Just in time for the holidays comes a new audiobook version
of the Lucy Maud Montgomery classic Anne
of Green Gables -- and ET has your exclusive first listen to Rachel
McAdams’ charming narration.

First released in 1908, Montgomery’s novel recounts the
adventures of 11-year-old Anne Shirley, an orphan who is mistakenly sent to a
couple who requested a boy to help them on their Prince Edward Island farm.

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McAdams couldn’t be more excited to make her audiobook debut
with her own childhood favorite. “It’s just a very transporting book, I think,”
she said in a behind-the-scenes look at the recording studio. “It takes you
back to a time when things were simpler.

“I wanted to be Anne
as a little girl,” McAdams continued. “She’s a really strong female character,
but not in a typical way.”

Of course, McAdams is not the only fan of the novel, which
has been adapted for several television movies, including a 1986 PBS
miniseries. Thirty years later, nostalgia for Anne of Green Gables has peaked again with a new PBS movie version
starring Martin Sheen and Ella Ballentine airing on Thanksgiving Day. Anne, an eight-part series starring
Amybeth McNulty in the titular role, is set to debut on Netflix in 2017.

“Young people today don’t have heroes to relate to,
particularly teens,” Sheen told The
Insider about the importance of the PBS remake. “Here comes this young
orphan who is splashed against the canvas and presents a color and a depth that
was unimaginable, changing everyone’s life she touches.”

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And the importance of this story airing on Thanksgiving is
not lost on Sheen, who hopes families are reminded “how important it is to be
open, vulnerable and generous,” he says. “Because that’s the only way we can
grow.”

McAdams’ version of Anne
of Green Gables is available on Tuesday, Nov. 23 on Audible.