Before she was the plucky, red-headed orphan captivating readers worldwide, Anne Shirley was, in a way, Lucy Maud Montgomery. The author, who gave us Anne of Green Gables, based much of Anne's world, including her own difficult start and her adoptive home, on her life growing up.
Montgomery lost her mother early and was raised by her grandparents after her father moved away. Sound familiar? It's almost as if she took her own childhood, sprinkled in some vivid imagination, and created one of fiction's most beloved characters. Mark Twain himself called Anne "the most lovable child in fiction" since Alice. And he knew a thing or two about lovable children.
When Anne of Green Gables hit shelves in 1908, it became an instant sensation. Now, over 50 million copies have been sold in three dozen languages. That's a lot of kindred spirits.
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Start Your News DetoxWhere Green Gables Got Its Green
But Anne's world wasn't just pulled from Montgomery's heart; it was pulled from a very real, very charming place: Canada's Prince Edward Island. This isn't just an island; it's the island.
Prince Edward Island is Canada's smallest province, a cozy 2,185 square miles off the southeast coast. To put that in perspective, it's roughly the size of Delaware but with a population barely hitting 185,000. So, outside the capital, Charlotte, things move at a decidedly unhurried, rural pace. Perfect for inspiring tales of imagination and mischief.
Montgomery was born in 1874 in Clifton (now New London) on the island's north coast and spent most of her formative years in Cavendish, a small village about 10 miles east. Her grandparents' home, and the surrounding fields, beaches, and forests, became the backdrop for Anne's adventures.
And yes, the real Green Gables cottage is still there, just a stone's throw from the ruins of Montgomery's childhood home. It's now a pilgrimage site for fans who flock there from around the globe, eager to walk the same paths Anne Shirley (and Lucy Maud Montgomery) once did. Because some stories, and some places, just stick with you.
