Anne Shirley is an eleven-year-old orphan who has hung on determinedly to an optimistic spirit & a wildly creative imagination through her early deprivations She erupts into the lives of aging brother & sister Matthew & Marilla Cuthbert a girl instead of the boy they had sent for Thus begins a story of transformation for all three; indeed the whole rural community of Avonlea comes under Anne&s influence in some way We see her grow from a girl to a young woman of sixteen making her mistakes & not always learning from them Intelligent hot-headed as her own red hair unwilling to take a moral truth as read until she works it out for herself she must also face grief & loss & learn the true meaning of love Part Tom Sawyer part Jane Eyre by the end of Anne of Green Gables Anne has become the heroine of her own story The sequel Anne of Avonlea follows her progress as a teacher as she seeks to put into practice the lessons she has learnt helping at the same time to keep Green Gables going pursuing her enduring friendships & finding first love where she least expects it Both books conjure an enchanting landscape of wild blossom lakes & brooks woods & ocean seen through Anne’s ‘beauty-loving eyes’ whose vision of the world she brings us to share