Irene Gammel

Good, in the sense that I love Anne of Green Gables and was interested to find out more about L. M. Montgomery. But the writing is very academic, and the author over-reaches a bit (the discovery that Montgomery used a magazine photo as inspiration is not quite the massive relevation that she seems to think it is).

This book was a huge disappointment. I have been in love with Anne since 4th grade, when I read all eight books. This author seems to suggest that L.M. Montgomery was a psychologically warped closet lesbian. Oftentimes, I would rather not know about the personal life of an author, actor, performer, etc. whose work I really admire, because after I find out more about them, their work is forever colored. That said, I don't necessarily believe Irene Gammel's conclusions about L.M. Montgomery . . .

As a L.M. Montgomery fan, I found this book to be both informative and interesting. With many chapters and approximately three hundred pages worth of essays about a large variety of topics, it would be the graduate student's dream to use, should the topic be relating to L.M. Montgomery's novels.

I am a casual consumer and an avid Montgomery fan, but found the articles to sometimes be dry, conflicting (as not all essay authors share opinions within the novel), and often found myself skimming show more or skipping chapters altogether. Should I ever want to read more about the psychology involved in the creation of a book cover for Emily of New Moon, or perhaps about the interest in hair from the characters within the novels, this will be a great resource for further education. As a novel for a person interested in a personal way rather than for academic needs, I would not generally recommend it. This is a good resource for the right situations, but not as great for casual reading. show less

I'm glad I read this book for the insight it gave me on the Anne Shirley/Blythe series (as well as the rest of the Avonlea books) but I had to dig through the horrible writing to glean that insight.

Each chapter is broken down into micro chapters that only vaguely connect to anything else. The author makes references that the reader cannot immedietely understand and promises to explain at a later point, but is vague as to where and when the point will be explained. The flow of the book show more loosely follows the chronology of Montgomery's life but she tends to digress and then loop back to points made chapters before.

It is obvious that the author enjoyed her research, but quite possibly she should have had someone else help her with the presentation of it. show less