L.M. Montgomery and War

In 2017, L.M. Montgomery and War was published by McGill-Queen’s University Press. This book of scholarship examines how war influenced L.M. Montgomery's life and work. It was edited by Andrea McKenzie and Jane Ledwell. The volume contains contributions by Jonathan F. Vance, Irene Gammel, E. Holly Pike, Susan Fisher, Laura M. Robinson, Sarah Glassford, Maureen O. Gallagher, Caroline E. Jones, Andrea McKenzie, and Elizabeth Epperly.

Here's the description of the volume from McGill-Queen’s University Press:

War marked L.M. Montgomery’s personal life and writing. As an eleven-year-old, she experienced the suspense of waiting months for news about her father, who fought during the North-West Resistance of 1885. During the First World War, she actively led women’s war efforts in her community, while suffering anguish at the horrors taking place overseas. Through her novels, Montgomery engages directly with the global conflicts of her time, from the North-West Resistance to the Second World War. Given the influence of her wartime writing on Canada’s cultural memories, L.M. Montgomery and War restores Montgomery to her rightful place as a major war writer.

Reassessing Montgomery’s position in the canon of war literature, contributors to this volume explore three central themes in their essays: her writing in the context of contemporaneous Canadian novelists, artists, and poets; questions about her conceptions of gender identity, war work, and nationalism across enemy lines; and the themes of hurt and healing in her interwar works.

Drawing on new perspectives from war studies, literary studies, historical studies, gender studies, and visual art, L.M. Montgomery and War explores new ways to consider the iconic Canadian writer and her work.

Reviews

“L.M. Montgomery and War is a delight to read. The use of biography, journals, and historical context is admirable. The writing is clear and engaging, always with an eye towards the general readership that Montgomery engages, and the range of issues evoked by a focus on war in Montgomery’s work is truly amazing and illuminating.” Holly Blackford, Rutgers University

“Andrea McKenzie and Jane Ledwell’s edited collection has much to offer anyone interested in how readers remember female authors who do not abide by the cultural scripts defining the topics appropriate to them.” Children’s Literature Association Quarterly

The book includes the following essays:

Part One: The Canons of War

1. “Some Great Crisis of Storm and Stress”: L.M. Montgomery, Canadian Literature, and the Great War by Jonathan F. Vance
2. Mapping Patriotic Memory: L.M. Montgomery, Mary Riter Hamilton, and the Great War by Irene Gammel
3. Education for War: Anne of Green Gables and Rilla of Ingleside by E. Holly Pike
4. “Watchman, What of the Night?”: L.M. Montgomery’s Poems of War by Susan Fisher

Part Two: Gendering War

5. L.M. Montgomery’s Great War: The Home as Battleground in Rilla of Ingleside by Laura M. Robinson
6. “I Must Do Something to Help at Home”: Rilla of Ingleside in the Context of Real Women’s War Work by Sarah Glassford
7. Across Enemy Lines: Gender and Nationalism in Else Ury’s and L.M. Montgomery’s Great War Novels by Maureen O. Gallagher

Part Three: Healing or Hurt?
The Aftermath

8. The Shadows of War: Interstitial Grief in L.M. Montgomery’s Final Novels by Caroline E. Jones
9. Women at War? One Hundred Years of Visualizing Rilla by Andrea McKenzie
10. Emily’s Quest: L.M. Montgomery’s Green Alternative to Despair and War? By Elizabeth Epperly


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Book cover of L.M. Montgomery and War from McGill-Queen’s University Press.

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Created May 26, 2024.
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Booked: A Traveler's Guide to Literary Locations Around the World

My husband and I were roaming in a bookstore recently, and he was looking through a travel book of literary locations. He came over to show it to me because the book featured Prince Edward Island and Anne of Green Gables, and he knew I'd love to see it. The book is titled Booked: A Traveler's Guide to Literary Locations Around the World, and it's by Richard Kreitner. I love to read and explore, so I thought the concept was really fun.



Booked was published in 2019 by Black Dog & Leventhal, which is part of the Hachette Book Group. Here's the book's description from the publisher's website:

A practical, armchair travel guide that explores eighty of the most iconic literary locations from all over the globe that you can actually visit.

A must-have for every fan of literature, Booked inspires readers to follow in their favorite characters footsteps by visiting the real-life locations portrayed in beloved novels including the Monroeville, Alabama courthouse in To Kill a Mockingbird, Chatsworth House, the inspiration for Pemberley in Pride and Prejudice, and the Kyoto Bridge from Memoirs of a Geisha. The full-color photographs throughout reveal the settings readers have imagined again and again in their favorite books.

Organized by regions all around the world, author Richard Kreitner explains the importance of each literary landmark including the connection to the author and novel, cultural significance, historical information, and little-known facts about the location. He also includes travel advice like addresses and must-see spots.

Booked features special sections on cities that inspired countless literary works like a round of locations in Brooklyn from Betty Smith’s iconic A Tree Grows in Brooklyn to Jonathan Lethem’s Motherless Brooklyn and a look at the New Orleans of Tennessee Williams and Anne Rice.

Locations include:
Central Park, NYC (The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger)
Forks, Washington (Twilight, Stephanie Meyer)
Prince Edward Island, Canada (Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery)
Kingston Penitentiary, Ontario (Alias Grace, Margaret Atwood)
Holcomb, Kansas (In Cold Blood, Truman Capote)
London, England (White Teeth, Zadie Smith)
Paris, France (Hunchback of Notre Dame, Victor Hugo)
Segovia, Spain, (For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway)
Kyoto, Japan (Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden)

Image credits:
Photograph of a page on Anne of Green Gables in Booked by Richard Kreitner taken by World of Anne Shirley and cover image of Booked by Black Dog & Leventhal.

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Created May 20, 2024.
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Anne around the World: L.M. Montgomery and Her Classic

Anne around the World: L.M. Montgomery and Her Classic was published in May 2013 by McGill-Queen’s University Press. This book of scholarship examines the broad and lasting international appeal of L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables. It was edited by Jane Ledwell and Jean Mitchell. The volume contains contributions Yoshiko Akamatsu, Doreley Carolina Coll, Brooke Collins-Gearing, Margaret Doody, Elizabeth R. Epperly, Barbara Carman Garner, Caroline E. Jones, Paul Keen, Jane Ledwell, Jennie MacDonald, Susan Meyer, Jean Mitchell, Mary Henley Rubio, Gholamreza Sami, Wendy Shilton, Cynthia Sugars, Tanfer Emin Tunc, Åsa Warnqvist, Elizabeth Hillman Waterston, and Budge Wilson.

Here's the description of the volume from McGill-Queen’s University Press:

What makes Anne of Green Gables an international, time-honoured classic? International audiences have described reading L.M. Montgomery's most celebrated novel as an experience in enchantment. Balancing criticism and celebration, Jane Ledwell and Jean Mitchell bring together essays that consider the sources of the wonder that Montgomery's work inspires.

The popular appeal of Montgomery's classic is undeniable, but the reasons for its worldwide resonance are less obvious. From a range of perspectives, the contributors to Anne around the World focus on the numerous themes the novel raises, showcasing why it has charmed readers across the globe - from Iran to Australia, and from Sweden to Japan. Essays consider issues of class, race, and colonial history, discuss Anne's place in children's literature, her passion for writing, and the ways in which L.M. Montgomery and her red-haired protagonist are celebrated by legions of fans.

Featuring contributions from many international writers, Anne around the World traces the meaning and influence of a story that spread far from its place of origin on a small Canadian island to distant and culturally diverse places.

Contributors include Yoshiko Akamatsu (Notre Dame Seishin University, Japan), Doreley Carolina Coll (University of Prince Edward Island), Brooke Collins-Gearing (School of Humanities and Social Science, New South Wales), Margaret Doody (Notre Dame University), Elizabeth R. Epperly (emeritus, University of Prince Edward Island), Barbara Carman Garner (Carleton University), Caroline E. Jones (Texas State University-San Marcos), Paul Keen (Carleton University), Jane Ledwell, Jennie MacDonald (PhD, University of Denver), Susan Meyer (Wellesley College), Jean Mitchell, Mary Henley Rubio (emeritus, University of Guelph), Gholamreza Sami (Sussex University), Wendy Shilton (University of Prince Edward Island), Cynthia Sugars (University of Ottawa), Tanfer Emin Tunc (Hacettepe University, Turkey), Åsa Warnqvist (Stockholm University, Sweden), Elizabeth Hillman Waterston (emeritus, University of Guelph), and Budge Wilson (author).

Reviews

"Anne around the World is a notable and memorable collection of essays which should become an important reference text in the academic field and an attractive read for general readers around the world who have an interest in L.M. Montgomery." Joy Alexander, School of English, Queen's University, Belfast

The book includes the following essays:

Situating Montgomery and Her Classic

Anne of Green Gables - and Afterward by Elizabeth Hillman Waterston
Lasting Images of Anne of Green Gables by Elizabeth R. Epperly
Uncertainties Surrounding the Death of L.M. Montgomery by Mary Henley Rubio
A Century of Critical Reflection on Anne of Green Gables by Barbara Carman Garner

The Terrain of the Classic: Allusions and Intertexts

L.M. Montgomery and the Significance of “Classics,” Ancient and Modern by Margaret Doody
“So- so- commonplace”: Romancing the Local in Anne of Green Gables and Aurora Leigh by Paul Keen
“Matthew’s school of critics”: Learning to Read Anne of Green Gables by Cynthia Sugars
Anne of Green Gables as Centre and Circumference by Wendy Shilton

Provoking the Classic: Class, Colonialism, and Christianity

“Nice Folks”: L.M. Montgomery’s Classic and Subversive Inscriptions and Transgressions of Class by Caroline E. Jones
Civilizing Anne: Missionaries of the South Seas, Cavendish Evangelicalism, and the Crafting of Anne of Green Gables by Jean Mitchell
Narrating the “Classic” on Stolen Ground: Anne of Green Gables by Brooke Collins-Gearing

Anne and After: The Local and Global Circulation of the Classic Text

Teaching and Reading Anne of Green Gables in Iran, the Land of Omar Khayyam by Gholamreza Samigorganroodi
Reading Anne of Green Gables in Montevideo by Doreley Carolina Coll
Teaching Anne and Antonia in Turkey: Feminist Girlhood in L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables and Willa Cather’s My Antonia by Tanfer Emin Tunc
The Continuous Popularity of Red-haired Anne in Japan: An Interview with Yoshiko Akamatsu by Yoshiko Akamatsu
“I experienced a light that became a part of me”: Reading Anne of Green Gables in Sweden by Åsa Warnqvist

Paratext and Aftertexts: Further Words on Anne

“I just love pretty clothes”: Considering the Sartorial in Anne of Green Gables by Jennie MacDonald
Writing after Anne: L.M. Montgomery’s Influence on Canadian Children’s Literature by Susan Meyer
Writing Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson


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Book cover of Anne around the World: L.M. Montgomery and Her Classic from McGill-Queen’s University Press.

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Created May 18, 2024.
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The Landscapes of Anne of Green Gables

The Landscapes of Anne of Green Gables: The Enchanting Island that Inspired L. M. Montgomery is a book by Catherine Reid explores the environment of Prince Edward Island and how L.M. Montgomery used nature as a source of creativity to write Anne of Green Gables. Published in 2018, the book is filled with lush photography, biographical information about L.M. Montgomery, and L.M. Montgomery's own photos and quotes. It was published by Timber Press in Portland, Oregon, which is part of the Hachette Book Group. The book was acclaimed as one of Smithsonian magazine’s Ten Best Books About Travel of 2018.

Here is the book's description from the Hachette Book Group:

The Landscapes of Anne of Green Gables explores L. M. Montgomery’s deep connection to the landscapes of Prince Edward Island that inspired her to write the beloved Anne of Green Gables series. From the Lake of Shining Waters and the Haunted Wood to Lover’s Lane, you’ll be immersed in the real places immortalized in the novels.

Using Montgomery’s journals, archives, and scrapbooks, Catherine Reid explores the many similarities between Montgomery and her unforgettable heroine, Anne Shirley. The lush package includes Montgomery’s hand-colorized photographs, the illustrations originally used in Anne of Green Gables, and contemporary and historical photography.

Reviews

“This book will be treasured by Montgomery’s legions of fans.” —Carolyn Strom Collins, author of The Anne of Green Gables Treasury; editor of After Many Years: Twenty-one “Long-Lost” Stories by L. M. Montgomery

“In L. M. Montgomery’s beloved book, Anne of Green Gables, Prince Edward Island, Canada, played a role that is arguably just as important as the series’ protagonist, Anne Shirley. Wanting to bring the island to life years later, author Catherine Reid explores the very places that inspired Montgomery and became immortalized in her prose.” —The Smithsonian Magazine

“There’s something deeply satisfying about seeing gorgeous pictures of sunsets, shores, and gardens alongside snippets of Montgomery’s musical, flowery prose. Reid’s love letter to Anne of Green Gables, Montgomery, and Prince Edward Island is sure to delight. Anne enthusiasts will learn more about what inspired Montgomery, while nature lovers will find a kindred spirit in Reid, who clearly has a passion for all things green and growing.” —Booklist starred review

“This is not just a book filled with beautiful photos; it’s a satisfyingly rich and layered combination of the visual and intellectual. Readers will gain a new appreciation not only for Montgomery but also for the landscape that meant so much to her.” —Library Journal

“Whether you read the Anne saga growing up (particularly popular with young girls) or are brainstorming now for a summer vacation jewel, this new The Landscapes of Anne of Green Gables is certain to delight. Author Catherine Reid exuberantly jumped into Montgomery's archives—her journals, scrapbooks, photographs—to create this lush tribute to Montgomery, Green Gables and PEI. It is graced with positive quotes, poems and anecdotes; festooned with fascinating history; dressed in scores of images from yesteryear and today. . . . Reid herself deserves ample applause for this wet-kiss, well-crafted ode to all that makes Prince Edward Island and its most esteemed native resonate with readers and visitors. Oh, Canada!” —Forbes

“For readers looking for a deeper understanding of the book, the author, and how they both came together to create a timeless classic, this is a must-read. Filled with beautiful colour images and original illustrations from the book's 1908 edition, The Landscapes of Anne of Green Gables is an easy, enjoyable read, but it is packed with much more fascinating information than your average coffee-table book. . . . readers are prompted to reflect on how the landscapes of their worlds speak to their own internal lives.” —The Cardinal Press

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Photograph of The Landscapes of Anne of Green Gables by Timber Press.

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Created May 16, 2024.
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Becoming Green Gables

Becoming Green Gables: The Diary of Myrtle Webb and Her Famous Farmhouse is a book by Alan MacEachern that will be published by McGill-Queen’s University Press in June 2024. Myrtle and Ernest Webb owned the farm that their cousin L.M. Montgomery based "Green Gables" upon. According to The Green Gables Diary website: "In spring 1924, Myrtle Webb began keeping a diary about her life on an ordinary farm in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island. Ordinary but for one thing: it was growing famous as the inspiration for Anne of Green Gables, written by her cousin L.M. Montgomery."

MacEachern's book tells "The story of the family whose home inspired Anne of Green Gables and how that literary connection enriched - and upended - their lives." His book examines the history of Green Gables and how the popularity of L.M. Montgomery's novel affected the Webb family and tourism to Prince Edward Island.

A digital exhibition that will accompany the book called "The Green Gables Diary" will launch this spring at: https://greengablesdiary.ca/

Here's the description of the book from McGill-Queen’s University Press:

In 1909 Myrtle and Ernest Webb took possession of an ordinary farm in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island. Ordinary but for one thing: it was already becoming known as inspiration for Anne of Green Gables, the novel written by Myrtle’s cousin Lucy Maud Montgomery and published to international acclaim a year earlier. The Webbs welcomed visitors to “Green Gables” and soon took in summer boarders, making their home the heart of PEI’s tourist trade. In the 1930s the farm was made the centrepiece of a new national park - and still the family lived there for another decade, caretakers of their own home. During these years Myrtle kept a diary. When she first picked up the pencil in 1924, she was a forty-year-old homemaker running a household of eight. By the time she set the pencil down in 1954, she was a seventy-year-old widow, no longer resident in what was now the most famous house in Canada. Becoming Green Gables tells the story of Myrtle Webb and her family, and the making of Green Gables. Alan MacEachern reproduces a selection of the diary’s daily entries, using them as springboards to examine topics ranging from the adoption of modern conveniences to the home front hosting of soldiers in wartime and visits from “Aunt Maud” herself. While the foundation of Becoming Green Gables is the Webbs’ own story, it is also a history of their famous home, their community, the nation, and the world in which they lived.

Reviews

“Humorous in some places and a tearjerker in others, Becoming Green Gables captures an untold story about the famed Green Gables and home-grown tourism prior to the founding of the national park.” Catharine Anne Wilson, author of Being Neighbours: Cooperative Work and Rural Culture, 1830-1960

“Becoming Green Gables provides an appreciation of the complex grassroots history of one of Canada’s most beloved historical sites.” Melanie J. Fishbane, author of Maud: A Novel Inspired by the Life of L.M. Montgomery

I am looking forward to reading this book and the launch of the digital exhibit.

Image credit:
Book cover of Becoming Green Gables: The Diary of Myrtle Webb and Her Famous Farmhouse by Alan MacEachern from McGill-Queen’s University Press.

Official website:
The Green Gables Diary

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Created May 14, 2024.
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L.M. Montgomery by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara (Little People, BIG DREAMS Book 22)

Little People, BIG DREAMS is a bestselling children’s book series that highlights the lives of outstanding people, including writers, singers, scientists, artists, designers, and adventurers. Each biography tells the story of how the person started out as a child with a big dream.

The 22nd book in the biography series is titled L.M. Montgomery. The story of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s life was written by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara. Anuska Allepuz illustrated the story. This 32-page hardback book was first published on October 4, 2018.

Here is a peak into the book:


The publisher’s description states:

Meet Lucy Maud Montgomery, the famous Canadian author of Anne of Green Gables.

Born in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, Lucy Maud Montgomery lost her mother when she was very young. Left in the care of less-than-encouraging grandparents, she found comfort in reading, writing, and her imagination. When Maud grew up, she wrote about the childhood she wished she had, creating one of the best-loved characters of all time: Anne of Green Gables. This moving book features stylish illustrations and extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of the author's life.

At the Little People, BIG DREAMS website, you can download a fun activity page and print out bookmarks featuring L.M. Montgomery and other famous authors, including Jane Austen, Maya Angelou, Simone de Beauvoir Anne Frank, and Agatha Christie.

The whole series looks wonderful for children to teach them about remarkable people and inspire them to "Be Bold Be Brave and DREAM BIG."

Purchase the Little People, BIG DREAMS book on L.M. Montgomery and a matching game featuring Montgomery and other outstanding women:



Created June 12, 2022.
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Little People, BIG DREAMS Matching Game Featuring L.M. Montgomery

Check out this fun matching game for children featuring L.M. Montgomery. It’s based on the popular Little People, BIG DREAMS book series, which explores the lives of outstanding people, including scientists, writers, designers, artists, activists, and adventurers. Each of these people began their life as a child with a big dream.

The memory game features the following 20 outstanding women: Maya Angelou, Jane Austen, Josephine Baker, Coco Chanel, Agatha Christie, Marie Curie, Simone de Beauvoir, Amelia Earhart, Ella Fitzgerald, Anne Frank, Jane Goodall, Audrey Hepburn, Frida Kahlo, Ada Lovelace, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Georgia O’Keefe, Emmeline Pankhurst, Rosa Parks, Mother Theresa, and Harriet Tubman. The picture of L.M. Montgomery is by the illustrator Anuska Allepuz.

The game includes 20 pairs of cards and an educational biography card with information on each woman’s life and accomplishments. The matching game is recommended for children 3–12 years old. It would be a great gift to teach and inspire a child while having fun.

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Created June 9, 2022.
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Five Facts About L.M. Montgomery

It’s L.M. Montgomery’s birthday today. She was born on 147 years ago on November 30, 1874. To celebrate the anniversary of Montgomery’s birth, here are five facts about her:

1. Born Lucy Maud Montgomery, she preferred her middle name “Maud” over her first name.
   
   
2. L.M. Montgomery contracted influenza during the 1918 flu pandemic and was seriously ill with the disease.
   
   
3. During her childhood, L.M. Montgomery had two imaginary friends, Katie Maurice and Lucy Gray, who helped her cope with her loneliness and solitude.
   
   
4. L.M. Montgomery experienced a deep emotional and spiritual connection in nature, which she described as “the flash.”
   
   
5. In 1935, King George V appointed L.M. Montgomery as an officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). This British order of chivalry honored her contributions to literature.
   
   

Image credit:
Photograph of L.M. Montgomery, ca. 1935. Library and Archives Canada, Public Domain.

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Created November 30, 2021.
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L.M. Montgomery and Gender

L.M. Montgomery and Gender was published in November 2021 by McGill-Queen’s University Press. This book of scholarship examines how L.M. Montgomery challenged gender constructions and gender roles in her writing. It was edited by Laura M. Robinson and E. Holly Pike. The volume contains contributions by Kazuko Sakuma, Lesley D. Clement, Ashley N. Reese, Bonnie J. Tulloch, Mavis Reimer, Rebecca J. Thompson, E. Holly Pike, Wanda Campbell, Vappu Kannas, Catherine Clark, Carole Gerson, Christina Hitchcock, Kiera Ball, Heather Ladd, Erin Spring, Jane Urquhart, Tara K. Parmiter, and Elizabeth Rollins Epperly.

Here's the description of the volume from McGill-Queen’s University Press:

The celebrated author of Anne of Green Gables and Emily of New Moon receives much-deserved additional consideration in L.M. Montgomery and Gender. Nineteen contributors take a variety of critical and theoretical positions, from historical analyses of the White Feather campaign and discussions of adoption to medical discourses of death and disease, explorations of Montgomery’s use of humour, and the author’s rewriting of masculinist traditions.

The essays span Montgomery’s writing, exploring her famous Anne and Emily books as well as her short fiction, her comic journal composed with her friend Nora Lefurgey, and less-studied novels such as Magic for Marigold and The Blue Castle. Dividing the chapters into five sections - on masculinities and femininities, domestic space, humour, intertexts, and being in time - L.M. Montgomery and Gender addresses the degree to which Montgomery’s work engages and exposes, reflects and challenges the gender roles around her, underscoring how her writing has shaped future representations of gender.

Of interest to historians, feminists, gender scholars, scholars of literature, and Montgomery enthusiasts, this wide-ranging collection builds on the depth of current scholarship in its approach to the complexity of gender in the works of one of Canada’s best-loved authors.

Review

"A book-length study on this author's rich and complex relationship with gender norms and expectations, and her myriad depictions of gender, is overdue. Because modern understanding of gender identity and contemporary awareness of gender issues are increasingly prominent in cultural discussions, this book, with its many perspectives on gender in Montgomery's work, is extraordinarily timely." Caroline Jones, Austin Community College

The book includes the following content and essays:

INTRODUCTION

“You Don’t Want Me Because I’m Not a Boy”: L.M. Montgomery and Gender by E. Holly Pike and Laura M. Robinson

MASCULINITIES AND FEMININITIES

1. The White Feather: Gender and War in L.M. Montgomery’s Rilla of Ingleside by Kazuko Sakuma
2. From “Uncanny Beauty” to “Uncanny Disease”: Destabilizing Gender through the Deaths of Ruby Gillis and Walter Blythe and the Life of Anne Shirley by Lesley D. Clement
3. Barney of the Island: Nature and Gender in Montgomery’s The Blue Castle by Ashley N. Reese

DOMESTIC SPACE

4. The Robinsonade versus the Annescapade: Exploring the “Adventure” in Anne of Green Gables by Bonnie J. Tulloch
5. Soliciting Home: The Cultural Function of Orphans in Early Twentieth-Century Canada by Mavis Reimer
6. “That House Belongs to Me”: The Appropriation of Patriarchal Space in L.M. Montgomery’s Emily Trilogy by Rebecca J. Thompson

HUMOUR

7. Cross-Dressing: Twins, Language, and Gender in L.M. Montgomery’s Short Fiction by E. Holly Pike
8. “I’m Noted for That”: Comic Subversion and Gender in L.M. Montgomery’s “The Quarantine at Alexander Abraham’s” and “Aunt Philippa and the Men” by Wanda Campbell
9. “Nora and I Got Through the Evening”: Gender Roles and Romance in the Diary of L.M. Montgomery and Nora Lefurgey by Vappu Kannas

INTERTEXTS

10. The Blue Castle: Sex and the Revisionist Fairy Tale by Catherine Clark
11. L.M. Montgomery, E. Pauline Johnson, and the Figure of the “Half-Breed Girl” by Carole Gerson
12. Orgies of Lovemaking: L.M. Montgomery’s Feminine Version of the Augustinian Community by Christina Hitchcock and Kiera Ball
13. Feminizing Thomson’s The Seasons: Identity, Gender, and Seasonal Aesthetics in L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables by Heather Ladd and Erin Spring

BEING IN TIME

14. Her Reader by Jane Urquhart
15. Like a Childless Mother: L.M. Montgomery and the Anguish of Mother’s Loss by Tara K. Parmiter
16. Magic for Marigold: Engendering Questions about What Lasts by Elizabeth Rollins Epperly


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Book cover of L.M. Montgomery and Gender from McGill-Queen’s University Press.

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Created November 25, 2021. Last updated June 11, 2024.
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Who is L.M. Montgomery?

Lucy Maud Montgomery was born in Clifton, Prince Edward Island, Canada on November 30, 1874. During her lifetime, L.M. Montgomery wrote 20 novels, over 500 short stories, one book of poetry, an autobiography, a life's worth of journals, approximately 500 poems, and a nonfiction book called Courageous Women. Of her work, L.M. Montgomery is best known for writing the novel Anne of Green Gables and giving the world the beloved literary character Anne Shirley, an imaginative, intelligent, loving, red-haired orphan in search of a home.

Image credit:
Photograph of L.M. Montgomery, 1930. Toronto Public Library from the Toronto Star Photograph Archive, Public Domain.

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Created February 10, 2002. Last updated March 24, 2021.
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L.M. Montgomery and the Matter of Nature(s)

L.M. Montgomery and the Matter of Nature(s) was published by McGill-Queen’s University Press in April 2018. This book of scholarship examines L.M. Montgomery's appreciation for nature and her depictions of nature in her writings. It was edited by Rita Bode and Jean Mitchell. The volume contains contributions by Catriona Sandilands, Jennifer H. Litster, Nancy Holmes, Rita Bode, Elizabeth Rollins Epperly, Jean Mitchell, Kate Sutherland, Tara K. Parmiter, Paul Keen, Laura M. Robinson, Lesley D. Clement, and Idette Noomé.

Here is the description of the volume from McGill-Queen’s University Press:

A critical study of L.M. Montgomery’s relationship to the material world and the revealing interconnections between nature and culture.

L.M. Montgomery’s writings are replete with enchanting yet subtle and fluid depictions of nature that convey her intense appreciation for the natural world. At a time of ecological crises, intensifying environmental anxiety, and burgeoning eco-critical perspectives, L.M. Montgomery and the Matter of Nature(s) repositions the Canadian author’s relationship to nature in terms of current environmental criticism across several disciplines, introducing a fresh approach to her life and work.

Drawing on a wide range of Montgomery’s novels as well as her journals, this collection suggests that socio-ecological relationships encompass ideas of reciprocity, affiliation, autonomy, and the capacity for transformation in both the human and more-than-human worlds, and that these ideas are integral to Montgomery’s vision and her literary legacy. Framed by the twin themes of materiality and interrelationships, essays by scholars of literature, law, animal studies, anthropology, and ecology examine place, embodiment, and difference in Montgomery’s works and embrace the multiplicities embedded in the concept of nature.

Through innovative critical approaches, L.M. Montgomery and the Matter of Nature(s) opens up conversations about humans’ interactions with nature and the material environment.

Reviews

“An emphasis on humanity’s interrelatedness with nature extends the significance of L.M. Montgomery and the Matter of Nature(s) past Montgomery studies and Canadian literary and cultural studies to engage with the larger issues of how humans’ interactions with nature shape our daily lives and the future of the planet.” Mary Jeanette Moran, Illinois State University

“This collection is significant for its ability to offer unexpected, highly convincing engagements with L. M. Montgomery’s work and disciplines far beyond the scope of traditional literary studies. It provides new perspectives on Montgomery’s oeuvre, while also extending the definition of environmental study and eco-critical analysis in this field.” Sarah Galletly, James Cook University

"The linked themes of understanding and empathy toward the natural world supply a bridge between the literary and the ecological, between the writer and the places she knew. Matter of Nature(s) is a wonderful opportunity to place one of Canada’s most prolific and well-known authors in a wider environmental history." American Review of Canadian Studies

“[L.M. Montgomery and the Matter of Nature(s)] successfully offers a broad spectrum of insights on the ways in which Montgomery’s fiction and nonfiction address the conceptof interconnectedness between the human and the nonhuman. Each chapter provides a concise and clear analysis that points readers to new perspectives, and the breadth of the collection overall highlights many new avenues of research that remain to be explored.” International Research for Children’s Literature

The book includes the following content and essays:

Introduction: L.M. Montgomery and the Matter of Nature(s) by Rita Bode and Jean Mitchell

Part One: Nature’s Places

1. Fire, Fantasy, and Futurity: Queer Ecology Visits Silver Bush by Catriona Sandilands
2. The Scotsman, the Scribe, and the Spyglass: Going Back with L.M. Montgomery to Prince Edward Island by Jennifer H. Litster
3. Romantic Novelist as Naturalist: John Foster and the Bird Woman by Nancy Holmes
4. L.M. Montgomery’s “Indoors and Out”: Imagining an Organic Architecture by Rita Bode

Part Two: Nature’s Embodiments

5. Natural Bridge: L.M. Montgomery and the Architecture of Imaginative Landscapes by Elizabeth Rollins Epperly
6. L.M. Montgomery’s Neurasthenia: Embodied Nature and the Matter of Nerves by Jean Mitchell
7. The Education of Emily: Tempering a Force of Nature through Lessons in Law by Kate Sutherland
8. The Spirit of Inquiry: Nature Study and the Sense of Wonder in L.M. Montgomery’s Anne Books by Tara K. Parmiter

Part Three: Nature’s Otherness

9. “No London street Arabs for me”: The Unnatural Orphan in Anne of Green Gables by Paul Keen
10. Kindred Spirits: Kinship and the Nature of Nature in Anne’s House of Dreams and The Blue Castle by Laura M. Robinson
11. The Empathic Poetic Sensibility: Discerning and Embodying Nature’s Secrets by Lesley D. Clement
12. The Nature of the Beast: Pets and People in L.M. Montgomery’s Fiction by Idette Noomé


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Book cover of L.M. Montgomery and the Matter of Nature(s) from McGill-Queen’s University Press.

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Created May 15, 2018. Last updated June 10, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Readying Rilla: L.M. Montgomery's Reworking of Rilla of Ingleside

Readying Rilla: L.M. Montgomery's Reworking of Rilla of Ingleside edited by Elizabeth Waterston and Kate Waterston was published by Rock's Mill Press on February 25, 2016. The book includes a full transcription of Montgomery's 518-page handwritten original manuscript of the novel as well as the additional 71 pages of “notes” Montgomery composed while writing the story. L.M. Montgomery's handwritten pages were transcribed by Kate Waterston. The book also includes annotations of the text. Examining the manuscript and the finished novel provides insight into L.M. Montgomery's creative process as a writer.

Here is the description of the book from Rock's Mill Press:

L.M. Montgomery began writing Rilla of Ingleside shortly after the end of World War I. Her story of the war was not about soldiers fighting and dying on Flanders Fields, but about Canadians struggling to “keep the home fires burning.” It is a novel that today remains at once both deeply moving and, on occasion, very funny. As she wrote the novel over a period of two years, Montgomery accumulated 518 handwritten pages. Alongside this stack was another 71 pages, titled “Notes.” These notes---literary second thoughts, as it were---added textual flavour, improving the novel’s realism, emotional depth, and humour. Montgomery’s handwritten manuscript of Rilla was acquired by the University of Guelph Archival & Special Collections in 1999. This manuscript has been painstakingly rendered in a readable format by Kate Waterston and is now published as Readying Rilla, with an introduction by Montgomery expert Elizabeth Waterston.

This edition is a surprisingly engrossing read, but offers a different experience than the finished novel provides. Here we sense Montgomery’s own thought processes, and witness the way she carefully refined her novel. The world has changed much since 1921: now books are mostly composed on computer, leaving behind little record of the writer’s creative journey to a final published work. But editing is a key process in creating any great work of fiction, and here is one of the most detailed records of creativity available.

L.M. MONTGOMERY, OBE (1874–1942) wrote 20 books in her lifetime, including Anne of Green Gables (1908), Rilla of Ingleside (1921) and Emily of New Moon (1923). She also kept a series of journals from the age of fifteen to the end of her life..

Reviews

“I love L.M. Montgomery's novel Rilla of Ingleside, and this gives a whole new way of seeing and appreciating it. As always, Elizabeth Waterston's prose is beautiful, and her introduction makes the reader want to dive right in to see what pattern can be intuited from the kinds of changes [Montgomery] made on the manuscript. Altogether a fascinating read. -- Elizabeth R. Epperly, author of The Fragrance of Sweet-Grass: L.M. Montgomery's Heroines and the Pursuit of Romance

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Book cover of Readying Rilla: L.M. Montgomery's Reworking of Rilla of Ingleside from Rock's Mill Press.

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Created March 15, 2016. Last updated June 9, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com