October 31, 2008

Who is Your Fictional Crush?

Photograph of Jonathan Crombie as Gilbert Blythe from Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel (1987) produced by Sullivan Entertainment


Might it be Gilbert Blythe or Anne Shirley?

I read a fun article on literary crushes by Alison Flood at The Guardian today that mentions Gilbert Blythe from Anne of Green Gables. Flood describes a petition that was launched in Japan to legalize marriages between humans and cartoon characters. Flood writes, "it made me wonder which fictional character I'd marry, legal niceties permitting. As a teenager I'd have plumped for any of the Georgette Heyer heroes (particularly the Earl of Rule), or Jilly Cooper's Rupert Campbell-Black, or Rhett Butler. Before those days I had quite a crush on Gilbert from Anne of Green Gables and Laurie from Little Women."

Do you have a fictional crush? If so, who is it? L.M. Montgomery's Gilbert Blythe is surely on my list. And I know from my many years on the Anne of Green Gables Forum that Jonathan Crombie's Gilbert makes many women swoon. We joked for years there about solid chocolate Gilbert dolls.


Reference:
Flood, Alison. (2008, October 30). Who is your literary crush? The Guardian. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2008/oct/30/literary-crush-alison-flood

Image credit:
Photograph of Jonathan Crombie as Gilbert Blythe and Megan Follows as Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel © Sullivan Entertainment

Created October 31, 2008. Last updated April 19, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

October 27, 2008

Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning

Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning, a book by filmmaker Kevin Sullivan, adapted from his original screenplay

Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning is a book by filmmaker Kevin Sullivan, which was adapted from his original screenplay for the television movie Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning (2008). The movie and book were created to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the publication of L.M. Montgomery's novel Anne of Green Gables. Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning was published in hardback in 2008 by Key Porter Books, and a paperback edition of the book was published by Davenport Press in 2009.

In his acknowledgements at the end of the book, Kevin Sullivan writes, "Lastly, to Lucy Maud Montgomery, whose journey through life as a magnificent storyteller provided me with the impetus to begin to question what Anne would have been like had she grown up to become an author like Montgomery herself, and how Anne as a child might have looked had Montgomery delved even deeper into her own personal back story in the creation of her illustrious heroine. With enormous gratitude at having had the privilege of creating a body of work inspired by one of Canada's most pre-eminent and enduring authors."

Here is the book's description from its inner cover:

It's the early 1940s, and the war in Europe is winding down. Anne Shirley—now a successful, middle-aged writer—has returned to Prince Edward Island for an extended visit. On a whim, she's agreed to write a play for theatre producer and friend Gene Armstrong; a play that will be performed as part of the White Sand Hotel's summer stock season.

But Anne is forced to admit that the play is nothing more than a distraction—a way to take her mind off troublesome recent events in her life. Her only son Dominic has yet to return from the war. The play, she reasons, will keep her busy—at least busy enough to not go out of her mind with worry.

But a long-hidden secret discovered under the floorboards at Green Gables provides a distraction of its own. As Anne struggles to complete the play she has promised to Gene, she delves into long-buried memories, reliving the troubled years before she arrived as an orphan at the Cuthberts' farmhouse. Over the course of one remarkable summer, Anne Shirley discovers the truth about her parents, the origins of her quest for "kindred spirits," and the roots of her brilliant, magical imagination.

In celebration of the centennial of the publication of L.M. Montgomery's original novel, and inspired by Montgomery's own creation of Anne, three-time Emmy award-winner and filmmaker Kevin Sullivan gives Anne fans a rare treat: a moving and complex glimpse into the circumstances that created one of the most beloved fictional characters of our time.


Image credit:
Photograph of my copy of Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning.

Purchase and read Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning:

Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning, a book by filmmaker Kevin Sullivan, adapted from his original screenplay

Created October 27, 2008. Last updated December 4, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com