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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Spring Song by L. M. Montgomery

Spring Song
by L.M. Montgomery

O gypsy winds that pipe and sing
In budding boughs of beech,
I know I hear the laugh of spring
In all your silver speech.

O little mists that hide and curl
In hollows wild and green,
I know you will come in gauze and pearl
To wait upon your queen.

O little seed of mellow earth
Where rain and sunshine kiss,
I know the quivering joy of birth
Throbs in your chrysalis.

O Hope, you blossom on my way
Like violet from the clod,
And Love makes rosy all the grey
When spring comes back from God.

Poem published in Verse and Reverse by Members of the Toronto Women's Press Club (1922).

Image Credit:
Illustration of Violets by Louis-Aimé Martin in Nouveau langage des fleurs, ou, Parterre de flore : contenant le symbole et le langage des fleurs, leur histoire et leur origine mythologique, ainsi que les plus jolis vers composés a ce sujet (1832). From Biodiversity Heritage Library. Public Domain.

Created February 19, 2002. Last updated October 8, 2022.
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Publication Sequence of the 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 Sequence	Chronology 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?

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Created September 1, 1999. Last updated April 28, 2022.
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Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island (PEI) is a province located in the Gulf of St Lawrence in Eastern Canada. The island's scenery is beautiful with a striking contrast between the red roads and cliffs, deep blue water, and rich green landscape. In 1874, L.M. Montgomery was born in Clifton, PEI, and she used the island as the geographical location for many of her stories. Today, PEI is recognized around the world as the setting of L.M. Montgomery's novel Anne of Green Gables (1908).

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Created March 13, 2021.
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Who is Anne Shirley?

Anne Shirley is a character first introduced to the world in the 1908 novel Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. When we first meet Anne, she is an eleven-year-old girl with a vivid imagination, talkative disposition, and bewitching personality.

Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert are surprised by Anne's arrival in Avonlea, Prince Edward Island. The Cuthbert siblings had planned to adopt a young boy to help Matthew with the farm at Green Gables, but mistakenly they are sent a girl. Fortunately, Anne wins both Matthew and Marilla over, and the Cuthberts adopt Anne giving her a home at Green Gables.

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Created July 15, 1999. Last updated March 8, 2021.
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Anne of Green Gables Coloring Book

The Anne of Green Gables Coloring Book is a hardcover, premium edition volume featuring drawings from the anime Anne of Green Gables (Akage no An, 1979), which was produced as part of Nippon Animation's World Masterpiece Theater series.



The book is 96 pages long and was published in Korea. Full color drawings from the anime series are placed alongside black and white drawings that you can color yourself.

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Cover of Anne of Green Gables Coloring Book.

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Created December 15, 2019.
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Anne of Green Gables: The Original Manuscript

Anne of Green Gables: The Original Manuscript by L.M. Montgomery and edited by Carolyn Strom Collins was released by Nimbus Publishing in July 2019. L.M. Montgomery wrote Anne of Green Gables by hand over the course of eight months. From her handwritten text, Montgomery then typed the novel out. She sent her typed copy to publishers, and held onto her handwritten manuscript for her entire life. The handwritten manuscript is currently housed in the archives at the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown. Prince Edward Island.

Carolyn Strom Collins worked with the archivists at the Confederation Centre of the Arts to examine, photograph, and transcribe L.M. Montgomery's original 844-page text. Her book Anne of Green Gables: The Original Manuscript includes her full transcription of L.M. Montgomery's handwritten text along with Montgomery's edits and notes. The book provides insight into Montgomery's writing and creative process. As one example, L.M. Montgomery initially called Diana Barry by the name Laura, and then changed the character's name to Gertrude, before she decided to call her Diana.

In an interview with CBC News, Strom Collins talked about how special the experience was to spend time with Montgomery's text, saying, "It gives you a little chill in a way, a little thrill because you know that was her pride and joy. She touched those pages, she wrote with pen and ink, she dipped the pen in ink every few lines." Anne of Green Gables: The Original Manuscript includes a wonderful introduction by Carolyn Strom Collins that provides a wealth of information about the original manuscript, the first published edition of Anne of Green Gables, and the transcribed text. Carolyn Strom Collins also presents quotes from Montgomery's journals and letters about writing Anne and about her inspiration for the novel.


Here is the description of the book from Nimbus Publishing:

This fascinating book presents the original text of Montgomery’s most famous manuscript, including where the author scribbled notes, made additions and deletions, and other editorial details. L. M. Montgomery scholar Carolyn Strom Collins offers a rare look into Montgomery’s creative process, providing a never-before-published version of the worldwide phenomenon.

This book differs from previous versions of Anne in that it provides a transcription of the text and notes from Montgomery’s original manuscript, and shows how they were integrated to form the full novel. The culmination of years of research, Anne of Green Gables: the Original Manuscript is a necessary addition to any Montgomery lover’s collection. This volume features scans of the first page of each chapter from the original archived document (showing editorial notes in Montgomery’s handwriting) and an appendix of rare foreign-language covers.

Review

“"Here's one for devoted Anne fans and anyone curious about the creative process."
―Halifax Magazine

Image credit:
Book cover of Anne of Green Gables: The Original Manuscript.

Reference:
New book offers fans a look at handwritten manuscript of Anne of Green Gables. (2019, July 30). CBC News. Retrieved from: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-new-book-looks-at-original-manuscript-of-anne-green-gables-1.5230806

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Created August 25, 2019. Last updated September 3, 2024.
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L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years, 1930-1933

L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years, 1930–1933 edited by Jen Rubio was published by Rock's Mill Press in 2019. The unabridged editions of L.M. Montgomery's journals paint a fuller, darker picture of her inner thoughts and moods, her passions, and her literary ambitions. In this seventh volume of L.M. Montgomery's complete journals, Montgomery gives a compelling account of painful difficulties, mysterious secrets, and deep disappointments.


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

L.M. Montgomery’s journals speak of simple pleasures and deep joy, dogged worries and profound disappointments. The story of her life from 1930 to 1933 is as gripping as the earlier volumes published by Rock’s Mills Press. This volume is different from earlier ones in a surprising way, however: “It has happened. It is too cruel and hideous and unexpected to write about. I have spent two days in hell. I cannot see how I am to go on living. . . . And I have had to keep up a face to the world when something in my soul was bleeding to death” (February 5, 1933). The truth of this “cruel and hideous” event is, for a time, too diffcult to commit to her journals; it casts a shadow of shame on Montgomery’s life for months. When she finally explains, it is page-turning material that gives a fascinating look into the hidden side of life in Ontario almost a century ago. Montgomery also recounts other difficult situations facing her in those years, including attempts to help a slippery young man facing embezzlement charges and a younger woman’s obsessive crush on her. Over 100 of Montgomery’s own photographs are included, many never before published. This edition also includes an introduction, extensive notes, and an index of photography, all original to this edition.

2019
Paperback, 386 pp. ISBN-13: 978-1-77244-175-8

Image credit:
Book cover of L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years, 1930–1933.

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Created June 1, 2018. Last updated August 23, 2024.
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