There is a lot to Gilbert & Anne's story, especially if you read L.M. Montgomery's whole Anne of Green Gables series. As of right now, this site is mostly drawn from the first two Anne movies, Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea. Although I usually dislike movies' departures from books, these movies will always be special to me, as I watched them many times as a child. *more book-related plot details to come later*

Anne is a red headed orphan, bounced around from home to home, who hates her red hair, talks incessantly when given the chance, and has the most active imagination anyone could imagine. Through a mix-up, she is sent to the household of brother & sister Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert in the town of Avonlea on Prince Edward Island, Canada. They wanted a boy, but because Matthew takes a liking to Anne, and because the home she would otherwise go to is so horrible, Marilla agrees to keep her.

Gilbert and Anne first meet at a Sunday School picnic, where Gilbert winks at Anne after she and her friend Diana Barry beat him in a three-legged race. On Anne's first day of school, Gilbert calls her Carrots because of her red hair. Anne detests the nickname and slams a slate over his head. She refuses to forgive him and gives him the cold shoulder for a long time, while he secretly pines for the imaginative and vivacious Anne and tries to be kind to her and get her to forgive him. Both very intelligent, Anne and Gilbert are always competing for the highest honors at school and end up tying for first on the entrance exams into Queens Academy. After getting their teaching certificates at Queens, Gilbert is assigned to Avonlea public school, and Anne accepts a position in a nearby town. Since Matthew has died, Marilla needs help to run Green Gables or she must sell it. Anne had won a prestigious scholarship to college but turned it down to accept the teaching position in order to be near Marilla. In a show of generosity and because of his love for Anne, Gilbert arranges to have their teaching positions exchanged so that Anne can teach at Avonlea and live at Green Gables. Anne eventually warms up to Gilbert and considers him a friend, although he tries desperately to make overtures to her. He ends up proposing, and she, believing she does not love him the way he loves her, turns him down.

At about the same time, Marilla's friend Rachel Lynde loses her husband Thomas, and arrangements are made for Rachel to move in with Marilla so Anne can pursue a job opportunity in the town of Kingsport, New Brunswick, teaching at a young ladies' academy. Because she is not part of the inner circle of Kingsport, which is comprised of the members of the Pringle family, she is treated badly and runs into may obstacles as a teacher. She does grow close to a student named Emmeline Harris, however, and in her guidance of Emmeline wins over her distant, inattentive, wealthy father Morgan Harris. While in Kingsport, Anne also runs into Gilbert, who is in medical school and attending a conference there. He reveals that he is engaged to a woman named Christine and will marry her next summer. Anne expresses happiness for him, but at that time she first starts to realize that she really is in love with Gilbert herself. One evening after a ball, Morgan Harris proposes to Anne, but she knows in her heart that she loves Gilbert and misses Avonlea and cannot accept his hand or the life she would marry into.

During her tenure in Kingsport, Anne writes a book called Avonlea Vignettes. The idea was suggested by Gilbert after her earlier writings were rejected for publication. He told her to write about the people and places she knew. She was insulted at the time, but after missing home while at Kingsport, she gives it a try and her book is published. Although she eventually wins over the Pringle clan and the whole ladies' academy and is offered a five year contract, she knows she cannot stay because her heart is in Avonlea.

Once back at Avonlea, Diana's sister Minnie May lets slip that Gilbert is dying. Marilla explains that he caught scarlet fever and is in a very bad way. The advance copies of Anne's book arrive, and she decides to take a copy to Gilbert. She dedicated the book to Marilla, Matthew, and Gilbert, and thanks him for the inspiration. Gilbert tells her that he called off the wedding to Christine, knowing there would never be anyone for him but Anne. In time, Gilbert does recover, and as he now knows that Anne does love him back, he proposes to her again, and she accepts.

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