Showing posts with label Rainbow Valley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rainbow Valley. Show all posts

May 10, 2022

What's in a Name? Rainbow Valley: L.M. Montgomery, Johnny Cash, Love Affair, and John Wayne

Steve Ellis of Love Affair singing Rainbow Valley, Johnny Cash, L.M. Montgomery's novel Rainbow Valley, poster for Rainbow Valley starring John Wayne

I recently finished a book called Forever Words: The Unknown Poems by Johnny Cash. This collection of Johnny Cash's poems and lyrics was published posthumously in 2016. It's a great book if you're a fan of The Man in Black.

So how does this relate to L.M. Montgomery? Well, as I was reading the book, I read the lyrics for a song Johnny Cash wrote in the 1970s called "Chinky Pin Hill." (It's now been recorded in a beautiful rendition by I'm With Her). The third stanza of the song reads:

We'll stop in Rainbow Valley
Where the church is standing still
And we'll be newlywed married
On Chinky Pin Hill

Seeing the name "Rainbow Valley" got my attention because it's the name of the seventh book in the Anne of Green Gables series. L.M. Montgomery's Rainbow Valley was published in 1919.

Johnny Cash had capitalized Rainbow Valley as a real, definable place. Could Cash have come across Montgomery's Anne series on a bookshelf somewhere and remembered the name? Or was there a real Rainbow Valley out there?

I started digging around the internet. It turns out that there is a Rainbow Valley on Mount Everest where many climbers have fallen to their deaths in their colorful gear. Well, I was clearly following the wrong thread there.

I continued searching and came across a cheerful song called "Rainbow Valley" by a band from London called Love Affair from 1968. The lyrics are sweet and charming:

The sun always shines
down in my Rainbow Valley.
There's one that's always mine,
down in my Rainbow Valley.

Maybe this song title made its way into Johnny Cash's lyrics? I also wondered, could Love Affair have been inspired to name their song by L.M. Montgomery's book?

Going back even farther, there's a 1935 film titled Rainbow Valley starring John Wayne. I wonder what inspired the title of this film. Were all these people simply influenced by rainbows in valleys, or could they have been inspired by one another?

What's in a name? My hours of digging provided me with no definitive answers. Sometimes art is all about hidden dialogues and connection, picking up inspiration from people, words, sounds, and observations and putting them all together in unexplainable ways to create something new.


Created May 10, 2022.

March 15, 2021

Publication Sequence of the Anne of Green Gables Series

Publication Sequence of Anne of Green Gables Series

It might surprise you that L.M. Montgomery did not write the eight novels of the Anne of Green Gables series in the order we generally read them today.

Introducing Anne Shirley


L.M. Montgomery introduced Anne Shirley to the world when she published Anne of Green Gables in 1908. Its sequel Anne of Avonlea followed shortly thereafter in 1909. After completing these first two novels about Anne Shirley, Montgomery focused on publishing other novels and short story collections before revisiting Anne.

Anne Shirley Grows Up


Between 1915 and 1921, L.M. Montgomery wrote another four books about Anne Shirley and Anne's children. Anne of the Island (1915) tells the story of Anne's college years, Anne’s House of Dreams (1917) begins with Anne's wedding and describes the early years of Anne's marriage to Gilbert Blythe, Rainbow Valley (1919) tells the stories of Anne Blythe's young children, and Rilla of Ingleside (1921) focuses on Anne Blythe's youngest daughter Rilla Blythe.

Revisiting Anne Shirley


Following a long gap of 15 years, L.M. Montgomery revisited a younger version of Anne Shirley and wrote about her years as a high school principal in Anne of Windy Poplars (1936). Today, this novel is considered Book 4 of the Anne of Green Gables series if we read the novels in the chronological order of Anne’s life. The storyline of Anne of Windy Poplars falls between Anne of the Island (1915) and Anne’s House of Dreams (1917).

Returning to Anne


Thirty-one years after publishing Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery wrote Anne of Ingleside in 1939. According to the timeline of Anne’s life, Anne of Ingleside is considered Book 6. Its storyline falls between Anne’s House of Dreams (1917) and Rainbow Valley (1919), both of which were written 20 years earlier.

What order were the Anne of Green Gables books published in?


In summary, here is the publication sequence of the Anne of Green Gables novels. The order we generally read the books in today is listed to the right.

Publication SequenceChronology of Anne's Life
1) Anne of Green Gables (1908)Book 1
2) Anne of Avonlea (1909)Book 2
3) Anne of the Island (1915)Book 3
4) Anne's House of Dreams (1917)Book 5
5) Rainbow Valley (1919)Book 7
6) Rilla of Ingleside (1921)Book 8
7) Anne of Windy Poplars (1936)Book 4
8) Anne of Ingleside (1939)Book 6


Have you ever read the books in order by their publication dates, or have you always read the novels in the chronological order of Anne Shirley’s life? What are your thoughts on reading the novels of the Anne of Green Gables series in different orders?

Purchase and read Anne of Green Gables:

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables Book Set by L.M. Montgomery


Created September 1, 1999. Re-posted online March 15, 2021. Last updated April 28, 2022.

March 09, 2021

Anne of Green Gables Series Chronology

Anne of Green Gables Series Chronology


What is the order of the Anne of Green Gables series?


L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series includes eight novels. These books follow Anne Shirley's life in the following chronological sequence:

1) Anne of Green Gables
2) Anne of Avonlea
3) Anne of the Island
4) Anne of Windy Poplars (Anne of Windy Willows)
5) Anne’s House of Dreams
6) Anne of Ingleside
7) Rainbow Valley
8) Rilla of Ingleside


You might be surprised to learn that L.M. Montgomery wrote and published the Anne of Green Gables series in a different order. Learn more about the publication sequence of the Anne novels here.

Purchase and read Anne of Green Gables:

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables Book Set by L.M. Montgomery


Created September 1, 1999. Re-posted online March 9, 2021. Last updated April 28, 2022.

March 07, 2021

Rainbow Valley

Rainbow Valley, 1919 Cover

Rainbow Valley by L.M. Montgomery is the seventh novel in the Anne of Green Gables series. Published in 1919, the focus of this book shifts away from Anne Shirley Blythe to her six children: Jem, Walter, Nan, Di, Shirley, and Rilla. As the story begins, Anne and Gilbert have just returned home from a three-month trip to Europe.

Upon her arrival home, Miss Cornelia gives Anne the gossip that the church has settled on a new minister. His name is John Meredith, and he's a widower with four children: Gerald ("Jerry"), Faith, Una, and Thomas Carlyle ("Carl"). The Blythe and Meredith children grow close, playing together in little valley behind a maple grove that they call "Rainbow Valley."

Purchase and read Rainbow Valley and the Anne of Green Gables series:

Rainbow Valley by L.M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables Book Set by L.M. Montgomery


Created September 1, 1999. Re-posted online March 7, 2021. Last updated March 7, 2021.

September 01, 1999

Anne of Green Gables eTexts and Electronic Books

Anne of Green Gables eTexts, Electronic Books, Kindle Books, Anne of Avonlea artwork by Elly MacKay from the 2014 Tundra Books edition of the novel

Where can I read Anne of Green Gables online?


Below are external links to read L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables books online. You can also download the ebooks as epub files, plain text files, or books for your Kindle.

The Anne of Green Gables Series

Anne of Green Gables
Text | HTML | EPUB | Kindle

Anne of Avonlea
Text | HTML | EPUB | Kindle

Anne of the Island
Text | HTML | EPUB | Kindle

Anne of Windy Poplars
Text | HTML | EPUB | Kindle

Anne's House of Dreams
Text | HTML | EPUB | Kindle

Anne of Ingleside
Text | HTML | EPUB | Kindle

Rainbow Valley
Text | HTML | EPUB | Kindle

Rilla of Ingleside
Text | HTML | EPUB | Kindle


Image credit:
Anne of Avonlea artwork by Elly MacKay from the 2014 Tundra Books edition of the novel.

Created September 1, 1999. Re-posted online September 6, 2022. Last updated September 7, 2022.