Okay, that was all kinds of adorable. It’s weird, though, because part of me was excited about the changes that had been made to modernise Anne with an E’s story but another part of me wished some of the things I loved about the original remained. I loved the story so much that I’m certain I would’ve felt the same even if it wasn’t about my kindred spirit but if it wasn’t an adaptation (sort of) of her story, maybe I wouldn’t have found it in the first place.
All of that to say, I love Anne Shirley Cuthbert no matter where I find her, the format she chooses to tell me her story or the variations I’ve encountered along the way.
There were changes in this sort of adaptation I was fairly neutral about. For example, Anne doesn’t line up with what Marilla and Matthew expected because they wanted a younger child, not a boy.
I loved that Anne has been through the foster system instead of spending much of her childhood in an orphanage. We need more stories about foster kids that don’t set out to pathologise them. Avonlea is now an apartment building called Avon-Lea and Marilla gets to do something other than housework!
I wasn’t the biggest fan of the way Marilla and Anne’s relationship was portrayed in this graphic novel. It’s so much more positive than any version I’ve come across and it definitely sounds like I want poor Anne to experience the pain of not knowing if she will ever find her way into Marilla’s heart. I don’t. I really don’t. However, one of the things I love about their relationship is that it doesn’t come easy. Being able to witness Anne’s influence on Marilla and her gradual softening is something I look forward to whenever I revisit their story. This Marilla doesn’t have the sharp edges I’ve come to expect and, to be honest, love about her.
I also usually enjoy the struggle Anne has about the clothes Marilla allows her to wear because the payoff is so rewarding. Here, Anne has more agency because she gets to decide for herself what she wants to wear for the first time in her life (absolutely wonderful) but this means the impact is lessened later on when the dress scene happens (kind of disappointing).
Then there was the biggest thing I was conflicted about, Anne and Diana. It’s been so engrained in me that Anne and Gilbert are meant for each other, despite their beginnings, that it’s never even occurred to me that Anne could fall for anyone else. Another of the things I always adore about Anne is her kindred spirit friendship with Diana. Seeing them in a different light took a moment for me to get used to but they won me over. It made my heart go all gooey watching them blush around each other and by the end I was essentially ’Gilbert who?’
No, this is not the story you grew up with. That’s why the ‘sort of’ comes after ‘adaptation’. But it was close enough that I felt like I was reading about the characters I’ve known for decades. And when I thought about the changes that were made to each character, it wasn’t hard to believe that this is who they would be if they were here with us now.
Once Upon a Blurb
Anne Shirley has been in foster care her whole life. So when the Cuthberts take her in, she hopes it’s for good. They seem to be hitting it off, but how will they react to the trouble that Anne can sometimes find herself in … like accidentally dyeing her hair green or taking a dangerous dare that leaves her in a cast?
Then Anne meets Diana Barry, a girl who lives in her apartment building, the Avon-Lea. The two become fast friends, as Anne finds she can share anything with Diana. As time goes on, though, Anne starts to develop more-than-friends feelings for Diana.
A new foster home, a new school, and a first-time crush — it’s a lot all at once. But if anyone can handle life’s twists and turns, it’s the irrepressible Anne Shirley.
Schizanthus Nerd 