Modern Heroines for Anne of Green Gables Fans

If you grew up with Anne Shirley (and her very specific brand of big-feelings optimism), you already know this: some heroines don’t just entertain us, they shape us.

Today, New York Times Bestselling author Virginia Kantra, whose novel Anne of a Different Island is a heartfelt, contemporary story inspired by Anne of Green Gables, shares a cozy, feel-good list of modern heroines who carry Anne’s irrepressible spirit… imaginative, outspoken, tender-hearted, and brave enough to keep going when life doesn’t follow the plan.

Settle in, add a few titles to your TBR, and meet your next favorite contemporary romance heroine.

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Why Anne Still Feels So Real

When Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables was first published in 1908, most fictional heroines looked more like Anne’s pretty, kind, sensible best friend Diana than like Anne herself. Anne—passionate, opinionated, creative, and much too honest—was unusual for her time. 

Which are the exact qualities that make her so timeless and relatable. 

Anne feels what we feel. She says what we sometimes wish we were brave enough to say. She reminds us—as I wrote in my own novel, Anne of a Different Island—that “a strange girl with a big imagination and a bigger mouth could find her place in the world.”

If You Love Anne of Green Gables, Read These

If, like me, you grew up loving Anne (and Gilbert Blythe, first and best of book boyfriends!), you may still be drawn to stories about women who dance to their own rhythms, who lead with their hearts, speak their minds, and stubbornly believe that something good lies beyond the next bend in the road. Below are a few contemporary books I’ve loved that capture Anne Shirley’s irrepressible spirit. 

Love Your Life by Sophie Kinsella

I was so sad to learn of Sophie Kinsella’s recent passing. This novel celebrates her gift for writing heroines in the tradition of Bridget Jones: messy, well-meaning, and totally sincere. Ava is a freelancer who jumps from project to project with enthusiasm and no follow-through. Hoping to finally finish her (admittedly terrible) historical romance, Ava escapes to a writers’ retreat in Italy, where she falls for conventional Matt—or, rather, for the man she imagines Matt to be.

Like Anne Shirley’s, Ava’s energy can be both exhausting and endearing. But she sees the best in people, sometimes before they see it in themselves, and in doing so becomes the catalyst for real change.

Grab Love Your Life on Amazon

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center

Emma believes in a shiny, hopeful, rom-com version of love. Much like Anne delaying her college dreams to help Marilla, Emma has shelved her ambition of becoming a screenwriter to care for her father. But when an opportunity to collaborate with grumpy cynic Charlie Wheeler comes her way, Emma jumps at the chance. Her determined optimism feels very Anne-like, a reminder that faith (in a relationship or in yourself) can be an act of courage.

Grab The Rom-Commers on Amazon

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston

Unlike optimist Emma, Florence no longer believes in love. Which is a problem, given that she is a ghostwriter for a famous romance novelist. After her beloved father’s death, Florence returns home to the family funeral parlor in rural South Carolina to cope with her grief and struggle with her latest deadline. Author Poston populates her story with the same charm and quirky characters as Prince Edward Island, and Florence herself shares in Anne’s vivid inner life…complicated by the fact that she actually sees real ghosts! 

Grab The Dead Romantics on Amazon

Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert

Eve Brown is a hot-mess youngest sister with purple hair, a big personality, and a lingering fear that she’s a disappointment to her family. After literally running into buttoned-up bed-and-breakfast owner Jacob (with her car), Eve lands a job—and a chance to prove herself. Beneath the humor and steamy romance is a deeply relatable yearning to belong, to be loved and taken seriously without having to become someone else.

Grab Act Your Age, Eve Brown on Amazon

How to Read a Book by Monica Wood

This quietly powerful novel follows Violet, a young woman newly released from prison and struggling to rebuild her life. Her unlikely friendship with Harriet, a retired teacher who runs the prison book club, carries strong Anne-and-Marilla energy. Though the book tackles difficult subjects, it’s ultimately a feel-good read that affirms the power of stories to heal and connect us. 

Grab How to Read a Book on Amazon

Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn

Georgie has made a career of being what other people need. But after she loses her personal assistant job, she is adrift. Returning home to figure out her next steps, she turns to her old diaries, hoping to rediscover her sense of purpose. Honest, emotional, and wildly romantic, this novel embraces the idea that it’s never too late to let go of the past and find a way forward.

What exuberant Georgie sees as her weaknesses are actually strengths. She doesn’t need to change. She needs to learn to trust in herself and in the future she could have.  

Grab Georgie, All Along on Amazon

The Inspiration for Anne of a Different Island

All of these heroines are following in Anne Shirley’s footsteps, on their own journeys to self-acceptance and self-expression. Growing up, Anne’s vivid imagination and deep feelings, her flaws and mistakes, felt real and familiar to me. She showed me that being “too much” could actually be just right. So it’s no wonder her character inspired my homage in Anne of a Different Island.

“Sometimes books are the only safe place kids have to explore who they are and how they feel. To understand they’re not alone. How would I have navigated my own life without Meg Murray and Anne Shirley, Jo March and Jane Eyre, to offer a road map and point the way?”

I hope these heroines inspire you to embrace your own inner Anne! 

Anne of a Different Island by Virginia Kantra

Virginia Kantra’s newest novel is inspired by Anne of Green Gables and it’s for anyone who’s ever felt “too much” and had to learn how to write their own ending.

Read this if you want:

• A modern Anne-coded heroine with big feelings, big imagination, and zero interest in shrinking herself
• A fresh-start return home story (small community, old history)
• Heart-tugging healing + hope after life blows up the “perfect plan”

When Anne Gallagher’s carefully plotted “Anne Shirley” life collapses. Romance failing, career shaken, and her father gone, she’s forced back to Mackinac Island and into the version of herself she tried to outgrow. Facing the people and memories she left behind (including Joe Miller, the boy who nicknamed her “The Pest”), she has to stop living by someone else’s story and finally write her own ending… messy, real, and fully hers.

Grab Anne of a Different Island on Amazon

About Virginia Kantra

Virginia Kantra is a New York Times bestselling author who writes heart-forward stories about family, belonging, and brave new beginnings ranging from coastal small-town romance to classic-inspired contemporary fiction. Her novel Anne of a Different Island is inspired by Anne of Green Gables. If you want to dive deeper into her books, check out our Virginia Kantra author guide and if you’re a fan of Virgin River (Netflix) then I highly recommend you check out our Dare Island series guide.

Final Thoughts

Virginia shared some amazing recs, but now it’s your turn. If you love Anne of Green Gables as well, leave a comment with your favorite heroine that gives you those vibes. Plus check out even more of our must-read authors.

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