Anyone following my blog or even Instagram in the last year will have noticed how much I love Anne of Green Gables. What used to be a more subtle nod to that book series over the years has become more blatant as I've embraced sharing my favorite quotes and an Anne-like look. So it's probably surprising that while I would call Anne of Green Gables one of my favorite book series and characters now, she wasn't my favorite growing up. Don't get me wrong, I never disliked Anne and I enjoyed the movies from the 1980s immensely, but they weren't my favorite--I didn't love her the way I do now. For me as a shy, self-conscious kid my favorite books, shows, and characters were the more rough-and-tumble tomboyish types--characters the antithesis of myself. I liked female heroines who wielded swords, whose lessons involved defeating dragons rather than overcoming their own temper or stubbornness like Anne. I enjoyed novels as far removed from who I was and where I was as possible--fantasy stories of revenging elves and angry dwarves, science fiction battles in space, etc. Only as I've gotten older have I started to appreciate how much strength it requires to control your temper and to be kind to those who irritate you endlessly (like Prissy Andrews). I had a similar realization a few years ago about the character of Polly from The Dark is Rising series; as a child it always seemed like Polly was a little outside of the action, but as an adult I see how essential Polly was and how she often saved the day without with wits and heart rather than fists. These days those are my favorite stories--I even found myself tearing up recently while reading Anne of Green Gables on a plane, despite having read it at least a dozen times! I still like my science fiction and swashbuckling stories, but the ones that really touch me are more rooted in real life and human kindness.
CONVERSATION