The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery, Vol. 1: 1889-1910 (edition 2000)

The first of five volumes of Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery's journals to be edited by Mary Rubio and Elizabeth Waterston - each published volume contains the contents of two of Montgomery's hand-written diaries - this book begins in 1889, when its creator was fourteen years old, and concludes in 1910, shortly before her marriage to the Rev. Ewan Macdonald. Here the reader can learn about Montgomery's childhood in Cavendish, on Prince Edward Island - the apparent inspiration for 'Avonlea,' in the Anne of Green Gables series - where she was raised by her stern maternal grandparents; her brief and rather unsuccessful experience, as a teenager, living with her father and his second wife in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan; and her return east to PEI, where she pursued her education - a year at Prince of Wales College in Charlottetown, and another at Dalhousie University, in Halifax - and taught school, as family circumstances permitted. The volume wraps up with the difficult years that Montgomery spent as a companion to her widowed grandmother Macneil.

Readers familiar with Montgomery's many works of fiction will find much here of interest, not just because of the insight offered into the life and thinking of the author, but because the style of writing, and many of the true-life incidents reported, can also be seen in her novels and short stories. There were moments in which I was strongly reminded of particular scenes or ideas, first met in Montgomery's fiction. The notion of a veil that hangs between us, and a secret world of beauty, that the author discusses at one point in her journal, was a clear influence on her Emily of New Moon books; while her imaginary childhood companions, living in the bureau glass, can also be found in Anne of Green Gables. More than this, though, the entire feeling of a small enclosed world, in which everyone knows everybody else, is very much present in Montgomery's journals, and is faithfully (and beautifully!) reproduced in her fiction.

First begun as part of a group read in February 2010, for the L.M. Montgomery Book Club that I moderate on another site, this book did not greatly appeal to me at first - and this despite my long-time admiration for the author! In fact, I had abandoned it around one quarter of the way through. Then, a few weeks ago, I happened to pick it up again, started over at the beginning, and found myself immensely engaged! I'm not sure why it didn't appeal to me the first time around - perhaps just not the right time? In any case, I found it involving, both emotionally and intellectually. Montgomery's passionate attachment to Herman Leard - whom she deemed beneath her - was fascinating, and I came away unconvinced that she ever really understood him. She seems to have been such a loquacious person, one wonders whether she misinterpreted his relative silence as a lack of intelligence, and/or a less deeply emotional attachment to her, than she felt for him. Being conscious of her eventual suicide, the passages in which she laments her life, and her emotional state, were very difficult to read indeed, and gave some portions of the journal a truly tragic feeling.

All in all, a fascinating read - and one I would recommend to any L.M. Montgomery fan! ( )

For anyone whose girlhood was marked by Montgomery's immortal Anne of Green Gables, these journals will be a joy. Here is source of the inspiration for the characters and the places we grew up loving and dreaming about. The 1985 Toronto edition also has 2 maps and 104 photographs of the actual people and places in Montgomery's life in her formative years. And the voice of Montgomery herself, speaking so clearly through time........

Absolutely fascinating reading, whether or not you're a fan of Montgomery and/or Anne, and I recommend it. Full review: http://www.canadianauthors.net/m/montgomery_lucy_maud/selected_journals_of_lm_mo... ( )

Fascinating! We meet Maud at 14 and follow her through the publishing of her first book, Anne of Green Gables, in her early 30s. A joy to read, and there are four more volumes after this one. ( )