COVE

Montgomery, Lucy M. Anne of Green Gables, 1908. Published by L.C. Page & Co., illustrated by M.A. and W.A.J. Claus. 1911 cover, published by Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons. Courtesy of Project Gutenberg. The book chronicles the story of Anne Shirley, an orphan brought to Prince Edward Island from an orphan asylum to live with siblings Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert on their estate called Green Gables, and the trials and tribulations of her adolescent life between the ages of 11 and 16. Although initially rejected by the domineering Marilla for not being the boy she requested, Anne eventually becomes a beloved member of the family over the course of the book, maturing and learning valuable lessons through experience and making many mistakes. Anne initially represents a lot of undesirable qualities for a character of the didactic tradition—incredibly talkative, active imagination, disinterest in God, vanity, and others—and yet she is the protagonist of the story and is given room to improve in a way not afforded to didactic characters. And while she does lose some of those traits by the end of the book as she grows older, the Anne whom people remember and celebrate is the one who speaks her mind, has big dreams, and flies in the face of didacticism despite what the world around her (and the book) demands.