Anne from the fairytale land of Green Gables

Dear Children and Readers,

As an eleven-year-old girl, I was given a novel which left an enormous impression on me, leaving its imprint on my soul. You’ll have guessed, I’m sure, that I’m talking about my first meeting with Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. I read every book, to discover the further adventures of its heroine, Anne Shirley. Later, Emily of New Moon, the Story Girl, Magic for Marigold, the Golden Road, the collection of short stories and the Blue Castle all had their turn.

That’s why, when my parents built their house on the hill, set in an orchard, I couldn’t call it anything other than ZieloneWzgórze, the Polish for Green Gables. In that way, together with its very own signpost, the Polish Green Gables was born, and which you can see on the back cover of my novel. At the same time, during my studies, I began to realize my literary dreams, writing fairy tales. However, Green Gables only acquired the sobriquet Fairytale after the birth of my daughter Anna.

The novel I would like to invite you to read is not a tale about Anne Shirley from Green Gables. It is the tale of my Anne from the Fairytale land of Green Gables, featuring magical creatures from my own fairytales. After all, it is only through magic that two little girls from such remote times and from so far away could possibly meet...

It is also a literary homage to Lucy Maud Montgomery, whose creativity, especially the escapades of the red-headed Anne Shirley, has shaped generations of young girls, their imaginations, indomitability on chasing their goals, and their sensitivity to beauty.

And though she lived and wrote in times remote from me, I would like to hope that I might consider myself her kindred spirit.