Friday Favorites: L.M. Montgomery

Feb 13, 2015 |

It’s news to no one that I’m a huge fan of L.M. Montgomery. But it was news to me to discover a Montgomery book I’d never read before!*

Recently, after giving up on another book (something I hate to do, but it was necessary for my sanity), I turned to my TBR shelf for inspiration. And there I found the lovely new edition of Jane of Lantern Hill I’d purchased at Reading Rock Books in Dickson, TN, when visiting my friend, Michelle.


So pretty and retro, right?**

I started reading, certain I’d remember the plot of the book. After all, I had the mass market paperback on my shelf upstairs–which meant I’d read it before, right? Wrong. The story seemed entirely new to me. I suppose I might have read the first couple of chapters long ago, but for whatever reason I never continued with it.

This reading was an absolute pleasure. No way was I putting the book down! The trials and joys of quirky, lovable, and feisty Jane gripped me until the very end.

[Eeek, there’s a movie version! It looks so wrong.]

I put Jane down with a happy sigh, but I wasn’t quite ready to leave Maud. I started Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings, which is impressing upon me that LMM was very clever and ambitious. (I think if I could have met her in person, I would have been very intimidated. She, on the other hand, would likely have been bored.) Maud’s brilliance, productivity, and constant pushing of the boundaries for “proper” womanhood and wifehood (why didn’t I know her husband was a minister?) are so fascinating to me, especially in the light of her continual struggles with depression. Such a fascinating lady.

In addition to the biography I also ordered the Annotated Anne of Green Gables to study and enjoy before . . . wait for it . . .my birthday trip to Prince Edward Island in May. Hooray!

Do you have a favorite L.M. Montgomery novel? Favorite heroine? Have you read other books that remind you of Montgomery’s style? Do share!

*Full disclosure: I haven’t read all the Anne books. For some reason I lost interest once Anne married and had a family. I should go back and try again, right?
**This cover might be even nicer. Virago has such fabulous cover art!

Follow By Email

Categories

Archives

My Blog List