Anyone who was charmed by the impetuous, feisty young orphan, Anne Shirley, whose antics and endearing personality won the hearts of the Cuthbert siblings and everyone in Avonlea, will adore the continuing story of her life.

Now, eighteen-years-old, Anne has matured into an attractive, accomplished, yet adventurous and outspoken adult. She has taken a position as teacher at the Avonlea School and has stayed on with Marilla Cuthbert. Her life is quiet, though she once longed to become a famous writer.

Gilbert Blyth, once her rival, is now her good friend, a friend she can share her thoughts and dreams with. He is smitten with her and has proposed to her several times, each time being met with a refusal. Anne, ever the romantic, yearns for the perfect man who will sweep her off her feet. When her best friend Diana announces her impending marriage to the decidedly plain Fred Wright, Anne realizes that not only will her friends’ lives change, but hers will never be the same, either.

Anne yearns to see new places, meet new people, and when a job opportunity to teach at an exclusive girls’ private school in Kingsport, Nova Scotia arises, Marilla encourages Anne to follow her heart and her dreams. She takes the job and leaves, without setting things right with Gilbert.

When Anne arrives at her new home, she learns that sometimes dreams have a dark side. The town is run by the aristocratic Pringle family, who are adamantly opposed to her taking the job, an opinion Anne does nothing to change, as on her very first day she manages to insult the principal, and causes an explosion of firecrackers. The Pringle children do everything they can to disrupt Anne’s classroom, but Anne is determined to succeed. Eventually, she forms friendships, and perhaps a hint of romance, but as the summer break approaches, she misses Marilla, Green Gables and Avonlea, so she heads back.

But things are not well on Prince Edward Island. Anne learns Gilbert is gravely ill, and now she must examine her deepest feelings and decide her future with Gilbert—as friends or husband and wife.