Anne, an eleven-year-old orphan, is sent by mistake to live with a lonely, middle-aged brother and sister on a Prince Edward Island farm and proceeds to make an indelible impression on everyone around her; Anne, now a young woman, has become a teacher and dreams of meeting her ideal man; After a series of disappointments, Anne and her husband Gilbert return to Avonlea in search of happiness, but soon face the challenges of war when newly enlisted...

On Prince Edward Island, an elderly bachelor and his spinster sister Marilla adopt an orphan and are mistakenly sent a girl instead of a boy. The orphan, Anne, remains with the couple, moves from one mishap to another, succeeds academically, and finds love. Anne leaves Green Gables and Gilbert Blythe's proposal of marriage for a teaching position. When she returns, she finds Gilbert ill with a scarlet fever and is forced to re-evaluate her true feelings...