I Wish I’d Written: Sharon Creech chooses Anne of Green Gables

Sharon Creech on a novel she wishes she’d read as a child…

It is odd to wish I’d written someone else’s book – wouldn’t it be different then? Maybe it would not be as good. I always write the book I want to write, so I don’t have to wish I’d written someone  else’s.

Still, I will try to imagine this wish.

Maybe I’d choose Anne of  Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery (Canadian, 1908).  I only  recently read this book and was completely charmed by it and wished I’d found  it when I was ten or twelve.

Anne Shirley, an orphan, arrives on Prince Edward Island, at the home of a middle-aged brother and sister who had sought a boy to adopt, to help with work on their farm. Anne does her best to convince them to give her a try instead.

How I love Anne’s enthusiasm, her optimism and her embrace of nature. How poignant are her naïve encounters.   How skilfully this story is written.

Only now, in writing this piece, did I realize  that in my newest book, The Great Unexpected, the character of Lizzie  might owe some of her personality to Anne Shirley, of Green Gables.

See what you think.

Anne of Green Gables (978 19094 3896 5) by Lucy Maud Montgomery is published by Sovereign at £12.99. Sharon Creech’s latest book The Great Unexpected (978 1 8493 9659 2) is published by Andersen at £5.99 pbk.