Prince Edward Island classic 'Anne of Green Gables' gets an interactive update

“Anne of Green Gables” is among the most treasured works of literature ever written in the Maritimes.

Since Lucy Maud Montgomery’s novel was published in 1908, Anne’s story has become the longest running annual theatre production in the world and been retold across mediums for new generations.

Fans of “Anne of Green Gables” have a new way to enjoy the story. Barbara Heller is the curator of a new, interactive edition of Montgomery’s classic. She said she read the novel for the first time when she was 11 years old.

“I loved orphan literature,” Heller said. “Anne especially because she’s so plucky and imaginative. Everyone who comes into contact with Anne changes for the better, which seemed this amazing superpower and frankly, kind of made me want to be an orphan.”

Heller said reading “Anne of Green Gables” has changed as she’s matured.

“Now as an adult, it’s really Marilla’s transformation that moves me and is the heart of the book for me,” she said.

Among the interactive elements in Heller’s edition of Anne is one of Marilla’s recipes, written on a bank card replica – intended, at the time, for writing a Christmas budget – she discovered while researching for the book.

“I thought that is so thrifty and practical, just like Marilla,” Heller said.

The recipe is one of many hidden treasures in Heller’s edition, which includes parchment-pocket pages – envelopes inserted into the pages of the book containing treasures inspired by Anne Shirley’s adventures. Heller said one treasure, a map of Avonlea – the fictional community where Anne lives – presented a unique challenge.

“I swear Montgomery changes the geography to suit the scene,” Heller said. “So that’s why it was like putting slippers on an octopus.”

Heller has not visited Prince Edward Island herself, so she worked with researchers and scholars on the island. That research helped her curate the trinkets found in each of the book’s parchment pockets.

“I find it fascinating,” Heller said. “And I was really helped by Lucy Maud Montgomery’s scrapbook.”

Heller said Montgomery wrote the scrapbooks when she was a teenager but referred to them while she was writing Anne’s story.

“I really had things to guide me that were really specific,” she said.

Heller is tackling Jane Austen for her next project. “Pride and Prejudice” was the first book she did in her series. For that, she reimagined the letters in the book. She has plans for a special edition of the work in 2025 to commemorate Austen’s 250th birthday.

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