There are similarities between Anne and Harry — both are orphans, both had unhappy childhoods, both had “horrible” adoptive families. But they are also significantly different because Harry is special because he is The Boy Who Lived and a destiny was thrust upon him. He only began to have hope when he discovered his powers and Hogwarts.

Anne, on the other hand, is special because of her very nature — which you call the “heart.” Despite being in a miserable environment, she was able to create a better world for herself though her imagination. I didn’t get this from Harry. I felt that he was somehow resigned to his miserable life — only when he learned of a different part of himself did he have the courage to make choices.

I wrote a few thoughts about Anne and her “orphanhood” http://theanneshirleyproject.wordpress.com/2010/11/17/anne-shirley-and-orphans-in-fiction/

But, small correction: It’s the “Race that Knows Joseph”. Miss Cornelia & Capt Jim use it in Anne’s House of Dreams. They explain it as someone with the same views & sense of humor.

I wondered as I read the book about the very green-ness of it all. The descriptions emphasise the natural aspects of PEI, in a way that has echoes in Twilight where the rain forest is a place to be transformed or obtain revelation. (This also reminds me of The Secret Garden, which takes this idea of nature as the source of restoration and perfection to it’s height.

In Anne, the alchemical quarreling couple are obvious (Anne and Gilbert,) but I am wondering if you can comment on the significance of Anne’s needing to cut her hair in the first book, John. It seems to me that this is a critical moment of humility that turns the tide in the book.

However, Emily Byrd Starr is also Montgomery heroine who seems to exemplify the points you have made here. I mention her because (in some ways) she has an even stronger imagination (and awareness of the supernatural) than Anne does (although I realize I may be comparing apples and oranges). Even Emily’s full name (her first name could mean “rival”, “laborious”, “eager”) suggests that she is yearning for transcendence through her imagination. Her struggle is exemplified through her trials of becoming an author.