Is Anne of Green Gables the Canadian Version of Laura Ingalls Wilder?

I recently finished watching, Anne with an E on Netflix, the latest adaptation of the Anne of Green Gables books written by Lucy Maud Montgomery. If you are familiar with the novels and the 1985 adaptation starring Megan Follows as Anne Shirley, you will find some well-loved scenes scattered throughout Anne with an E. You will also find, however, that series creator Moira Walley-Beckett had her own ideas about who Anne should be, what the world of Avonlea should look like, and what the town's residents should cope with. 

If you are curious about my thoughts on any of that, check out my (so far) three part series titled, "Modernizing a Classic" at The Book Connection. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. 

Montgomery was seven years younger than Laura Ingalls Wilder and lived in another country, yet they both wrote about a young girl's childhood based upon their own experiences. Montgomery created a fictional character in a fictional town on Prince Edward Island in Canada. Wilder wrote her recollections of growing up on the American prairie. 

Both Anne Shirley and Laura Ingalls Wilder would face hardships during their childhood. Both girls had a knack for getting into trouble because of their impulsive behavior and outspokenness. Both would become schoolteachers. Both would marry and have children. And both would experience hardships in their married life that tested them. In some ways, they seem to be the same girl with different experiences set in a different town. 

Let's not even consider adding Jo March from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott into this mix. 

Anne Shirley and Laura Ingalls Wilder have amazing followings, with their books and the film adaptations drawing in more fans every day. Just like fans visit Prince Edward Island to find some of Anne's old haunts, they flock to Wisconsin, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, and even New York (The Wilder farm) to get a glimpse into Wilder's life. 

I am sure we could find more Anne Shirley and Laura Ingalls Wilder connections if we tried. Fans around the world love their impulsive and outspoken role models who have enchanted them for generations. 

Free Land, Part 2

I have less than fifty pages left of Free Land to read. There have been parts so interesting I stayed up too late to read them, but most of the book hasn't drawn my interest. Maybe it's because the story is a bit familiar in spots--not unlike Rose's mother's stories. Maybe it could be the lack of optimism in the main characters or how the Beaton's marriage has been adversely affected by trying to make it on their own in a somewhat unsettled territory. 

The lengthy descriptions, which I enjoyed reading in the Anne of Green Gables books by Lucy Maud Montgomery, bore me to death in Free Land. I can't exactly pinpoint why. It certainly doesn't seem to make sense; unless I chalk it up to the fact that Montgomery was describing the beauty of the Canadian countryside, whereas Lane is typically describing the difficulties the Beaton's experience in living and farming under harsh conditions--raging blizzards, scorching heat, droughts.

But still, I must read it to the end so that I can figure out what happens. I wonder too, if Laura Ingalls Wilder had written her books for an adult market instead of for children--would I enjoy them as much as I do? It truly seems that the one major element missing between Rose's book and her mother's is that undying optimism which the young narrator of Little House books portrays through words and actions. 

Last night I ordered Let the Hurricane Roar from a local library. I'm curious to see how Rose portrays this story which is supposedly based upon the life of Charles and Caroline Ingalls. I believe I can get a more complete picture of Rose as a writer if I read as many of her books as I can find. I love this kind of research!