Most girls read this book when they're ten. I never did. So I decided to read it now at 47.I loved it. Anne is a heroine in every sense of the word -- overcoming the circumstances of her birth and her life by the sheer force of her passionate intelligence.But what really moved me is the utter joy she takes at being alive in the world. After burying Matthew, the beloved old bachelor who, along with his sister Marilla, adopted Anne when she was 11, she says, "Dear old world...you are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you."I couldn't agree more.