Montgomery was a fascinating woman. Her fiction writing was often crafted to suit the demands of her publishers, eager to satisfy the reading public that loved Anne. She married later in life (in her thirties, unusual for the time) to a minister and had two sons. His vocation took her away from her beloved Prince Edward Island. Some of her other notable works include The Story Girl series, the Emily series that is a particular inspiration to young writers, and Rilla of Ingleside, considered one of the few good works of fiction depicting life in Canada during World War One. In spite if all the time demands made on her with writing and church duties, she was a prolific journal writer and if you are interested in the woman behind the novels, they are an interesting read. These journals reveal the pull she felt between doing her duty to others( her publisher, her husband, her children, the church, her family in PEI) and struggling to fulfill her writing ambitions. Often rewritten, they document a marriage that went sour as her husband experienced mental illness, children who grew up to be disappointing aand her struggles to be more than a writer of children’s books. By the end of her life she was a very unhappy person, and there is some doubt as to whether her death was due to ill health or an overdose of drugs. But she journaled almost to the very end.
Thank you so much Pamela! What a wonderful biography. There was a lot more to her life than I realised. Her journals sound marvellous! Thank you very much for sharing these fabulous insights.
Great resumé. I ‘did’ LMM as a reading trail years ago having adored Anne as a child…we were most definitely kindred spirits.
I can second dipping into the journals. I have the set and they make for fascinating reading even if they were rewritten for publication. And yes, so much sadness but what a character she created in ‘Anne with an ‘e’’
Oh my gosh, I love, love, love "Anne of Green Gables." It was one of the first classic lit novels that I read. Anne (and Jo March of "Little Women") made me feel it was okay to be a weird teen. That it was fine to not be like everyone else. If you ever get a chance, try Montgomery's "The Blue Castle." So good.
Montgomery was a fascinating woman. Her fiction writing was often crafted to suit the demands of her publishers, eager to satisfy the reading public that loved Anne. She married later in life (in her thirties, unusual for the time) to a minister and had two sons. His vocation took her away from her beloved Prince Edward Island. Some of her other notable works include The Story Girl series, the Emily series that is a particular inspiration to young writers, and Rilla of Ingleside, considered one of the few good works of fiction depicting life in Canada during World War One. In spite if all the time demands made on her with writing and church duties, she was a prolific journal writer and if you are interested in the woman behind the novels, they are an interesting read. These journals reveal the pull she felt between doing her duty to others( her publisher, her husband, her children, the church, her family in PEI) and struggling to fulfill her writing ambitions. Often rewritten, they document a marriage that went sour as her husband experienced mental illness, children who grew up to be disappointing aand her struggles to be more than a writer of children’s books. By the end of her life she was a very unhappy person, and there is some doubt as to whether her death was due to ill health or an overdose of drugs. But she journaled almost to the very end.
Thank you so much Pamela! What a wonderful biography. There was a lot more to her life than I realised. Her journals sound marvellous! Thank you very much for sharing these fabulous insights.
Great resumé. I ‘did’ LMM as a reading trail years ago having adored Anne as a child…we were most definitely kindred spirits.
I can second dipping into the journals. I have the set and they make for fascinating reading even if they were rewritten for publication. And yes, so much sadness but what a character she created in ‘Anne with an ‘e’’
Oh my gosh, I love, love, love "Anne of Green Gables." It was one of the first classic lit novels that I read. Anne (and Jo March of "Little Women") made me feel it was okay to be a weird teen. That it was fine to not be like everyone else. If you ever get a chance, try Montgomery's "The Blue Castle." So good.
Thanks for the tip! I don't know it.
You're welcome!
And wasn’t Colleen McCullough of Thornbirds fame accused of plagiarism re The Blue Castle? Possibly in her novel The Ladies of Missalonghi?
Yes, that's what it says on Wikipedia. Though I've never read The Ladies of Missalonghi.
I read it many years ago and have The Blue Castle unread on the shelf. A Canadian friend read both and said very definite similarities.
Interesting...Maybe one of these days I can pick it up and compare. :~)
I love the Anne books so much. Thank you for writing this!