the book, when the books show us how happy Anne is with the life she has ended up with, a life that would have felt unimaginably wonderful to her before she came to the island.
Anyway I do not think I am expressing this entirely coherently! Per usual! But I loved reading your thoughts.
Thank you for confirming what I suspected...that there simply MUST be terrible takes out there that Anne Shirley wasn't a good feminist, lol. I am so mad even thinking about this!!! I can't imagine reading Anne so...ungenerously?
My hope is that by getting my son to love Anne, someday I'll be able to convince him to take a PEI trip...
oops I'm crying! Read the whole series as a child when we got the whole boxed set for Christmas (well, technically I got the boxed set of Narnia books and my sister got the boxed set of Anne books, but I read them both in a week because that was who I was as a child), and loved her immediately. She stayed with me growing up - my first role in a school play was as Miss Stacey, and truly, my puffed sleeves WERE as big as balloons - but now that I'm expecting my first bebe, I think I need to revisit and have a lot of Feelings.
You always sum up the experience of living a life that brings joy in smaller ways as well as bigger onesso beautifully, Kerry, and every one of these newsletters is a gift. <3
So excited for you!!! There is genuinely no better experience on this earth than reading to your child, but the second-best experience is rereading childhood favorites and seeing them in such a different way.
And thank you so much for that very lovely compliment, which completely made my week.❤️
Everything about this is so beautiful and true, and you make me want to reread the books! Growing up I was a huge Emily of New Moon fan -- I think I loved saying controversially that I loved Emily even more than Anne, but to be fair some of that was that Emily is basically a goth-er Anne which always appealed to me. But truly these books are so lovely and reading your thoughts here feels like such a gift.
I love the Green Gables books! My friend and I are working our way through every and any film adaption that we can find! It's also so interesting thinking about how I thought of it as a child - younger than and then the same age as Anne in the first book and how I think of it now as an adult - and we get to know Anne as an adult too.
That's one of the strangest feelings for me when rereading these books...I used to think the characters were old, and now I'm much, much older than them!
I've loved AoGG since reading them as a kid (spurred on by the mini-series). I was pleasantly surprised when I read Marilla of Green Gables, which tells a story of young Marilla. I usually don't enjoy reading prequels like this, but I thought the author did a really nice job.
I've had Marilla of Green Gables on my shelf since I saw the author speak back in 2019 (!), and now I think I've finally reached the perfect time to read it!
This was so lovely, thank you Kerry! Anne of Green Gables is one that I'm not sure I ever read, I don't have the same reading experience memory (left with vibes, but surely forgetting plot points) as I do with Little Women and A Wrinkle in Time. You're inspiring me to pick it up for the first time at 38, and perhaps start asking myself What Would Anne of Green Gables do?
I could write a novel about all of my Anne thoughts (I read the books over and over as a kid, of course, but also have reread the entire series several times as an adult, most recently a couple of years ago when my friend and I went on a road trip from Maine to PEI and felt it was ~thematically appropriate~ to spend countless hours in the car driving around Maritime Canada listening to the Anne books on audio) but in the context of this post, I would like to note that a couple of years ago I saw a post somewhere on the internet about the later books in the series that INFURIATED me because the author was basically like, "What happened to Anne Shirley?" -- it was a feminist critique of the fact that Anne never follows through on her dreams of becoming a famous author, and instead is delighted to just settle down with Gilbert and have a bunch of children, and...look. Obviously, I, an author fulfilling my lifelong dream of being such, would not trade my writing career for anything, but can we *please* exercise some critical thinking here, and perhaps consider how someone who was an ORPHAN growing up in an environment of CHILD ABUSE might find her happiest, most fulfilled life doing something as ordinary as living in a quiet town on an island with her childhood sweetheart and a whole bunch of children? And see the value that Anne might find in that life? I was just so annoyed by someone's attempt to, like, retrofit what THEY thought Anne's happy ending should have been onto the book, when the books show us how happy Anne is with the life she has ended up with, a life that would have felt unimaginably wonderful to her before she came to the island.
Anyway I do not think I am expressing this entirely coherently! Per usual! But I loved reading your thoughts.
Thank you for confirming what I suspected...that there simply MUST be terrible takes out there that Anne Shirley wasn't a good feminist, lol. I am so mad even thinking about this!!! I can't imagine reading Anne so...ungenerously?
My hope is that by getting my son to love Anne, someday I'll be able to convince him to take a PEI trip...
oops I'm crying! Read the whole series as a child when we got the whole boxed set for Christmas (well, technically I got the boxed set of Narnia books and my sister got the boxed set of Anne books, but I read them both in a week because that was who I was as a child), and loved her immediately. She stayed with me growing up - my first role in a school play was as Miss Stacey, and truly, my puffed sleeves WERE as big as balloons - but now that I'm expecting my first bebe, I think I need to revisit and have a lot of Feelings.
You always sum up the experience of living a life that brings joy in smaller ways as well as bigger onesso beautifully, Kerry, and every one of these newsletters is a gift. <3
So excited for you!!! There is genuinely no better experience on this earth than reading to your child, but the second-best experience is rereading childhood favorites and seeing them in such a different way.
And thank you so much for that very lovely compliment, which completely made my week.❤️
also, forgive me if I've asked you this before, but have you read the Betsy-Tacy books? Because they are an EXCELLENT Anne companion!
I know I read them as a kid but I think I'm due for a reread because, while I loved them back then, I remember almost nothing!
I LOVE Betsy-Tacy so much too!
Everything about this is so beautiful and true, and you make me want to reread the books! Growing up I was a huge Emily of New Moon fan -- I think I loved saying controversially that I loved Emily even more than Anne, but to be fair some of that was that Emily is basically a goth-er Anne which always appealed to me. But truly these books are so lovely and reading your thoughts here feels like such a gift.
I read Emily at one point in my young adulthood, but I remember so little that I think I need to do a reread! And thank you, Alicia!!
I love the Green Gables books! My friend and I are working our way through every and any film adaption that we can find! It's also so interesting thinking about how I thought of it as a child - younger than and then the same age as Anne in the first book and how I think of it now as an adult - and we get to know Anne as an adult too.
That's one of the strangest feelings for me when rereading these books...I used to think the characters were old, and now I'm much, much older than them!
I looooved this essay and it makes me so happy you read "classics" with your son!!!
thank you!! I've managed to convince him (for now) that classics are cool. I hope that lasts!
I've loved AoGG since reading them as a kid (spurred on by the mini-series). I was pleasantly surprised when I read Marilla of Green Gables, which tells a story of young Marilla. I usually don't enjoy reading prequels like this, but I thought the author did a really nice job.
I've had Marilla of Green Gables on my shelf since I saw the author speak back in 2019 (!), and now I think I've finally reached the perfect time to read it!
This was so lovely, thank you Kerry! Anne of Green Gables is one that I'm not sure I ever read, I don't have the same reading experience memory (left with vibes, but surely forgetting plot points) as I do with Little Women and A Wrinkle in Time. You're inspiring me to pick it up for the first time at 38, and perhaps start asking myself What Would Anne of Green Gables do?
38 is the perfect age to read it!!