海角大神

The white-shingled home with a green-gabled roof is perched timelessly amid the rolling pastures of Prince Edward Island.

For a century, the farmhouse, which inspired the setting of 鈥淎nne of Green Gables,鈥� has lured fans eager to retrace the bucolic footsteps of their favorite redheaded literary character. Visitors snap photos of patchwork quilts and rocking chairs. They wander the forest groves that Anne 鈥� with an e 鈥� who was so fiercely imaginative about the natural world around her, renamed the 鈥淗aunted Woods.鈥�

But the Victorian farmstead is not just a capsule suspended in time. It welcomes a diverse fan base whose members see themselves in the foibles of the impetuous orphan who breaks all the rules but finds love and family.

鈥淎nne of Green Gables鈥� has sold more than 50 million copies and been translated into over 30 languages. The headstrong 11-year-old who was sent by mistake to live on a farm is one of the most beloved children鈥檚 characters of all time.

鈥淸Author Lucy Maud Montgomery] is looking at the world and seeing people鈥檚 foibles and imperfections, yet holding them up affectionately and loving them anyway,鈥� says Laura Robinson, a professor at Acadia University who chairs the L.M. Montgomery Institute management committee. 鈥淭here are people who find any time they are in a tough place in their life, they really want to reread these because there鈥檚 something healing and redemptive about them.鈥�

Ultimately, it鈥檚 a story about an outsider finding acceptance 鈥� a lesson that, if anything, resonates more today than ever.聽

And with the 150th anniversary of Montgomery鈥檚 birth on Nov. 30, there are plenty of visitors to these red-sanded shores. Many people see the anniversary as an opportunity to more intentionally shift the conversation beyond just the 鈥減astoral prettiness鈥� of the story. They aim to examine the wider world the character would have inhabited and to consider Montgomery and her work with a 21st-century eye toward inclusion and diversity.

鈥淒on鈥檛 get me wrong, we love Anne,鈥� says Linda Lowther, a tourism and education consultant touted as the island鈥檚 鈥淢ontgomery at 150鈥� expert. She is part of an effort to highlight new tours and tributes that educate visitors about the creator of Anne, not just the character.

Many of those events are exactly the kind one might expect on an island that can sometimes feel as if it jumped out of a storybook: floral scrapbooking, journaling workshops, musicals, concerts created with Montgomery poems, and the chance for children to be taught in a聽re-created classroom.聽

But Montgomery, the writer of hundreds of short stories and 20 novels, was also a woman ahead of her time. She broke barriers and turned Anne into one of Canada鈥檚 most cherished, and lucrative, icons.

鈥淪he was a fierce environmentalist. I heard someone say she had the business acumen of Taylor Swift,鈥� says Ms. Lowther.

She also had a complex life. Montgomery based the story of Anne in part on her own upbringing, after her mother died and her father left her with her stern grandparents in Cavendish on the north shore of the island. Throughout her life, she struggled with depression, and some of that trauma is found in her writing.

鈥淸The story] is often represented as kind of fluffy and happy happy, but it can be scathing in moments,鈥� says Dr. Robinson.

鈥淢ore than one single narrative鈥�

Anne has always appealed to a diverse set of readers. The Japanese are counted as some of her most devoted fans; Aretha Franklin famously considered Anne a 鈥渒indred spirit.鈥�

But Montgomery today is being examined for blind spots. Her series, for example, ignores the Indigenous inhabitants of Prince Edward Island, who arrived thousands of years before European settlers. That storyline was explored in Netflix鈥檚 鈥淎nne with an E,鈥� when Ka鈥檏wet, a Mi鈥檏maw character, befriends Anne.

Parks Canada, which runs Green Gables Heritage Place, this year released a 10-year management plan to 鈥渆ngage with Indigenous and marginalized communities to tell their stories.鈥� Already, the site, which saw 165,000 visitors last year, includes panel information (some of it in Mi鈥檏maw language) about Indigenous history at the time 鈥淎nne of Green Gables鈥� was published in 1908.

Parks Canada is also looking forward, considering the visitor experience in a more multicultural contemporary Canada. Prince Edward Island鈥檚 capital, Charlottetown, is among the fastest growing Canadian cities, thanks to immigration.聽

Their management plan, still abstract, has nothing to do with changing the story, says Janette Gallant, with Parks Canada. 鈥淚t has to do with reflecting the diversity of Canadian society and understanding there are more stories and more voices to be heard ... more than one single narrative.鈥�

That鈥檚 the force that drove Judith Graves to create 鈥淭he ANNEthology: A Collection of Kindred Spirits Inspired by the Canadian Icon.鈥� In a collection of short stories, 鈥淎nne鈥� is reimagined as a robot in one, a girl from Jamaica who鈥檚 been trafficked in another. 鈥淭he idea was to take this universal character and see how she can shift in different cultures with different genders and in different time periods,鈥� says Ms. Graves.

The local author has received some pushback from those defensive about 鈥渢heir island treasure,鈥� she says.聽

鈥淛ust leave her alone,鈥� she heard.

鈥淚 feel like I鈥檓 Anne鈥�

A visit to Green Gables Heritage Place should assuage anyone worried about an overmodernization of the storyline: The 鈥渒indred spirit鈥� that many feel with Anne is enduring.

鈥淚 try to explain,鈥� says Harriet Nicholson, an Australian on a 10-day trip of a lifetime. 鈥淚 am Anne. I feel like I鈥檓 Anne.鈥�

It鈥檚 more than just their shared red hair, or the 鈥渟crapes鈥� that both got into as youngsters. When Ms. Nicholson would be late getting home as a child, her mother always knew to look 鈥渦p鈥� in the trees instead of 鈥渄own.鈥� At first, she didn鈥檛 see herself in the books. She was 鈥渟porty鈥� growing up and thought the series was 鈥渢oo princessy.鈥� Then her mom, whose own mother put it into her hands, tried a few years later, opening to the middle of the book when Anne shatters a chalk slate over the head of Gilbert, a classmate.

Ever since, she鈥檚 seen Anne as a trailblazer, reading the series every year. Now in her 20s, she finds 19th-century Anne the perfect 鈥渂osom buddy鈥� for the 21st century.