i don't see them as mirrors, but i did read both series in roughly the same handful of years of my life.

one thing that really stands out to me now: even as kid who was thoroughly, 100% south african, i never conflated their settings with one another. i never got confused that 'oh, they're both basically the same country'. the american girls' fiction i read in the 70s was so veryveryvery american :D

actually, the american novel that i also read then which struck me as most similar to anne was probably daddy long legs by (?) jean webster. similar basic ingredients, orphan girl, writerly talents and temperament, goes to college. whereas laura is certainly interesting and appealing in her own way but purely as a personality she was nothing like anne. little house is full of interest but it is so much about practicalities. there's almost no introspection or imagination in it at all.