"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you." - Maya Angelou

Hello there, I fell down the AoGG rabbit hole when I watched Anne with an E on Netflix. While I loved the Sullivan production in the 80s (which is considered the original, though it wasn’t and is itself hardly a complete retelling of the books), I prefer the latest production. But I wanted more Anne & co and I was so happy when I found this community. I like to write stories mostly based on my favourite character, namely the magnificent Marilla.

Margaret Atwood wrote an article about Marilla back in 2008 for the 100th anniversary of the publication of AoGG. Her thesis was that Marilla was really the star of the novel. Her growth was the most profound. Anne may have instigated the change, but didn't change herself all that much, but Atwood says "Only Marilla unfolds into something unimaginable to us at the beginning of the book. Her growing love for Anne, and her growing ability to express that love - not Anne's duckling-to-swan act - is the real magic transformation. Anne is the catalyst who allows the crisp, rigid Marilla to finally express her long-buried softer human emotions. At the beginning of the book, it's Anne who does all the crying; by the end of it, much of this task has been transferred to Marilla. As Mrs Rachel Lynde says, 'Marilla Cuthbert has got mellow. That's what.'"

I'm exploring that idea. You can find the article online at The Guardian, just google Margaret Atwood Anne of Green Gables.