The novel is one of a series of books featuring the character Anne Shirley. Montgomery found her inspiration in a newspaper article about a couple who were mistakenly sent an orphan girl instead of a boy, yet decided to keep her. She also drew upon her own childhood experiences in rural Prince Edward Island, Canada. A photograph of Evelyn Nesbitt, clipped from an American magazine and pasted to the wall near the author's writing desk, was also used as a model for Anne.