“Dear old world,” she murmured, “you are very lovely and I am glad to be alive in you”
                                                                                                                      – Anne Shirley, Anne of Green Gables

As soon as a queer mistake brings Anne Shirley, a red-haired, dramatic and talkative eleven year old orphan to the quiet, and mysterious Green Gables situated in the fictional town of Avonlea, she proceeds to make an indelible impression on everyone around her. Starting from Matthew and Maria Cuthbert who had their heart set upon having a boy to help around the farm and definitely not a redheaded feisty girl who befriends to many more of Avonlea’s locals such as Diana Barry: her “bosom friend” and even Mrs. Lynde: A nosy woman who believes that everyone needs to come to her for advice. Anne (spelled with an E of course, it’s much more distinguished!), using her incredible scope for imagination and zest for life, sees beauty in everything she sets her eyes upon. This book offers a realistic experience to the reader where one could hardly conceal laughter in certain parts, just as it is hardly impossible to hold a tear in another. The exquisite language used with the broad range of vocabulary just like Anne says, “If you have big ideas, you have to use big words to express them” and the the fluency in dialogue writing makes this book one of the must-read classics to all readers.

Reviewed by: Thavinsa Krandawala, Mahamaya Girls’ College, Kandy.