Now in their twenties and with World War I looming, Anne and Gilbert move to New York to pursue Gilbert's medical career and Anne's writing career. After many unsuccessful months, they move back to Avonlea and into the midst of war. Gilbert feels pressure to join the army as a medical officer and is soon listed as missing in action. The indomitable Anne sets off to the battlefields of Europe in search of Gilbert, and helps a young French woman and her son who in danger along the way.