When Marilla Cuthberts brother, Matthew, returns home to Green Gables with a chatty redheaded orphan girl, Marilla exclaims, “But we asked for a boy. We have no use for a girl.” Its not long, though, before the Cuthberts cant imagine how they could ever do without young Anne of Green Gables–but not for the original reasons they sought an orphan. Somewhere between the time Anne “confesses” to losing Marillas amethyst pin (which she never took) in hopes of being allowed to go to a picnic, and when Anne accidentally dyes her hated carrot-red hair green, Marilla says to Matthew, “One things for certain, no house that Annes in will ever be dull.” And no book that shes in will be, either.
–Emilie Coulter (review of an abridged version)