It is 1945 and Anne Shirley (Barbara Hershey) returns to Prince Edward Island to write a play for summer theatre. But when Anne discovers a family secret she struggles to complete the play, as she delves into long-buried memories, reliving her life before Green Gables. As a child, Young Anne (Hannah Endicott-Douglas) was taken into the care of a wealthy matriarch, Amelia Thomas (Shirley MacLaine) and her daughter-in-law, Louisa (Rachel Blanchard), which changed her life forever. Confronting her past, an older but wiser Anne Shirley finally reveals the astonishing truth about her parents and the origins of her quest for "kindred spirits".