Tracey’s Comments (group member since Dec 08, 2021)

Tracey’s comments from the Reading Through The Year With L. M. Montgomery (2022-23) group.

D.N. wrote: "I loved this book as a child. LM Montgomery creates the most beloved characters. I did not love Emily as dearly as I loved Anne, but she was perhaps more realistic. Great choice."

I agree with your comment. Anne is the most magical but we see a different side of Maud's writing in the Emily books and I think it's important to read them to see life as I think Maud herself saw life. She wanted life to be like Anne's but her life was like Emily's.

Meghan wrote: "(I had to skip reading the last comment because I haven't gotten that far along yet)
I just started Emily of New Moon. So far it hasn't held the magic that Anne of Green Gables (book 1) did for me..."

I think Maud experienced a lot of funerals and death was very close always in her life. I think Maud made the Emily books more true to life and it is a different experience to the Anne books. If you find you don't like the Emily books because of this we will be reading more magical books after this trilogy and I am sure you will enjoy some of those.

Fiona wrote: "Just read this beautiful quote in Ch13:
Emily saw a dear, friendly star winking down at her. Far away the sea moaned alluringly. Oh, it was nice just to be alone and to be alive. Life tasted good t..."

Beautiful thoughts Fiona. Thank you for posting.

Please post here your closing thoughts and review of the book. Spoilers are allowed so please discuss freely.

Cleo wrote: "I felt Rilla of Ingleside is the most mature of the "Anne" series. Montgomery delves into serious issues and gives the reader a unique view of WWI through Canadian eyes. I actually li..."

Well said, Cleo. It does stand out amongst her Anne books.

Similar to her earlier and more famous Anne of Green Gables series, the Emily novels depicted life through the eyes of a young orphan girl, Emily Byrd Starr, who is raised by her relatives after her father dies of tuberculosis. Montgomery considered Emily to be a character much closer to her own personality than Anne, and some of the events which occur in the Emily series happened to Montgomery herself. Emily is described as having black hair, purply violet eyes, elfin ears, pale skin, and a unique and enchanting "slow" smile.

Emily Starr is sent to live at New Moon Farm on Prince Edward Island with her aunts Elizabeth and Laura Murray and her Cousin Jimmy.

This book is one of my favourites of Maud's books and I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I do.

Kathy wrote: "I think I like Rilla of Ingleside because it focused on one character, Rilla, Anne and Gilbert's youngest daughter. I didn't enjoy Rainbow Valley as much because it talke..."

I agree with your summary. I think the book has a different focus from others in the series. I think Maud wanted to document the effects of WWI on the women at home rather than just tell a sweet story.

Thank you for your review. I agree it’s a lovely book.

Brian E wrote: "Tracey wrote: "I love Elizabeth Gaskell and am interested in the name of the story you mention..."

It's The Grey Woman one of her Gothic short story/novellas, but one that's more of..."

My library has her gothic tales so I will have to check it out.

Brian E wrote: "I have a Kindle of this and plan to read this more mid-month. I thought it would be interesting after previously reading Anne to try a more adult oriented book. I was not aware it was set in Ontari..."

Hi Brian. I love Elizabeth Gaskell and am interested in the name of the story you mention. I hope you enjoy this book and thank you for your input.

Please post here when you have read the book.

The Blue Castle is a 1926 novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery,

The story is set during the 1920s in the fictional town of Deerwood, located in the Muskoka region of Ontario, Canada. Deerwood is based on Bala, Ontario, which Montgomery visited in 1922. Maps of the two towns show similarities.

This novel is considered one of L.M. Montgomery's few adult works of fiction, along with A Tangled Web, and is the only book she wrote that is entirely set outside of Prince Edward Island.

This is a reread for me. I loved it and highly recommend it.

Please post here when you have read the book.

Katrina wrote: "Nice list. I don't have A Tangled Web or After Many Years, but the do have the other two you mentioned...(Along the Shore and The Doctor's Sweetheart) but I may not be able to read along in the mon..."

I just checked and Hoopla has After Many Years as both an audiobook and ebook. They have A Tangled Web as an ebook. This might be an option for you if you want to read them sometime. I enjoy your input whatever you choose to read.

The Blythes Are Quoted is a book completed by L. M. Montgomery (1874–1942) near the end of her life but not published in its entirety until 2009. It is her eleventh book to feature Anne Shirley Blythe. It consists of an experimental blend of fifteen short stories, forty-one poems, and numerous vignettes featuring Anne and members of her family discussing her poetry. The book focuses on small-town life in Glen St. Mary, Prince Edward Island, and is divided into two halves: one preceding the events of the First World War of 1914–1918 and one relating incidents after the war, up to and including the beginning of the Second World War of 1939–1945.

The book returns to the characters and setting that are known to readers all around the world, but there is a noticeable shift in tone and topic, given that the book frequently deals with such matters as "adultery, illegitimacy, despair, misogyny, murder, revenge, bitterness, hatred, aging, and death."[

Please post here if you have read the book.

Rilla of Ingleside (1921) is the eighth of nine books in the Anne of Green Gables series by Lucy Maud Montgomery but was the sixth "Anne" novel in publication order. This book draws the focus back onto a single character, Anne and Gilbert's youngest daughter Bertha Marilla "Rilla" Blythe. It has a more serious tone, as it takes place during World War I.

The book is dedicated: "To the memory of FREDERICA CAMPBELL MACFARLANE who went away from me when the dawn broke on January 25, 1919—a true friend, a rare personality, a loyal and courageous soul." Frederica, Maud's cousin, and best friend, grew up in Park Corner, PEI, but died in the Spanish flu pandemic. Frederica may have been the model for Diana Barry, Anne of Green Gables' "bosom friend": both had unusual, non-Christian first names, and the fictional Diana's husband was named, perhaps not coincidentally, Fred.

Rilla of Ingleside is the only Canadian novel written from a woman's perspective about the First World War by a contemporary. The novel is also groundbreaking as it is one of the first non-Australian texts to mention the Gallipoli campaign and the sacrifice made by the ANZACs.

At some point after Montgomery's death in 1942, publishers quietly trimmed Rilla of Ingleside of a few thousand words, removing among other things passages containing historically accurate but now offensive anti-German sentiment. The trimmed version was the only available "in print" version for decades, until a new, restored, and annotated edition of Rilla of Ingleside, edited by Benjamin Lefebvre (editor of Montgomery's The Blythes Are Quoted) and Andrea McKenzie, was published by Viking Canada in October 2010.

Kathy wrote: "I haven't yet read Emily Climbs and Emily's Quest and hope to fit these two in. I'm also interested in The Story Girl and [book:Kilmeny of the Orchard|6576..."

Sounds good. The group is very relaxed so feel free to read in your own time.

Others I thought of if any of the above are not favourable:

The Doctor's Sweetheart and Other Stories

Along the Shore: Tales by the Sea

Jan: Emily of New Moon
Feb: Emily Climbs
Mar: Emily's Quest
April: A Tangled Web
May: Jane of Lantern Hill
June: Pat of Silver Bush
July: Mistress Pat
August: The Story Girl
Sept: The Golden Road
Oct: Magic for Marigold
Nov: Kilmeny of the Orchard
Dec: After Many Years