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 Shirley is skinny, red-haired, and never stops talking and she is a girl. The Cathberts, who had meant to adopt a boy to help them on the farm, are both exasperated and entertained by her constant chatter.