Do we like them?

Do we like Anne Shirley?

A character from Anne of Green Gables (1908)

Our score: 9 out of 10. Yes. She's warm, brave and funny, and she makes everyone around her better. Her temper and her scrapes are small flaws next to her big heart.

Anne Shirley is an eleven-year-old orphan with red hair, freckles and a huge imagination. She is sent to Green Gables, the farm of the middle-aged siblings Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert in Avonlea, Prince Edward Island. They had asked for a boy to help with the farm work, so she arrives by mistake. The book follows her as she tries to win a place in the household and the village.

Anne talks endlessly, renames the places around her, and gets into scrapes through impulse and daydreaming. She has a quick temper, especially when someone mocks her hair, and a stubborn pride that leads to a long feud with classmate Gilbert Blythe. Each mistake comes from enthusiasm, not malice. She is sorry afterwards and tries to put things right.

We score her 9 out of 10. She is hard-working, clever and fiercely loyal, and she turns a lonely farm into a home. She loves deeply, and she is honest about her faults. Her flaws are the ordinary ones of a spirited girl growing up, and they make her more lovable.