Name: L.M. Montgomery
Dates: January 2014
# of Books: 1-3
I have several short story collections to read. And I may even decide to reread The Blue Castle since it's a group read-along.
What I read:
1. The Road to Yesterday. L.M. Montgomery 1974. McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited. 252 pages.
Things to keep in mind about L.M. Montgomery
- The original readers of Anne of Green Gables (1908) would have been born between 1895 and 1900.
- The original readers had the unique opportunity of maturing alongside Anne herself. Anne of the Island (1915) and Anne's House of Dreams (1917), perhaps the most romantic of them all, would have been published just as they were dreaming of love and marriage.
- The original fans might have passed on their love (and their books) to their own daughters. How lovely that they both could finish the series together. Consider the first book of the series was published in 1908, and the last "Anne" book (Anne of Ingleside) was published in 1939!
- Her (writing) contemporaries were Eleanor H. Porter, Jean Webster, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Grace Livingston Hill, etc.
- It is interesting to consider how her books fit in with the times, to find publishing trends. Let's just say that Anne was not the ONLY orphan. A Little Princess (1905) Anne of Green Gables (1908), The Secret Garden (1911), Miss Billy (1911), Daddy Long-Legs (1912), Pollyanna (1913), Emily of New Moon (1923).
3 comments:
I read all the Montgomery's last year and enjoyed them (well most of them, Pat and I aren't really on speaking terms). I love that you put the Anne in context. It never occurred to me that original readers of Anne could be finishing the series with their own children. How fun that must have been!
hm. Tempting!!
Katherine, Pat and I aren't friends either! Out of all the Montgomery novels I read, Mistress Pat was probably my least favorite.
Kailana, you should join in! It would be a great start to the year ;)
Post a Comment