This one somehow slipped by me during my childhood and this is really strange because when I was growing up, I was one of those children who devoured books - either it has not been translated in Croatian or it was out of print and therefore not available in public libraries where I made faithful weekly pilgrimages. I do remember being completely obsessed with Doctor Doolitle and naturally I knew classics like Little Prince, Bambi, Alice in Wonderland and few others, but as far as little orphan girls go, I knew only about Heidi and in my part of the world she was huge, beloved fictional character. Later I became vaguely familiar with few other Heidi-like girls but at that point I was already on Jules Verne and Alexandre Dumas so children literature became just a warm, comforting memory and it took me decades to even consider that perhaps re-visiting some of these old friends from different perspective might be a good idea. Recent pleasure of re-visiting Robinson Crusoe proved that this is a very good idea indeed, so somewhere at the back of my mind I had a whole list of titles suitable for revisit.
It is because of the fact that my ship weekly visits Charlottetown that I became aware of their local heroine Anne of Green Gables. Sure, she is a fictional character but in the books she lived around here and actually walked trough streets of Charlottetown, which eventually spread the fame of the whole town trough the world, so naturally there are lots of shops with Anne-souvenirs on almost every corner. Asked by my (equally ignorant) colleagues - who, truth to be told, all come from different continents - about her, I answered this is just some annoying children's book and I assumed this must be something sweet & sugary, but my annoyance was actually based upon my own cluelessness and to correct it, I decided to check the book out. If it's silly, never mind, I will just confirm my opinion.
So I have approached the book with suspicion, thinking that this cannot possibly appeal to me and it must be something very old-fashioned.
At first, it seemed I was correct: elderly brother-and-sister couple Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert decide to adopt a boy from local orphanage and they asked boy to be sent by train so Matthew will collect him from the train station, however by some confusion and mistake little red-haired girl was sent instead and Matthew couldn't possibly just leave her on the train station, so he takes her home just to decide what to do next. As Anne excitedly chatters on a way to Green Gables farm (and she talks non stop) I got already tired of her and just wanted Matthew to throw her in some bushes to shut her up, luckily Matthew did not share my opinion, in fact he seems to be completely charmed with her and eventually convinces (insist) his stern and serious sister that girl should stay with them and he can always get another boy elsewhere. This is where the book really starts and as Anne finally finds a warm home (after years she spent working and basically slaving in other foster families) chapter after chapter unfolds so nicely that slowly I found myself utterly charmed with not only character of Anne but the whole little magical world of Prince Edward Island and its people.
At some point I even got the newest movie adaptation but quickly decided that reading book is far more precious experience, so I continued with the book and right now I am in the second part of it. Anne has won over almost everybody she had ever encountered - she has such a sweet personality that its actually impossible to resist her, because she is clever, charming and excited about everything she see around her, being nature, garden, sun or her new school friends. Often she uses complicated words from the books so she never says "I am sad" but "I am in a depths of despair" which of course makes even old curmudgeon Marilla burst into laughter and slowly the old spinster accepts that she loves little girl so much that she can't even imagine Green Gables without her. Chapter after chapter Anne makes new friends, apologises for her mistakes, meets new people, fascinates everybody in her school and so on - I found myself giggling with pleasure on many occasions and wish she stays little girl forever but now slowly it becomes apparent that she is growing into serious and affectionate girl who might even become a beauty (and her worst enemy, boy from a school called Gilbert Blythe who used to tease her about her carrot hair) might even in the future become her love interest. This book gave me so much unexpected pleasure that I immediately decided to check out numerous sequels thought I doubt that anything can approach the beauty and freshness of the first, original book.
Canadian writer Lucy Maud Montgomery became world famous because of this book and British king even honoured her with title Officer of the Order of the British Empire. She said that the book was often written in the twilight as she would gaze trough her windows at the nature outside and reader can feel her pleasure as she lovingly describes nature and all the paths Anne walks, however there is just so much love and affection (and humour!) in her writing that I honestly doubt anybody could ever read this book and not be completely charmed with it. It is supposed to be children's book but actually I can easily imagine people of all ages enjoying it because there is nothing childish about it, it is simply a beautiful story told affectionately. What a discovery.
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