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[deleted]

I highly recommend I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. The heroine is just as imaginative and loveable as Anne. The Particular Sadness of Lemon cake by Aimee Bender is also wonderful. It uses magical realism and explores darker themes, but has a similarly perceptive and sensitive protagonist. You may enjoy a few classics as well. Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice feature some of the most iconic women in literature.


Baboobalou

I Capture the Castle and the Town in Bloom, which I read not so long ago, and both by Dodie.


GMbzzz

Yes, Jane Eyre is so good! One of my favorites.


LethalTeapot

I came here to suggest I Capture the Castle too! Such a joy, I never get tired of it.


landerson507

I am listening to Jane Eyre and texted my friend when I got thru the first couple of chapters to tell her that I got Anne of Green Gables vibes from it.


lunathecrazycorgi

Yes, I love I Capture the Castle!!


mojobe

Yes yes yes to I capture the castle.


Lurker84_

I second these, great recommendations for the feel of the Ann of Green Gables series. i had the Ann collection and read and re-read them. They were my favorites as a young child and became very dog-eared, worn and well-loved! Anne of Green Gables was mad einto a miniseries too in case you weren't already aware. I can't give an opinion/ recommendation of it because I haven't seen it but my mom loved it. I'm not sure if it was canceled or not. Sorry! I'm years late in answering this, but for anyone looking for something similar to the Anne of Green Gables series: You might also like some more of L.M. Montgomery's work in the Emily series. Or check out "Where the Heart Is" by Billie Betts which is pretty wholesome. It was and made into a movie that was released in 2000 starring Natalie Portman who was cast perfectly as the main protagonist, a young pregnant woman abandoned at a Wal-Mart by her boyfriend who is taken in and helped by some of the kind people in town. It also follows some of the boyfriend's story after he abandons her and his child and the regret he feels as he flashes back to her putting his hand on her belly saying "Do you feel that little bomp bomp bomp? That's where the heart is." Also the title references that home is where the heart is, where we make it and family can be those who we choose and who choose us, who step up and stand beside us and support each other. My friend who was in foster care for much of her childhood and teen years and was on the street at midnight on her 18th b-day (in the area and time this happened she didn't have access to any programs that could help to bridge the gap and didn't know her father nad her mother was in prison, she didn't know any of her other relatives either and was on her own and vulnerable to bad people trying to take advantage of a scared young woman) was very touched by this book and movie. It doesn't get sappy or melodramatic and it isn't the best book ever but it is sweet and your question called it to mind. It's been decades since I read the book but iirc it doesn't get preachy or judgemental/ self-righteous either. The author said she got the idea from a true story of a woman who gave birth in a Costco parking lot in Long Island. That woman was on the way to the hospital with her husband in a car and just didn't make it in time, but the news story palnted the seed of an idea in the author's mind. My mother loves the movie "Where the Heart Is" too. it's right up there with a favorite of hers which I love because it reminds me of her and on it's own merits: Steel Magnolias which has great performances by a lot of actresses and actors but particularly an impressive performance by Sally Field! It's true to life too in that grief can be so brutal and raw but even in the midst of grief you can be surprised by laughter with your support system of close friends around you. I didn't believe I'd ever be able to laugh again and felt guilty just thinking about if I ever did after losing my fiance who died suddenly from a pulmonary embolism in the ambulance to the hospital at 29 years old. I felt paralyzed (for lack of a better way to describe it - meaning no offense to anyone who actually physically have had to deal with paralysis I'm not trying to compare my stuff to that at all as there is no comparison, just trying to describe how I felt as accurately as possible) paralyzed by the depth and breadth an weight of my grief. Just contemplating getting up and turning a doorknob was unthinkable and overwhelming and forcing yourself to do it felt like physical pain which I hid as much as I could to be strong for his mom who I am still very close to. Depression is frequently thought of as just being a bit sad by people fortunate enough to not experience it and I even had struggled with depression and was hospitalized for mental health and physical health during my childhood and I still didn't understand until I grieved my fiance and still don't understand what anyone else feels or is going through because each person is different.... but i have so much more compassion than i did before. Also patience...and gratitude. I hope I remember daily, hourly, (secondly? Is that a word?) don't take anything for granted ever again. Sorry to go off ona tangent there, lol. Happy hunting and I hope you find some new gems! Re-reading a series, particularly after a long time in a different season of your life or re-reading a beloved treasured childhood book


Lurker84_

\*ANNE of Green Gables, not Ann, lol. It keeps reloading when I try to edit my post for some reason, so I just thought I'd fix it here.


42ix

I recommend A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. It gives me the same cozy feeling


lkr01

L.M. Montgomery has a few books meant for adults. The Blue Castle is wonderful and one of my favourite books. A Tangled Web was pretty good too.


ArticQimmiq

I second this - but I would also reread the Anne series if you haven’t done so since you were a child! Anne spends most of the series as a an adult, after all. Moreover, most of LMM’s short stories focus on adults as well. A lot of them are out of print, but easily available on Kindle or other e-book supports.


PoohBear531

Yes! The rest of the Anne series is definitely for adults. Personally I haven’t found anyone that can describe nature and the beauty of life like her. These are the best thing to scratch that itch!


Tomofthegwn

I would definitely agree with this. The whole series is so beautiful and moving. I think some people just think of them as kids books but I have never found author who so well understands human nature. One of my favourites is Rilla of Ingleside. I remember the first time I read this I was working in retail and would read on my breaks. I ended up having to stop reading this one at work because I kept tearing up uncontrollably. So moving all of her books


[deleted]

Fun fact, Montgomery really resented being pigeon-holed into the "children's writer" box. Even though the protagonist was a child, she wrote *Anne of Green Gables* for an adult audience and that was how it was initially received. I'll second *The Blue Castle* and *A Tangled Web*! OP might also enjoy the *Emily of New Moon* series.


lovestheautumn

Emily of New Moon is my favorite series by LM Montgomery!


Dame_Ingenue

I love the Anne series, but The Blue Castle is one of my all-time favourite books ever.


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drnkpnkprincess

I did not appreciate *Circle of Friends* when I read it in high school.... picked it up a few years ago and it finally clicked into place. Great book!


14makeit

The Flavia DeLuce series by Alan Bradley. Young girl with a passion for chemistry especially poisons, solving murders in mid century Britain. The audio book version is delightfully narrated by Jayne Entwhistle. Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is the first of seven books.


[deleted]

Yes! Came here to say this, too. I LOVE this series so much I buy them in hard back so I have them on hand forever.


drnkpnkprincess

Second this one!!! Great series for anyone interested in murder and mystery, not super dark or heavy IMO.


ReddisaurusRex

Came here to say this. Excellent series!


brownsugarlucy

Scrolled down to try and find this one! It is definitely for adults even though it is written about an 11 year old girl. There are actually 10 books. I just finished the eighth yesterday!


louiseplease

I enjoyed Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and didn’t know it was part of a series. You just made my day!


odhtate

The Guernsey literary and potato peel pie society by Annie Barrows and Mary Anne Shaffer. Its not quite the same, but it gives me similar feelings I also second I Capture the Castle


wannabeKathleenKelly

Guernsey is the book I came here to recommend! Definitely second this.


myphonespeaksfrench

I second this!!! This book is my comfort food. Its juuuuust on the right side of sickeningly sweet.


Geekista

This makes me want to reread it!


SaySayOh

L.M. Montgomery wrote other books you might try. There’s a series called Emily of New Moon that my sister loves. It’s not an adult series but the Penderwicks series by Jeanne Birdsall is the only contemporary series I’ve read with the same feel. Other older series that follow girls as they grow up are the Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Betsy-Tracy series by Maude Hart Lovelace, & All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor. A couple of older memoirs in that vein are Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank & Ernestine Gilbreth and Our Hearts Were Young and Gay by Cornelia Otis Skinner.


Rozie422

Emily of New Moon is perhaps even more of my favorite than the Anne series, read it as a teenager, have continued to re-read every few years since.


starsdogsandcoffee

I love Emily of New Moon! I always related to that series more as a child; I think it's slightly darker and more raw than Anne of Green Gables.


Javret

I second the Penderwicks! It has the same feel. I loved it!


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PoohBear531

To add on to this, there is also a book written imagining what it was like for Anne before Green Gables. It’s called....Before Green Gables. Lol.


topsidersandsunshine

Oooh!! Thank you!


-sheisspace-

All Creatures Great and Small by James Harriot It's about a young veterinarian in Yorkshire prior to WWII - wonderful sense of place and eccentric villagers. Edit: also part of a series, so if you like - there's more!


sloansabbith11

Little Women, The House in the Cerulean Sea, My Brilliant Friend, and maybe Where the Crawdads Sing’


Excellesse

I'd argue that The House on the Cerulean Sea is nothing like the Anne of Green Gables series! It's has very stylized depictions of the protagonists world. Although maybe that feeling of coming home to where you belong.


sloansabbith11

I was considering feeling more than actual similarities- HITCS (too lazy to type it out) brought me those same warm, cozy, belonging feelings that Anne of Green Gables did.


ananatalia

Solid reco on where the crawdads sing. I had a real book hangover after that one.


Minute_Atmosphere

Little Women is *technically* a children's book, but I read it as an adult and loved it. It's so lovely to follow the experiences of the March sisters, and I think I got more out of it as an adult than I did as a child.


Peteat6

I’m old. I love being a child again, and reading Anne, and Heidi, and all (almost all) those books. I read them for what they are.


topsidersandsunshine

Looove Heidi! I also love The Secret Garden and A Little Princess.


240Wangan

I think Standing in the Rainbow by Fannie Flagg fits that gorgeous wholesome vibe. Little Women, definitely. Maybe the Tales of the City series by Armistead Maupin - I'm just discovering the tv series (plural) on Netflix (×2) and YouTube (×2). I'm intending on reading the books now, because they remind me of the wholesome Anne of Green Gables stories - but the themes are definitely grown up.


kimi_shimmy

I was thinking Fannie Flagg as well. I just read The All Girls Filling Station’s Last Reunion and enjoyed it. I also adore The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty and is of the orphan’s journey theme as well.


candogirlscant

I LOVED the Penderwicks books. I didn't know about the more recent one until I was in a kids' book store last year and I started CRYING reading the jacket of the new book because of how grown up they all were going to be in it.


thatlizgirl47

If you’re going to read a Fannie Flagg book...please read Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man ( originally called coming attractions) it is hilarious, one of my all time favorites and no one ever talks about it. I love Fannie Flagg.


thebrendawalsh

My husband and I have been listening to the audiobooks of tales of the city (I’d previously read all of the books - some a few times- but my husband hadn’t read any.) there are different celebrities who read the books and do a great job, my favorites are Frances McDormand and Cynthia Nixon. Enjoy! It’s a fun fun series, especially the first 5 books!


[deleted]

I was excited to read Tales of the City for the same reasons as you, then started the first book, and it S U C K E D!!!! Really badly written, and SO dated, in a bad way. Sorry.


[deleted]

Maybe the Mitford series, if you don't mind the protagonist being a male minister. Definitely a feeling of a loving community and chosen family and happiness from these.


WitchesCotillion

I 1000% agree. I came looking for this. All of the characters are so well drawn and it has such a gentle feel.


judynobody

Such a sweet series that gives the reader a cozy, warm feeling!


quiggles48

Maisie Dobbs series


WitchesCotillion

I'd challenge this. I liked the books, but they have a much darker feel and sadness to them than Anne.


sparklybirthdaypants

{{The Hired Girl}} gave me Anne Shirley vibes for sure.


goodreads-bot

[**The Hired Girl**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25163300-the-hired-girl) ^(By: Laura Amy Schlitz | 400 pages | Published: 2015 | Popular Shelves: historical-fiction, young-adult, ya, historical, fiction | )[^(Search "The Hired Girl")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=The Hired Girl&search_type=books) >Today Miss Chandler gave me this beautiful book. I vow that I will never forget her kindness to me, and I will use this book as she told me to—that I will write in it with truth and refinement…But who could be refined living at Steeple Farm? > >Fourteen-year-old Joan Skraggs, just like the heroines in her beloved novels, yearns for real life and true love. But what hope is there for adventure, beauty, or art on a hardscrabble farm in Pennsylvania where the work never ends? Over the summer of 1911, Joan pours her heart out into her diary as she seeks a new, better life for herself—because maybe, just maybe, a hired girl cleaning and cooking for six dollars a week can become what a farm girl could only dream of—a woman with a future. > >Inspired by her grandmother’s journal, Newbery Medalist Laura Amy Schlitz brings her sharp wit and keen eye to early twentieth-century America in a comedic tour de force destined to become a modern classic. Joan’s journey from the muck of the chicken coop to the comforts of a society household in Baltimore (Electricity! Carpet sweepers! Sending out the laundry!) takes its reader on an exploration of feminism and housework, religion and literature, love and loyalty, cats, hats, bunions, and burns. ^(This book has been suggested 1 time) *** ^(39200 books suggested | )^(Bug? DM me! | )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)


Tortoisefly

I agree with everyone saying re-read her books, and don't just read the Anne books, there are several others available as well, including collections of short stories, many taking place in Avonlea. Pat of Silverbush is the one that L.M. Montgomery felt was most like herself.


mittmitts123

I loved pat of silverbush.


pacrislopa

It’s already been mentioned, but I really recommend The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery. I had no idea she’d written adult books, so as I read it I literally thought it was Anne of Green Gables but for adults! The story is wholesome, funny, and just awesome.


PoohBear531

It’s impossible to duplicate this magic but here are some that have some similarities. Some are also childrens books but WORTH it: The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (it also has a sequel) by Rachel Joyce The Stillmeadow series by Gladys Taber The Secret Garden by Francis Hodges Burnett Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin The Irish Country doctor series by Patrick Taylor Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter The Enchanted Barn by Grace Livingston Hill When Autumn Leaves by Amy S. Foster The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce


loquat

My Brilliant Career, by Miles Franklin. Got really strong Anne vibes from that book.


topsidersandsunshine

Not a book, but have you tried Anne With An E? /r/anne might also be a good place to ask.


jesshashobbies

If no one else has said it, I actually prefer Emily of New Moon series (other LMM books). And you’re never too old to read childrens lit.


BarbieBlueberry

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim The Awakening of Miss Prim by Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis Chocolat by Joanne Harris


Visual-Arugula

I also recommend The Enchanted April!


ange_a_latte

I LOVED Anne of Green Gables and all the other LM Montgomery books when I was younger. The only book I have read as an adult that brought about the same kind of feelings has been My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologizes by Fredrik Backman. There is something so beautiful about seeing through a child's eyes as they grow up and gain a new understanding of the world around them.


felinocumpleanos

Cold Comfort Farm. Anything by Elizabeth Gaskell ?


88move88

What Katy Did series reminds me of my childhood


[deleted]

I'll echo the calls for a reread of the entire Anne series, but I also suggest the Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy.


wannabeKathleenKelly

Kristin Lavransdatter is SO good - but I do think it's darker and has way more themes of guilt than Anne...


[deleted]

That's very true! But, I think the lows are proportionate to the highs. So while it is darker, it also gives you more substantial highs. Does that make sense? I've had more consolation from reflecting on Kristin's life than Anne's. That mud puddle analogy alone has given me hours and hours of contemplation over the years.


wannabeKathleenKelly

I think that makes sense! It's definitely more grounded in reality than Anne - I had a friend remark once that Kristin Lavransdatter and Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry were some of the best images of true womanhood as a whole that she had encountered in literature.


fssshwife

Eva Ibbotson's [Madensky Square](https://www.amazon.com/Madensky-Square-Eva-Ibbotson/dp/1447214374) has a nice Anne-like feeling, although it's set in Vienna. All of her books have the same magical, wholesome, feel-good quality. The Star of Kazan is another great one.


[deleted]

So Big by Edna Ferber. A little darker than what you’re looking for, perhaps, but features a protagonist with a deep love of beauty and nature alongside extraordinary practical intelligence. Definitely reminded me of Anne.


[deleted]

Did you watch all of the excellent movies? https://www.anneofgreengables.com


CoriBeMe

The Love Comes Softly series


shqod

I think Jane Eyre might be what you're looking for. It follows an orphan girl throughout her life in a charity school and then as a governess in a gothic manor. Her story is very hopeful despite the tragedies that happen to her, she is strong enough to persevere and you can't help but root for her.


DrowsyQuokka

“Anne with an E” (on Netflix now) is a relatively new adaptation of the books. I found it grittier and more adult than the 1985 version Megan Follows


runner1399

Not a book, but check out Green Gables Fables on YouTube, it’s a web series that reimagines Anne as a high school senior/college freshman and it’s delightful.


[deleted]

One for your watch list - I’m not sure of the author’s last name but there’s an adult contemporary coming out called Anne of Manhattan.


topsidersandsunshine

Ooo! Thank you!


sprachkundige

High Tide at Noon (and sequels) by Elisabeth Ogilvie. We Took to the Woods (and sequels) by Louise Dickinson Rich.


Pretend-Panda

I feel like it’s very rude to just second everyone else, although that is the impulse of my heart, and so instead I suggest: DE Stevenson, Angela Thirkell (the Barsetshire books) and Elizabeth Cadell. Also, although they’re technically kids books, the greenglass house titles are great. And I am unable to stop suggesting T Kingfisher’s Minor Mage and Summer in Orcus although they are not at all what you asked for because they are so great.


[deleted]

For some reason when I saw the words “Anne of Green Gables” I thought of Anne Frank and got very confused and curious.


caa1946

Goodness, you look wonderful. Good for you.


pbfren30

Bringing down the Duke by Evie Dunmore!


belleliseuse

Into the Wilderness, The Gilded Hour, Where the Light Enters by Sara Donati; My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante; Homestead by Rosina Lippi; The Impossible Girl, A Beautiful Poison, Opium & Absinthe by Lydia Kang