From Library Journal
Scholarship has caught up with what thousands of readers already know: the work of Lucy Maud Montgomery is fascinating and rich and not only for children. As scholars study Anne of Green Gables and the rest of Montgomery's prolific output, they have found that the books often overshadow the author herself. These two works highlight both Montgomery and her creations, giving readers insight into the personality that created characters who have captured the imaginations of readers for generations. The fourth volume of the Journals (Oxford published Volume 1 in 1986 and Volume 3 in 1993) provides a fascinating look at a period in Montgomery's life that was full of fatalism, fear, and moments of joy. She suffered through the Depression, witnessed her husband's nervous breakdown (and feared her own), became the unwilling object of a troubled woman's love, and suffered the deaths of numerous friends and family. Although self-conscious about the public nature of these documents (she passed her journals to her son to be published at an appropriate time), she is remarkably candid about her thoughts and feelings in these entries. Montgomery was an accomplished photographer, and the photos she placed in her journals are reproduced here, giving readers a chance to see the people, landscapes, and cats she loved. The work is also an important source of information on the social and cultural history of Canada in this period. Perhaps of more interest to nonspecialists, and timed to coincide with the 125th anniversary of Montgomery's birth, the Album combines scholarly articles, reminiscences, biography, and information on "Anne" sites in a well-designed collection full of beautifully reproduced photographs and illustrations. Readers are given insight into Montgomery's life, her society, and her writing as well as information on the films, TV programs, musicals, discussion groups, fan clubs, and festivals that her work has inspired. Both books are recommended for academic and larger public libraries.AKaren E. Sadowski, Simmons Coll., Boston Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Book Description
Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942), the author of the classic novel for children, Anne of Green Gables, kept extensive journals for most of her life, beginning them in 1889 when she was fourteen and continuing them until shortly before her death. An instant bestseller in Canada, the first volume of The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery covers the years up to 1910 and culminates in the publication of Anne of Green Gables. The second volume (1910-1921) portrays Montgomery in the midst of great upheaval, both in her life and in the world around her. Now, the long-awaited third volume brings us through her middle years, a time when Montgomery's personal and professional lives are becoming even more complex. Ranging from 1921-1929, this revealing journal documents her efforts to juggle the demands of motherhood, parish obligations, indifferent household help, grief at the loss of older friends and family--everyday struggles to balance a woman's social and domestic duties. Here she writes of the triumphs and trials of being a best-selling author: growing fame; the succeessful midwifery of her new heroines Emily and Marigold and a more adult novel, The Blue Castle; the struggle to allocate time for correspondence with publishers, fans, friends--and to actually write. We trace the happy conclusion of her lawsuits against an unscrupulous publisher and the disappointing outcome of a lawsuit arising in a minor automobile accident. And we learn of her personal worries: Ewan Macdonalds's envy of his wife's publishing and social success; the dark shadow cast by his attacks of melancholia; and her fear that her sons might evince similar tendencies. In these years, Lucy Maud Montgomery turned more and more to her journals to record her insights, opinions, and epiphanies. These journals will not only intrigue every fan of Anne of Green Gables and the other Anne books, but will also provide an intimate look at life as portrayed by this remarkable writer.

FROM THE PUBLISHER