Sometimes our lives intersect with people, with places, and with stories in unexplainable ways. These moments can feel like manifestations of serendipity, unexpected occurrences in life that bring us untold joy.
Earlier this week, my husband and I went out to dinner, and I experienced one of these unusual moments. We were walking down a beautiful staircase lined with books. I was admiring the design of the room and the old book covers. As I walked along, there was an old copy of The Golden Road by L.M. Montgomery directly in front of me. Although I was scanning the shelves, I wasn't looking to find any book or author in particular. But somehow this book found me.
I stopped and stared at the book's blue spine for a moment. As I pulled my phone out of my purse to snap a photo, I called my husband back and pointed to the book. He looked at the book in surprise and bewilderment, asking me, "How did you find it?" I didn't have an answer. I hadn't been looking. Montgomery just tends to find me at various moments, on sometimes significant days, and in improbable places around the world. I'm left in wonder at the reason.
Created February 9, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com
"It was a diamond winter day in February—clear, cold, hard, brilliant."
-L.M. Montgomery
The Golden Road
Read more quotes by L.M. Montgomery.
Image credit:
Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.
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Created February 1, 2024.
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"Nobody ever wants to know the time in a garden."
-L.M. Montgomery
The Story Girl
Read more quotes by L.M. Montgomery.
Image credit:
Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.
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Created June 11, 2022.
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The Golden Road by L.M. Montgomery was published in 1913 as a sequel to The Story Girl. In this novel, Bev reminisces of his friends and of days gone by on a golden road of childhood.
In The Golden Road, Sara and the other children decide to publish their own magazine to entertain themselves, named Our Magazine. Each child contributes to a particular column, including fiction, fashion, personals, and etiquette. They have several adventures together, including visits to the town "witch," Peg Bowen. Along with sharing adventures, the children have many fights and squabbles. They experience mishaps during a visit from their aunt and attend two weddings. In addition, they learn the secret of the Awkward Man and witness Cecily's bravery to support the missionaries.
By the end of the novel, the characters have grown. Sara, Bev, and Felix must leave Carlisle, and things will never be the same. But Bev's memories remain strong. As Blair Stanley states, "Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it."
Purchase and read The Story Girl and The Golden Road:
Created May 29, 2002. Re-posted online February 2, 2022. Last updated February 2, 2022.
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Published in 1911, The Story Girl was L.M. Montgomery's favorite
novel. In it, she captures the delight of youth and the joy of storytelling. The novel may have been so dear to her heart because she used it as a showcase for her own childhood experiences and to retell her
personal family folklore and stories.
The Story Girl tells the tale of a group of children in Carlisle,
Prince Edward Island. The narrator of the story, Beverly King, looks back with
his adult eyes on a summer he and his brother Felix spent away from
Toronto on P.E.I. with their relatives while their father was away on business. Bev and Felix spend time with their cousins Dan, Felicity, and Cecily King, as well as Sara Ray, Peter Craig, and the
novel's namesake, Sara Stanley—the "Story Girl."
The children's minor adventures are interwoven with Sara's fearsome, mythological, humorous,
and human tales that mesmerize her young audience. She is the main character,
though, unlike Montgomery's other protagonists, she does not have a driving plot line. It is the narrator Bev, who
directs our attention to Sara's talents and charms throughout the story.
The Story Girl is followed by its sequel The Golden Road.
Created May 27, 2002. Re-posted online March 16, 2021. Last updated March 16, 2021.
© worldofanneshirley.com
Road to Avonlea (1990–1996) is a television series produced by Sullivan Entertainment that aired for seven seasons on the CBC. The storylines in Road to Avonlea are based in part on L.M. Montgomery's novels The Story Girl and The Golden Road as well as her short story collections Chronicles of Avonlea and Further Chronicles of Avonlea.
Road to Avonlea takes place in the early 20th century in the fictional town of Avonlea, Prince Edward Island, the home of the Anne of Green Gables novels and Sullivan Entertainment’s Anne of Green Gables miniseries. The series begins when Sara Stanley is sent to live in Avonlea with her mother's family, the Kings, after her father is accused of embezzlement. Sara is a wealthy girl, who is used to life in big city Montreal. She must adjust to new experiences in a small village and her close-knit relatives.
Over the course of the series, its focus expanded from Sara to the rest of the King family and residents of Avonlea. Like other productions by Sullivan Entertainment, Road to Avonlea is humorous, romantic, and heart-warming. Its visually beautiful with a talented cast.
Road to Avonlea was a celebrated television series, winning 15 Gemini Awards and three Emmys. It aired in the United States on the Disney Channel with the title Avonlea. The series concluded after airing 91 episodes. Following the series finale, the Road to Avonlea cast reunited in a 1998 made-for-television film called Happy Christmas, Miss King (also known as An Avonlea Christmas). Set in 1914, the storyline was set during the first World War.
Image credit:
The Road to Avonlea photograph above features (from left to right) the characters Cecily King (Harmony Cramp), Olivia King (Mag Ruffman), Janet King (Lally Cadeau), Felicity King (Gema Zamprogna), Alec King (Cedric Smith), Sara Stanley (Sarah Polley), and Hetty King (Jackie Burroughs). © Sullivan Entertainment
External link:
Road of Avonlea: The Official Website
Purchase and watch all seven seasons of Road to Avonlea:
Created November 23, 2002. Re-posted online March 12, 2022. Last updated March 12, 2022.
© worldofanneshirley.com
I originally posted a Keeperships topic at the Anne3.com Forum hosted by Sullivan Entertainment on April 18,
2000. Later, the forum was known as the Avonlea Message Board and the Sullivan Entertainment Message Board. Sadly, the forum is gone now. I miss the days of conversation, friendship, and fun that took place there.
In returning to my old website, I thought I'd repost the keeperships here as an archive. I can't believe that the list is 250 keeperships long. Please note that this keeperships listing is no longer being updated.
Here are a few details on the keeperships list:
Keeperships are special treasures that we protect and care for, and we are called "keepers" of
these items. All of our keeperships are from
the Anne of Green Gables novels or Sullivan Entertainment Anne of Green Gables miniseries, Road to Avonlea, and other L.M. Montgomery novels and adaptations.
Some keeperships were created using screencaptures from friends at the Anne3.com Forum and from Avonlea Vignettes, Avonlea.hu, Lantern Hill, Anne of Green Gables, the Road to Avonlea Guide, and Megan Follows UK.
The Keeperships List
List Categories:
The Anne of Green Gables Series
The Blue Castle
The Emily of New Moon Series
Jane of Lantern Hill
Kilmeny of the Orchard
Magic for Marigold
The Pat of Silver Bush Series
Road to Avonlea
The Story Girl and The Golden Road
A Tangled Web
General/Other
The Anne Series
The Blue Castle
The Emily of New Moon Series
Jane of Lantern Hill
Kilmeny of the Orchard
Magic for Marigold
The Pat of Silver Bush Series
The Story Girl and The Golden Road
Road to Avonlea
A Tangled Web
General/Other
Created April 18, 2000. Last updated keepership list and images August 8, 2010. Re-posted online December 1, 2021. Last updated intro text December 1, 2021.
© worldofanneshirley.com