It’s the early 1940s, and the war in Europe is winding down. Anne Shirley—now a successful, middle-aged writer—has returned to Prince Edward Island for an extended visit. On a whim, she’s agreed to write a play for theatre producer and friend Gene Armstrong; a play that will be performed as part of the White Sand Hotel’s summer stock season. But Anne is forced to admit that the play is nothing more than a distraction—a way to take her mind off troublesome recent events in her life.
Her only son Dominic has yet to return from the war. The play, she reasons, will keep her busy—at least busy enough to not go out of her mind with worry. But a long-hidden secret discovered under the floorboards at Green Gables provides a distraction of its own. As Anne struggles to complete the play she has promised to Gene, she delves into long-buried memories, reliving the troubled years before she arrived as an orphan at the Cuthberts’ farmhouse.
Over the course of one remarkable summer, Anne Shirley discovers the truth about her parents, the origins of her quest for “kindred spirits,” and the roots of her brilliant, magical imagination.
In celebration of the centennial of the publication of L. M. Montgomery’s original novel and inspired by Montgomery’s own creation of Anne, three-time Emmy award winner and filmmaker Kevin Sullivan gives Anne fans a rare treat: a moving and complex glimpse into the circumstances that created one of the most beloved fictional characters of our time.
Written by Kevin Sullivan and based on his prequel to Anne of Green Gables series, Anne of Green Gables ~ A New Beginning.