Since being accepted to the university, her life has continued to revolve around Anne Shirley. She dedicated her studies to the work of L.M. Montgomery and founded the university’s L.M. Montgomery Institute.
Epperly recently spoke to CTV News and told them that Anne of Green Gables speaks to the soul of readers. “(The novel) crosses generations and cultures because it speaks to the longing and belonging that everyone wants to experience,” she said. “That longing for home and that longing for a self you can be proud of and identify…Anne finds those things.”
The Anne scholar also hopes that younger generations will be inspired by Kate to take a look at the book. Even though the novel has sold more than 50 million copies worldwide, and has been published in more than 35 languages, there are always new readers to inspire.
“There's always been fans around the world, but to make (the book) cool again -- that's what the Duke and Duchess will do,” she said.
Though P.E.I continues to grow as a major tourist destination, you might think that setting of Maud’s century-old novel may have changed. But Epperly says differently. “(Mongtomery) has shaped a cultural image and that image is one that has determined how Prince Edward Island looks now and how it feels and how people react to their own identity with it,” she says.
“What Montgomery captured in her descriptions of Prince Edward Island, the landscapes she re-created for people, is what they grow to see and what they grow to love and what is, in fact, there today.”
Source: CTV.ca
