When I was a teen, I must have spent several years obsessed with Anne Shirley from the "Anne of Green Gables" series. The internet has been hugely gratifying in demonstrating to me how I wasn't alone in this, then or now.

It's been years since I've read the books, so I'm overdue for a re-read. She's such a fun, cheerful character; romantic and optimistic. Anne Shirley (later Blythe - it's not a spoiler if the books are over a hundred years old) had a love of books, fantastical stories with "scope for the imagination", whimsy and pretty clothes. She was a loyal, empathetic friend and despised bullies.

I was rather sorry to discover that her author's life was considerably more dismal, an unhappy marriage and struggles with depression.

That's the downside of the internet; you can find out about these things.