Anne of Green Gables

When "Anne of Green Gables" was published, a century ago this year, not everyone loved it. The New York Times called Lucy Maud Montgomery’s tale of a chatty redheaded girl on Prince Edward Island “altogether too queer.”

They’ve eaten their words. A hundred years later, the feisty young Anne is still going strong: in the original and the books that followed, in movies and television, prequels and sequels, and hordes of Green Gables tourists from all over the world.

This hour: the last Victorian, proto-feminist classic, "Anne of Green Gables," at one hundred.

Did you read the book as a kid? Did you read it last week? What keeps Anne going after all these years? Is it the sweet pastoral scenes of days of yore, or the feisty redhead Anne Shirley who won't be kept down? Has Anne mattered in your life? In generations of your family? Join the conversation.

Guests:

Joining us from Guelph, Canada, is Mary Henley Rubio, professor emerita at the University of Guelph and author of the biography, “Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings,” about the author of "Anne of Green Gables," which will be published this fall. She co-edited Montgomery’s journals between 1985 and 2004 and co-edited the Norton Critical Edition of "Anne of Green Gables" in 2006.

Joining us from Toronto, Canada, is Kevin Sullivan. He's the director and producer of the 1985 film version of "Anne of Green Gables" and its two sequels. The prequel, “Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning,” is coming soon.

More links:

The official site of Prince Edward Island has information about the Anne of Green Gables 100th anniversary — as well as a virtual tour of the famed Green Gables house.