How a brash, red-haired orphan from P.E.I. continues to be a worldwide sensation [Video]

This story is from this week’s episode of the new CBC podcast Good Question, P.E.I. 

Listen here.

Good Question, P.E.I. is available on the CBC Listen app or wherever you get your podcasts.

She’s the star of two popular musicals in Charlottetown. Her fictional home in Cavendish is a national historic site. Her iconic red braids and straw hat have been featured on everything from chocolates to P.E.I. licence plates.

Any Islander who hasn’t heard of Anne of Green Gables must be hiding under a big red rock.

But, of course, Lucy Maud Montgomery’s famous character is beloved well beyond the land that inspired her. The 116-year-old novel has sold more than 50 million copies and has been translated into at least 36 languages. It’s been adapted multiple times for TV, including the recent Netflix series Anne with an E.

So how did Anne of Green Gables become so famous? That’s the topic for Episode 8 of the local podcast Good …