Anne of Green Gables: Canada's great literary and rural tourist sites

The book
Anne of Green Gables, a children’s novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Mon­t­gomery (1874-1942), was published in 1908. Born in Cavendish in the Gulf of St Lawrence off the Canadian coast, Montgomery wrote a charming growing up story about a highly spirited orphan girl who found a home with elderly siblings; it became a classic of child­ren’s lit­erature. Back in 2006 I specifically nomin­at­ed this book as the most influential book in my child­hood.

Green Gables

Anne's bedroom

Green Gables

The fictional siblings, Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, lived on a fictional farm in the fict­ional village of Avonlea on Prince Ed­ward Island. As they were ageing, they needed help on their Green Gables farm, so they ap­plied to ad­opt a boy from an orphanage. But by mistake a red-haired, freckled 11-year-old girl Anne Shirley was sent to the siblings. While Mat­thew ins­tantly took to Anne, Marilla was unsure about keeping her. But the imaginative Anne gradual­ly changed the prim lives of Matthew and Marilla; they came to view her as a daughter.

However not everything about Avonlea was perfect, and the quick-tempered Anne had 2 opponents: the hypercritical Rachel Lynde, who she event­ual­ly befriended, and Gilbert Blythe, a classmate who insulted Anne bec­ause of her red hair. She was sensitive about the redness, and this set off a long-lasting feud. The two only became friends by late in the story and married (later).

Impulsive Anne had many mis­adventures. However she matured during the book, and when Matthew died, Anne gave up going to college to care for Marilla who was going blind. Showing no bitterness, Anne cheer­fully welcomed her new role, expecting great happiness.

Anne of Green Gables had apparently been inspired by a newspaper story, and Montgomery filled the work with her own girlhood experiences, and with the rural life and traditions of Prince Edward Island. Although rejected by several publishers at first, the novel became a huge success. Mark Twain fondly compared Anne to Lewis Carr­oll’s Alice.

Montgomery wasn’t particularly interested in extending the story, but she did write Anne of Avonlea (1909) that traced Anne’s life from girlhood to mother­hood. Later Anne of Green Gables was adapted for film, stage and tv.

Green Gables Heritage Place
Find the site in the Nation­al Park, sandy beaches and green farm­land on Prin­ce Edward Island’s north shore, only 40 ks north of the state capital Char­lottetown. NB that it is only open from May-Sept; the best activities are in July-Aug.

Built in successive stages between 1831-70, the one-and-a-half storey, L-shape house is topped by a gable roof with a dormer window on the front façade; a small vestibule entrance; wooden frames clad in white paint­ed shing­l­es; wood­en sash windows had green shutters as well as the green gable ends. Mont­gom­ery actually used the farmhouse and C19th gar­­dens as the insp­iration and setting for her famous novel.

Opened in the 1970s, the interior of the house has since been reconstructed to appear as it did in the 1908 novel. So start at the Green Gables Visitor Centre, a bright, modern buil­ding with serv­ic­es for guests, includ­ing the welcome desk, lobby, gift shop and But­ter Churn Café. Inside is the Exhibit Hall, an att­r­ac­tive space with exhibits that explore the life and writing career of LM Mon­tgomery, the writing of Anne of Green Gables and the ongoing im­pact of her writ­ing on a local and national scale.

Silver Bush farm, now the Anne of Green Gables Museum

Anne of Green Gables Museum was once an idyllic farm house called Silver Bush, built by Mont­gomery’s aunt and uncle in 1872. Montgomery loved the property, choosing the parlour for her own wedding to Rev Ewen Macdonald in 1911. Inside see all kinds of Anne memorabilia, including rare editions of her books, her own photos, extracts from her scrapbooks and a replica of her wedding dress.

With the factual story of Montgomery and the fictional story of Anne of Green Gables, learn how the Cavend­ish landscape ins­p­ired Mont­gom­ery and played an important literary role. Note the themes of imagin­ation, beauty, friendship, belonging and freedom in all the ex­hibits. After seeing the house, follow the trails around the property, which feature notable locations from the books eg Lovers Lane, Haunted Woods and Balsam Hollow.

Green Gables House is one of Canada’s most celebrated fictional houses but in 1985 it gained Federal Heritage recognition due to its his­tor­ic­al assoc­iat­­ions and its architectural and environmental value. Is this art imitating life or life imitating art?

Village of Cavendish aka Avonlea

Cavendish is of interest because Montgomery was born there, in a modest timber cottage, but also because the quiet settlement was the insp­iration for fictional Avonlea. Together with Green Gables Heritage Place, it forms the L.M. Montgomery’s Cavendish National Historic Site.

Suggestions for Anne of Green Gables Tours, Trips & Tickets 

L.M Montgomery's grave

Cavendish

Prince Edward Island

Note Charlottetown in the south and Cavendish in the north of the island