Click here for a post on the real people behind famous literary characters, and you'll see a range of photographs of individuals on whom authors based their creations.
The young woman pictured is a Gibson Girl called Evelyn Nesbit. L.M. Montgomery cut her photograph out of a magazine and used her as the 'model' for Anne Shirley - Anne of Green Gables!
Evelyn Nesbit also appears in Doctorow's Ragtime - a glamour-puss if ever there was one
Posted by: the velvet nap | 02 October 2012 at 09:48 AM
How very strange that the notorious Evelyn was the model for Anne Shirley! I wonder how Montgomery felt when the Stanford White scandal began making the news.
Posted by: jenclair | 02 October 2012 at 01:51 PM
Funnily enough I had never imagined Anne Shirley to be quite so glamorous!
Posted by: LizF | 02 October 2012 at 03:16 PM
Am I wrong in thinking that Anne had auburn hair? I guess it is hard to tell with b/w photos, but Evelyn's hair seems to be very much brown. Anyway, not my idea of Anne either although she is very pretty.
Posted by: Ruthiella | 02 October 2012 at 08:00 PM
Indeed!
Posted by: Cornflower | 03 October 2012 at 08:27 PM
Nor had I.
Posted by: Cornflower | 03 October 2012 at 08:28 PM
I think Anne's hair was auburn. I wonder what it was about Evelyn's face that drew L.M. Montgomery to use her as a visual reference for her character.
Posted by: Cornflower | 03 October 2012 at 08:29 PM
Not as you'd imagine Anne at all!
Posted by: Cornflower | 03 October 2012 at 08:30 PM