Set in the late 19th century, the novel recounts the adventures of an 11-year-old orphan girl Anne Shirley sent by mistake to two middle-aged siblings, Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, who had originally intended to adopt a boy to help them on their farm in the fictional town of Avonlea in Prince Edward Island, Canada.

Montgomery used a photograph of Evelyn Nesbit, which she had clipped from New York's Metropolitan Magazine and put on the wall of her bedroom as the model for the face of Anne Shirley and a reminder of her "youthful idealism and spirituality.

[15] Anne Shirley, a young orphan from the fictional community of Bolingbroke, Nova Scotia (based upon the real community of New London, Prince Edward Island),[16][17] is sent to live with Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, unmarried siblings in their fifties and sixties, after a childhood spent in strangers' homes and orphanages.

However, she is defensive about her appearance, despising her red hair, freckles, and pale, thin frame, but liking her nose.

The book recounts Anne's struggles and joys in settling into Green Gables (the first real home she's ever known): the country school where she quickly excels in her studies; her friendship with Diana Barry, the girl living next door (her best or "bosom friend" as Anne fondly calls her); her budding literary ambitions; and her rivalry with her classmate Gilbert Blythe, who teases her about her red hair.

Episodes include playtime with her friends Diana, calm, placid Jane Andrews, and beautiful, boy-crazy Ruby Gillis.

She has run-ins with the unpleasant Pye sisters, Gertie and Josie, and frequent domestic "scrapes" such as dyeing her hair green while intending to dye it black, and accidentally getting Diana drunk by giving her what she thinks is raspberry cordial but which turns out to be currant wine.

She obtains her license in one year instead of the usual two and wins the Avery Scholarship awarded to the top student in English.

Near the end of the book, however, tragedy strikes when Matthew dies of a heart attack after learning that all of his and Marilla's money has been lost in a bank failure.

Montgomery's original manuscript is preserved by the Confederation Centre of the Arts, in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

Many tourist attractions on Prince Edward Island have been developed based on the fictional Anne, and provincial license plates once bore her image.

[23] In addition, the Confederation Centre of the Arts has featured the wildly successful Anne of Green Gables musical on its mainstage every summer for over five decades, until 2020 and the Covid pandemic.

[29][30] The novel has been popular in Japan, where it is known as Red-haired Anne (赤毛のアン (Akage no An)),[31][32] and where it has been included in the national school curriculum since 1952.

Japanese couples travel to Prince Edward Island to have civil wedding ceremonies on the grounds of the Green Gables farm.

A replica of the Green Gables house in Cavendish is located in the theme park Canadian World in Ashibetsu, Hokkaido, Japan.

[35] Souvenir shops throughout Prince Edward Island offer numerous foods and products based on details of the 'Anne Shirley' novels.

Straw hats for girls with sewn-in red braids are common, as are bottles of raspberry cordial soda.

[46] Montgomery herself was infuriated with the film for changing Anne from a Canadian to an American, writing in her diary: It was a pretty little play well photographed, but I think if I hadn't already known it was from my book, that I would never had recognized it.