Looks from Books: Anne of Green Gables

Welcome to the latest edition of Looks from Books, which aims to prove that you can look smart, while still being book-smart, too. Fashion inspiration can be found between the pages of your favorite stories, on well-designed book covers, and in your favorite characters… if you read closely enough.

This week, we’re turning to an old children’s classic to bring some more fun to our summer, with adventures galore in the world of Avonlea: L. M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables!

Book Cover via Amazon

Table of Contents

Inside Cover

Anne of Green Gables is a classic work of children’s literature, published by Lucy Maud Montgomery in 1908.

The novel follows young orphan Anne Shirley, a talkative redhead, who, through a mistake, is sent to live with Mathew and Marilla Cuthbert – a middle-aged brother and sister – despite the fact that they had asked for a boy! However, the two are won over by Anne’s penchant for fantasy and passion for storytelling, and soon enough, they can’t imagine what Green Gables had ever been like before she had arrived.

The book has sold over 50 million copies since its publication, and has been translated into over 20 languages. Anne of Green Gables has also spawned many sequels, including Anne of Avonlea and Anne of the Island. 

A Fashionable Literacy

Photo Credit: Screenshot

Anne Shirley found her way to the small screen most popularly in the 1985 CBC television miniseries adaptation, which starred Megan Follows as the young heroine. It was aired as a two-part special on the television channel, and both parts of the film were among the highest-rated programs of any genre ever to air on a Canadian network. It swept the Gemini Awards in Canada in 1986, and also won that year’s Emmy for best Children’s Program. The success of the adaptation prompted three sequel films, as well as an additional television series.