#post rilla of ingleside

[jomiddlemarch]

That it alone is high fantastical

“Oh, Mother, you’ll never guess! You’ll never guess in century of guessing!” Rilla cried out, sounding so much as she had as a little girl, for a moment, Anne could convince herself the War had never happened and that somewhere in Rainbow Valley, Walter sat writing a crown of sonnets in his leather-bound journal, his face dappled by the light, back braced against the bole of a birch tree, his grey eyes unfocused as he searched for his next word.

There was still a white stone in the graveyard. Shirley was in Toronto, having refused (albeit politely) to return to Glen St. Mary, much to Susan’s dismay, and Jem walked with a pronounced limp, his uneven gait announcing him as much as Mary’s voice.

There was a mystery there, Jem and Mary Vance, but Anne couldn’t see any way through it and Gilbert, lying beside her in bed, both of them tired but sleepless, told her not to try. Jem had seemed less removed, less falsely cheerful lately, and had begun talking about the medical course again, perhaps a specialty in obstetrics, a hospital practice. As far away from men dying in battle as he can get, Gilbert had observed and Anne had recalled Joyce’s little face, white as a mayflower blossom, and held her tongue.

Rilla, remarkably, given her exuberant entrance, had done the same in the absence of Anne’s response. Miss Oliver had left Ingleside some weeks ago, so there was no one to suggest Rilla either elaborate or calm herself, as her likeness to a whistling copper tea-kettle was increasingly pronounced.

“If I’ll never guess, dear, you must tell me,” Anne said. It was a relief that Rilla could still be the young girl she ought to be, for all that she wore Ken Ford’s diamond ring on her finger and was capable of a brisk, warm matronliness when it came to raising Jims, now reserved for the writing of letters to his new British stepmother and clucking over the missives she received.

“Faith Meredith has eloped!”

Anne did admit to herself she would never have guessed that, because for all her imagination, she wouldn’t have guessed something impossible.

“But, Rilla, Jem is with your father today, doing the Lowbridge rounds. Susan and I packed a lunch with plenty of pie for Dad and some of that flapjack Jem took to after being in England,” Anne said. He’d been in hospital in England, recovering from the injuries he’d sustained at the Front, in the prison camp, during his escape, none of which was spoken of. Only flapjack and stewed tea and how no cook in England was a patch on Susan and that you may tie to, uttered with some semblance of his old roguish humor.

“I didn’t say she married Jem, Mother!” Rilla exclaimed. Her cheeks were pink and her eyes were bright. She had a look of Gilbert at his most delighted about him, an expression Anne remembered from their childhood. Anne opened her mouth to speak but Rilla interrupted.

“It’s Bertie Shakespeare Drew! Faith Meredith is Mrs. Bertie Shakespeare!” Rilla said.

If Anne hadn’t already been sitting down, she would have, suddenly and gracelessly. As it was, the shirt she’d been mending fell from her lap.

“That’s—why, Rilla, are you sure?”

“I heard it directly from Mary Vance,” Rilla said, lifting a hand to stop Anne from speaking. “And Miss Cornelia Bryant. You know Miss Cornelia has no taste for gossip. Miss Cornelia’d heard it from Mrs. Meredith—”

“Poor Rosemary,” Anne said, before she could stop herself.

“Why poor Rosemary? I suppose they thought Faith and Jem would make a go of it, at least, perhaps Reverend Meredith and Mrs. Meredith did, but the War’s done funny things to people and Faith and Jem, they just didn’t fit any longer,” Rilla said. Sometimes, Anne felt Rilla reminded her of someone she couldn’t name and realized her youngest daughter spoke with the wisdom Anne’s own mother might have had. Plenty of folks in the Glen would find such a thought eerie, but Anne was comforted, for all that she ought to be the one offering a thoughtful explanation rather than receiving it.

“I suppose I meant the surprise, an elopement—”

“They must not have wanted to wait. Or were afraid someone would try to talk them out of it. Bertie’s mother maybe,” Rilla said.

Rosemary or her father, Anne thought. Jem, if he’d been given the chance, perhaps. Perhaps not, if Rilla was correct.

“Bertie Shakespeare Drew,” Anne said. “I remember when he was born. He’s just Jem’s age.”

“He’s not much like you remember him, Mother. He’s all tall and stalwart now and they say he’s going in for engineering, that he learned quite a bit in France, found he had a talent for that sort of thing. And his ears don’t stick out quite so much anymore,” Rilla said.

“There’re more things on heav’n and earth,” Anne said, mangling the quote a bit, fairly certain Rilla would not correct her. “D’you suppose Faith calls him Bertie? Or his full name—it’s quite a mouthful.”

Queenly Faith Meredith, the undisputed beauty of Glen St. Mary, who had a sense of humor but also a sense of herself as beyond any teasing, now to be Mrs. Bertie Shakespeare Drew. Anne smiled to herself and thought how Mary Vance would find a way to make Jem grin over it all. She’s lucky to get him, Mary would say, reversing the order the Glen would have assumed, and Mary, canny and unexpectedly kind, would have the right of it, perhaps.

Susan would be quite outraged and the pastry of her next pie might suffer for it, but Gilbert had always taken an unchristian glee in Susan’s outrage and wouldn’t mind the pastry being a bit heavier. It was still the best piecrust on Prince Edward Island, now that Mrs. Rachel Lynde was no longer living to give Susan a run for her money.

“Miss Cornelia said Faith was heard to call him Will, when she spoke to her parents. It’s after Shakespeare of course, and because he was so determined they marry,” Rilla said. 

“And because Faith wanted to,” Anne said. She wasn’t sure if she meant the elopement or the name, but it was all of a piece.

“Miss Cornelia said they’d gone to New York for their honeymoon and she hoped Faith didn’t come back with a bunch of silly Yankee airs but Mary and I didn’t think that was likely,” Rilla said, sitting down beside Anne, picking up the shirt and starting to sew.

“She didn’t come back from England any different, after all,” Rilla said.

“Except that she didn’t marry your brother,” Anne replied.

“D’you know, Mother, even without the War, I don’t think they’d ever have gone through with it, Faith and Jem,” Rilla said. “It was, how shall I put it, like a childhood fairy tale, the honorable knight and the maiden fair, all sorts of adventures they had in Rainbow Valley. They were always going to grow up. We all were.”

Not Walter, Anne’s heart said. Not Joyce.

“I’m glad of Ken’s name, anyway. And don’t worry, I wouldn’t elope for anything. I want our families around us, as many as we can get, even if we have to wait. We’re rather good at that,” Rilla said. She’d finished the one shirt and picked up another. She peered at it, frowned. “I can’t think what Dad does to his clothes—”

“I’ve made up a thousand stories to try to explain that and I still don’t think I’ve figured it out,” Anne said. “Some things, my darling girl, are beyond explanation.”

This one's for @freyafrida because I didn't manage to squeeze Faith/Bertie Shakespeare into my Jem/Mary fic...

#anne of green gables #aogg #rare-pair #faith meredith #bertie shakespeare drew #faith x bertie #faithbertie? #romance #post rilla of ingleside #anne shirley #POV anne #rilla blythe #ken ford #rilla x ken #jem x mary #miss cornelia bryant #humor #angst #grief #walter blythe #joyce blythe #more allusions to class issues in glen st. mary #hope you like my faith and bertie fancasts

[rosepompadour]

"Rilla," he said in a sudden, intense whisper, "you are the sweetest thing." - rilla blythe, rilla of ingleside

#i'm sorry for all the l.m. montgomery posts but can i be stoped? #non. #i shall go on to the end‚ i shall post with growing confidence and growing strength‚ whatever the cost may be #i shall post on the beaches‚ i shall never surrender #anne of green gables #rilla of ingleside #l.m. montgomery #bookedit #*

[alwayschasingrainbows]

Shirley Blythe & Susan Baker

“I gave him life just as much as you did, Mrs. Dr. dear,” Susan was wont to say. “He is just as much my baby as he is yours.” And, indeed, it was always to Susan that Shirley ran, to be kissed for bumps, and rocked to sleep, and protected from well-deserved spankings." (Rainbow Valley by L. M. Montgomery).

"So Shirley went—not radiantly, as to a high adventure, like Jem, not in a white flame of sacrifice, like Walter, but in a cool, business-like mood, as of one doing something, rather dirty and disagreeable, that had just got to be done. He kissed Susan for the first time since he was five years old, and said, "Good-bye, Susan—mother Susan."

"My little brown boy—my little brown boy," said Susan." (Rilla of Ingleside by L. M. Montgomery).

#lm montgomery #shirley blythe #susan bates #queue post #rilla of ingleside #rainbow valley #moodboard #little brown boy #susan's baby

[marietheran]

No, you don't get it: the most tragic thing to ever happen in any of Lucy Maud Montgomery's books is that Anne would have been around 90 by the time The Lord of the Rings was published - and she would have loved it so...

And she absolutely did live to read it (look, I get to make the rules; it's canon from now on) but imagine her having access to it as a teen! Then, she definitely wasn't there to read The Silmarillion and these books were just written for her, you know...

(sad noises)

#Now that you think about it Anne was born *far* earlier than you'd think #like apparently in 1865 #(oh wait #that's nearly the same year as Laura Ingalls but the lives were so different) #(anyway the wild west was in full swing) #but then LMM's books all have this timeless quality #Anne of Green Gables (1870s) or Emily of Silver Bush (1990s) and Pat of Silver Bush/Mistress Pat(1920s-30s) feel quite similar #and the only things to place the various series on a timeline (aside from a few mentions of technology/fashions) are references to WW1 #(aside from Rilla of Ingleside rather offhand ones) #. #(having mentioned the Pat duology in the same sentence as the word “timeline” #(i can't not reference) #(the fact that the second book starts around the time it was published and takes place during 11 years) #(yes - 11!) #(which does pose a danger) #(because the author has unknowingly positioned the ending right in the middle of WW2) #original post #anne of green gables #lucy maud montgomery #theory of literature #tt

[vanibear]

HI. HI ANNE ENJOYER WHO READ THE WHOLE SERIES . im so glad when i see ppl who read the whole series it makes me so happy !! whats ur favourite one :0 other than the og anne of green gables i think mine is probably anne's house of dreams

AAA OMGEE !! the original will always hold a very very special place in my heart, i think its probably one of the first few chapter books I remember reading.. weird girl little me found so much solace in anne <3 but .other than the original one I liked anne of the island a lot, anne and gilbert finally get engaged ! and it almost took gilbert dying for it to happen fggkkgdsf. im a huge sucker for their kind of love story- hopelessly fallen for each other but would rather have the world end than admit it that then turns into thinking the other surely couldnt be in love with them and then realizing they do when it seems too late (but it isnt ^-^) <- this is also me describing sophie and howl hmc

#third favorite would be rainbow valley ithink. i liked reading all her kids adventures <3 and then rilla of ingleside made me sob afterthat #i dont think a part of me will ever get over walter dying #but eee ty for the ask !! i kind of feel like rereading the series now bc it’s been so long #asks :O #kat post

[the-moral-of-the-rose]

Rilla of Ingleside created a new timeline...

Anne's House of Dreams mentioned a historical event - a federal election: “Mistress Blythe, the Liberals are in with a sweeping majority. After eighteen years of Tory mismanagement this down-trodden country is going to have a chance at last.” (AHoD).

From Wikipedia: "The 1896 Canadian federal election was held on June 23, 1896, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 8th Parliament of Canada. Though the Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Charles Tupper, won a plurality of the popular vote, the Liberal Party, led by Wilfrid Laurier, won the majority of seats to form the next government. The election ended 18 years of Conservative rule."

It wouldn't be surprsing, but... it was also the year in which Jem Blythe was born! The election took place few weeks after his birth: "When Anne came downstairs again, the Island, as well as all Canada, was in the throes of a campaign preceding a general election." (AHoD).

So... according to this timeline, Walter was born a year later (1897), then the twins (1899), Shirley (1901) and Rilla (1903).

The point is... at the outbreak of the war, Walter would have been only 17 years old, the twins 15, Shirley 13, Rilla 11...

Shirley would have been too young to participate in the war and Walter would have barely turned nineteen at the time of the Battle of Flers-Courcelette in September of 1916...

Someone in one of my older posts noticed that puff sleeves fashion suggested that Anne of Green Gables took place in 1880s rather than 1870s... so it would make sense!

I wonder why Montgomery chose Rilla as her teenage heroine (according to the original chronology, Rilla should have been only 11 years old), while there were 15-year-old twins...

Can you imagine Nan and Di as the main characters of the war book? Two young girls at Queen's, trying to come to terms with rapidly changing world? Rilla and Shirley at Ingleside, growing closer in such trying times? Teenage boys - Jem and Walter - who had to choose if they wanted to sacrifice their life at even younger age - at eighteen? Walter, never reaching the age of twenty (or maybe - dare I hope - coming back home safely)? Anne and Gilbert in their 40s, trying to collect all the broken pieces that was once their family?

It would have been equally good, in my opinion. I wonder... why Montgomery felt she had to suddenly change a whole chronology?

Side note: of course, I love Rilla of Ingleside. But I am just curious... (Nan and Di of Ingleside would be a good book, too!).

@diario-de-gilbert-blythe @gogandmagog @pinkenamelheart @valancystirling48

#lm montgomery #anne of green gables #anne's house of dreams #rilla of ingleside

[danjaley]

One of my random book posts:

My long history with Anne of Green Gables

(and that series' unfortunate publishing history in Germany)

My first encounter with Anne of Green Gables was when the girl who bullied me in elementary school held her presentation "My favourite book" about it. The gist of her summary was: "This is a funny book about a girl who likes to pull pranks on everybody". Safe to say, she was not a kindred spirit.

This was in the late nineties, where the only way to buy books was to go to a bookshop and browse the shelves. Somehow, the only place in Germany where L.M. Montgomery seemed to sell were North-Sea holiday resorts. Probably because of the maritime setting. You can even tell by the covers that these books were supposed to be bought by seaside-tourists. Anyway, my mother bought three volumes on a holiday at the North Sea, containing everything up to Anne of Ingleside.

Until around 2000, the "whole series" in Germany consisted of three volumes containing two novels each. Some time in the 80s, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island and Anne of Ingleside also had covers of their own, but they've become rarities. In only own Anne of Avonlea as a single volume. For some odd reason this is yet another cover than the "official" one.

It took me years to really grow fond of the books. The first one I associated with my enemy from school. But at least I could relate to imagining things with your friend (yes, I had friends too). The others scared and confused me. I didn't want to leave home as a teenager to go to college and be a teacher before I was twenty! And I wasn't used to books in which people died. 😥

I think it was an airing of the Animé adaptation on television that made me read the series again at around 16. It became one of my favourite works of fiction. I love books which depict everyday life, making it interesting without overdramatizing. It's something I also try to do in my stories. In this context: Matthew McCarric is partly named after Matthew Cuthbert.

Until I was around 18 I thought Anne of Ingleside was the end of the series. Then, in another bookshop (this time in Munich), I stumbled upon the one called "Anne&Rilla", which is Rilla of Ingleside. It's a very rare experience to find that an author who's known to have died decades ago just publishes a sequel! And since Anne of Ingleside was actually written after Rilla of Ingleside, it was amazing to see that all the hints in it actually led somewhere! I'd never have thought I'd actually meet Monday the Dog! Also it was the first book I read that emotionalized World War I. I only knew books about World War II, usually written long afterwards with a didactic intention. Nothing wrong with that of course, but it sparked my interest in contemporary literature about the World Wars.

The German subtitle "Zum ersten Mal verliebt" ("In love for the first time") is of course one of the worst title translations I've ever seen, surpassing even the other two. Yes, they had already used the classic "Fateful Years", but couldn't they at least have put something with "hard times"? Also note that the sub-subtitle promises two novels in one volume.

Then I wanted to read the Emily books. They had also been published as North-Sea holiday-books, but were even rarer to find. I had bought and read the third on another North-Sea-holiday, but I couldn't warm up to characters who had a history I didn't know. The first one has been out of print for so long that it's quite expensive as a collectible. So I used this new thing, The Internet, and bought it in English. It was a mind-blowing experience and I was like "Never ever will I go back to those dated sentimental translations!" In fact I only keep the German editions because of their covers. They may sometimes forget it's set in the 1900s, but I still think they're pretty.

So I went online again and ordered the Anne and Emily books in English. It was then that I discovered, there was another book of the Anne-Series, I hadn't known about. This was in 2010, and Rainbow Valley was never translated into German until 2013. It's rare to find a sequel written by a dead author, but this is the only case where it happened to me twice.

Now, remember the German Paperbacks always contained two volumes. To disguise the fact that Rainbow Valley was missing, Rilla of Ingleside had been chopped in half, and has actually been sold as two separate novels in the past. I later bought one of these in a library jumble-sale, just as a curiosity. I've also come to appreciate that English publishers don't waste our space in the shelves. The blue book has half the content of the purple and is nearly twice its size!

By the way, the Emily series did not get chopped apart, but you can see the red label on the back of "Emily in Blair Water", which passes it off as a double volume.

I had already noticed that the German translations were strongly sentimental, but what's worse, they're also incomplete. Anne of Green Gables and of Avonlea are all right, but the lady who took over then (some time in the 1980s) had her own ideas. There were several scenes cut, for what I can only guess was considered inappropriate content. Among other things, all references to men wearing female hats or other female clothing were removed (of which there are surprisingly many). What's worse, the translator even added some dialogues of her own, usually in romantic scenes, to make them more kitschy.

There have been some signs of improvement in recent years. Rainbow Valley was finally translated in 2013. There are also new translations of the first two books, which I'm reading at the moment as a e-books. I like that it's fun and modern, but sometimes so eager to write something new, that it's not exactly the meaning of the English text any more. But I'm sure readers who happen not to have studied History and English won't mind. I guess it will be some more decades until the copyright expires for the volumes which really need a retranslation.

Well, and then I became an art historian, specializing in ceiling painting and book history. If you really want to know a book, read it in several editions. You'll be surprised about the things you'll find!

#book blog intermission #nonsims

[gogandmagog]

If you had L.M. Montgomery as a pen pal and were able to have her expound on or clarify (3) Anne events or plotholes what would you choose?

(ESL so I’m apologizing if the format of this question is poor.)

No waaay, the format of this question is actually perfection and so's your English! And the question itself, too. Do you know that you’re one of my most elusive LMM mutuals? I have hardly any clues about your viewpoints… and I’d love nothing better than to be able to hand you a mic, and sit down tailor-style in front of you, while you shared your takeaways. (All this to say that I’m returning this very question to you, in your own ask-box, the very next moment after I press ‘post’ here!)

1.) About the aftermath of Walter’s ‘going away.’ Especially, was there any kind of memorial or funeral? Can the narrative catch Una up in its grasp at that moment, if there was? Montgomery communicates grief with such harrowing candour after both Matthew and Joy’s deaths (even Ruby's!)... we get these really saudade and wrenching passages that will never go stale against the readers feelings because each time they bring you to burn with the intimacy of fresh sorrow... but then here comes ‘Rilla of Ingleside,’ and we only get mild surface knowledge of Anne’s long emotional convalescence or one-line mentions of Rilla’s initial shock and her own bitter nightly weeping. The whole thing almost feels like a deferred action to me, comparatively. I don't really like books that consistently spoon-feed you tragedy because I find they typically start insisting upon themselves, but I could have used a little more detail in this particular instance. But maybe I just wish for more Walter, always!    2.) I’d grin soooo stupidly if we could get Shirley’s birth year sorted — his whole entire timeline set out in a clear and linear fashion, really. If we could also hear more about his life (before, during and after the war), I’d be riveted, I’m sure. Where Andrew Stuart has his epic on the life of Methuslela that he dreams of writing, I have my own Shirley (+Mi’kmaq girl) Blyography to dream of writing in a really white whale sort of way.

3.) Hey, and you know what? One small inconsistent thing that has always bugged me, that I’ve just now remembered, thanks to this ask... in the chapter ‘Dawn and Dusk’ in House of Dreams, we’re told that Phil, with her big golden heart, wrote Anne a congratulatory letter as she’d heard of Joy’s birth... but not of her death. But this is puzzling to me, because... exactly who would've told Phil that Joy had been born, but not that she’d passed? This chapter is titled ‘Dawn and Dusk’ because the wee white lady lives only from morning to evening. Anyone that knew of Joy’s birth, knew also of her death. Certainly, Anne wasn’t writing far-reaching announcement letters in those very short hours of gladness she was given. Gilbert knew from the first that Joy could not live the day out, so we can fairly rule him out, too. Susan and Marilla are further impossibilities, as they were made aware of the looming sorrow almost just as soon as they were aware of Joy’s arrival. The only others at the House of Dreams at that time were Doctor Dave and a nurse. It'd be absurd if it was them. So…?

#thaaaanks for this

[theladyragnell]

1, 2, 6 ,8 for the book asks!

How many books did you read this year?

A whopping 165! Might be 166 by the end of tomorrow depending on how much I read vs. how much time I end up spending trying to finish a fic to post before the end of tomorrow.

Did you reread anything? What?

Yes! I love rereading. I reread the whole Murderbot series by Martha Wells, a bunch of Tortall by Tamora Pierce, The Devotion of Delflenor by R. Cooper, a few classics (Sense & Sensibility, Rilla of Ingleside, The Box-Car Children), In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan, and a few romances.

Weirdly, there are a few every-year rereads for me that I don't think I did this year! I'll have to read The Goblin Emperor and some Eva Ibbotson pretty early into 2024. (I could SWEAR I read The Goblin Emperor last winter, though. Maybe I forgot to write it down???)

Was there anything you meant to read, but never got to?

Oh, absolutely. I did a really bad job of reading the books on my shelves particularly over the last few months, and as a result, I have something like 30 unread books in my possession. And I fully respect people who can have shelves upon shelves of unread books waiting for the right mood or a rainy day! But I get antsy when I'm over 20, so it's less that there's one specific book I wanted to read but didn't get to, and more that I bought too many books and need to spend several months Not Doing That.

Did you meet any of your reading goals? Which ones?

Yes! I finished the book bingo I participated in, by which I mean I got a blackout on my card, which was way harder than I thought it would be, so I feel really accomplished about that.

My other major goal was to read less and savor more, but I really didn't do that one. I mean, technically I think last year I read 167 books so I'll come in juuuuust south of that, but it really doesn't make much difference at that point. So I failed at the savoring!

But at least I succeeded at the bingo!

#anonymous #answered asks

[mzannthropy]

🎄🎄🎄Merry Maudmas 🎄🎄🎄

🎄🎄🎄Bonus🎄🎄🎄

I've covered all the Christmas short stories, but how about Christmas scenes in the novels? I probably forget many, but the ones that come to mind most are:

Matthew Insists on Puffed Sleeves - Anne of Green Gables

A chapter so significant, that Anne remembers it as one of the moments that brough tears of joy into her eyes. Poor Matthew, going to the store to buy a dress for Anne! He did the right thing in asking Mrs Lynde, and I like how Mrs Lynde agreed immediately. Fashion might seem as something frivolous, but clothes are important. As Mrs Lynde says about Marilla in her inner monologue: "I suppose she's trying to cultivate a spirit of humility in Anne by dressing her as she does: but it's more likely to cultivate envy and discontent."

Anne inviting Katherine Brooke to Green Gables for Christmas holidays - Anne of Windy Poplars

Green Gables is the magical place where even the most cynical person will get their transformation! I'm glad that Katherine got a chance to live the life she deserved. She was of similar age to Valancy as well.

The War Christmases - Rilla of Ingleside

So these are obviously sad, but interesting to read about. In 1914, Susan sets a place at the table for Jem, but she doesn't do so again--by Christmas 1915, Walter has joined up too. The 1916 one is the most memorable, for being the first Christmas after Walter's death, and little Jims's sickness. Mary Vance plays the role of a Christmas angel in this episode. Good job that Abbie Flagg got on her nerves so much she had to leave and make her way to Ingleside!

So these are the ones that sticks to mind most. I suppose I could include Valancy and Barney's first Christmas together too. And Jane would have the best Christmas post-canon, with her parents reunited.

#l.m. montgomery #christmas #merry maudmas #lmmblogging #mypost

[batrachised]

Tell me all about your love of L.M. Montgomery!

i could MARRY you for asking me this question

it's honestly difficult to nail it down to one reason--at its heart, I simply love slice of life novels, but if I had to list things I loved about LM Montgomery, it would be (1) a remarkable sense for characterization (2) a sly sense of humor and, (3) an overarching theme of recognizing the beauty in everyday things and everyday living.

Starting with (1) [and yes, I'm blatantly using this as an excuse to write a full essay], we all know Anne and Marilla and Gilbert, but LM Montgomery's ability to create a lived in character within a few sentences is incredible to me. Within a few throwaway words, she'll establish a realistic character with motivations, values, and a back story. She often does this to add perspective to the main character--for example, when Jane from Jane of Lantern Hill travels to meet her father for the first time, her companion thinks how she had never met such a dull child. This gives us insight into Jane, but it also gives us insight into Jane's world and the people who inhabit it. A better example would be one of the statements from Mrs. Lynde or Miss Cornelia--a lot of times, a single line of theirs will sum a drama that, just like with Jane's companion, fleshes out the world that our heroines live in quite effectively. For example, my absolute favorite moment of this is the following line of Miss Cornelia's from Anne's House of Dreams:

"He was one of those wicked, fascinating men. After he got married, he left off being fascinating and just kept on being wicked. "

Within those two sentences, you learn everything you need to know about Fred Proctor and his family. You know what his wife valued, how he romanced his wife, why she married him, and how it ended up. There's also just the general paragraphs that tell anecdotes from the village life. Like in Anne of Ingleside when Anne is hosting a party at Ingleside and poor child Walter doesn't understand:

""Did you hear what happened to Big Jim MacAllister last Saturday night in Milt Cooper's store at the Harbour Head?" asked Mrs. Simon, thinking it time somebody introduced a more cheerful topic than ghosts and jiltings. "He had got into the habit of setting on the stove all summer. But Saturday night was cold and Milt had lit a fire. So when poor Big Jim sat down...well, he scorched his..."

Mrs. Simon would not say what he had scorched but she patted a portion of her anatomy silently.

"His bottom," said Walter gravely, poking his head through the creeper screen. He honestly thought that Mrs. Simon could not remember the right word.

An appalled silence descended on the quilters. Had Walter Blythe been there all the time?"

Even beyond the side characters seeming very real, the main heroines are girls/women who seem like real people to me. LM Montgomery's women are flawed. They get angry, make mistakes, can be flibbertigibbets, brood over silly things, have their head in the clouds, allow themselves to be run over instead of standing up for themselves--but also--and this is what I really love--they grow. This is best seen in Rilla (something I've talked about before), but it also applies writ large. The men are also usually likeable--I say usual because in a few of the lesser known books, they can irritate me (*cough cough teddy and emily*), but Gilbert Blythe is the ideal man, and Barney Snaith is too, and Andrew Stuart is a heartwarmingly loving father. They have flaws too--short in temper and too blunt for example--but once again, it just makes them all the more likeable. Walter Blythe is also a great example here, but that's deserving of its post because his situation is more complex (I will never forget how he wrote that he was glad he would die in WWI because he didn't want to live in the world after the horrors he'd seen).

Lastly, and very importantly--LM Montgomery's characters are different. They're distinct from each other. It's not the same generic woman copy and pasted into different books. Marilla is very different from Anne, who is very different from Jane, who is very different from Rilla. Admittedly, Emily and Anne and I'll just throw Pat in there get to be more similar, but it's not to the point where I'd fault anyone for it. Each of those woman has their own voice, which is just a treasure trove for me.

Okay, (2)-- the sense of humor. The passages I've already shared do an excellent job demonstrating this, but LM Montgomery does a fantastic job of slyly (but usually not meanly!) making fun of people and their quirks. See Jane as she leads the escaped lion through the neighborhood--each of the reactions are hilarious, and also a callback to the earlier point of a well fleshed out character in just a few words. Beyond the amused commentary on human nature, she also just has really funny situations. My favorite short story of hers is where a spinster woman who notoriously hates men and dogs but loves cats, and a man who notoriously hates women and cats but loves dogs have to quarantine together and end up falling in love. It's ridiculous (and to be blunt, definitely sexist in some ways) but hilarious, and it also gave us this amazing quote: "The more I saw of men, the more I liked cats." Back to point 1, I also love how the spinster woman, while extremely practical and sufficient, is terrified of teaching a child Anne Shirley in Sunday School because the questions that child asks! An interesting wrinkle to have a character we're supposed to root for be intimidated by a character we also love.

LM Montgomery poking fun at humans leads me to the last point, (3)--she's not afraid to celebrate the little joys of life. The best example of this is Anne's famous quote about being so happy to live in a world with Octobers in it. It makes her writing warm, and cozy, and more than that--hopeful, even when she deals with darker storylines like WWI. I know LM Montgomery gets accused of being saccharine, and it's fair--she does have long passages describing the glories of sunshine haha--but she doesn't shy away from the darker elements of life. It's only implied in Anne, with her orphan backstory, but it's more explicitly stated in her later books, probably best in Rilla and The Blue Castle. There are characters who were neglected and abused; characters who have sex outside marriage in scandals; characters who are deeply depressed; characters who miss out on their happy ending; characters who are just plain narcissists (looking at you, Jane's Grandmother); characters who have miscarriages; characters who are literally groomed (see Emily and Dean, although LM Montgomery doesn't critically examine it). I don't really give much credence to the claims of being saccharine beyond a few books, because the grittiness is there if you look for it, and often times it's in a form that's all too real to life. Sure, everything gets wrapped up a happily ever after bow at the end the vast majority of the time, but that's just the genre haha. LM Montgomery tells the stories of characters who experience things most of us do in our everyday life, both the joys and sorrows, and it's enough. It doesn't need to be anything more. It recognizes the quiet dignity and joy in everyday living, and I love, love, love when stories do that. It's a refreshing response in a world in which a lot media that can either be boomingly fast paced or boringly cynical.

anyway, thanks again for your question and letting me ramble to my heart's content (you're talking to someone who just wrote a nearly 30k word fanfic based on Jane of Lantern hill), i could literally write a thesis on my love for LM mongtomery lmao

#i need to reread magic for marigold too #also a tangled web #there are so many books lol #lm montgomery #anne of green gables #anne shirley #the blue castle #rilla of ingleside

[booklovershouse]

Oiii, booklovers!

Que livros únicos são maravilhosos, todo mundo já sabe, mas as sagas? Dão a sensação de que você está vivendo com os personagens, se mudou para a casa, trabalho, escola deles e simplesmente passou a existir lá! É como se você fizesse (ainda mais) parte da história.

Por esse motivo, eu AMO duologias, trilogias e até as sagas estilo "esquema de pirâmide", que você acha que só tem um livro e na verdade são mais de dez 🤡🫶🏻✨ ent, hj o post será dedicado à elas!

• Mais de três livros

🧡| Anne - Lucy Maud Montgomery

São 8 livros e 5 extras e vc pode encontrar eles nas feirinhas de livros do shopping (os extras é um pouco mais improvável). Acho que tem na Biblion tbm, mas li físico.

Suponho que vcs lembrem minha opinião sobre essa saga. Caso não, acho uma chatice até Anne na Casa dos Sonhos (especialmente Anne de Windy Polars) e depois levei um tombo em Rilla de Ingleside.

E, para os "desavisados" que acham que os livros têm alguma coisa a ver com a série da Netflix, já aviso que a única coisa que permanece são os nomes e personalidades de alguns personagens (pq outros nem existem).

Mas, se vc pretende acompanhar uma """biografia""" da Anne desde a infância até o crescimento dos filhos dela, leia e seja feliz.

⚠️ Aviso de uma leitora arrependida: não compre a saga inteira, por mais econômico que pareça. Leia o primeiro e depois decida se quer ler o resto.

🧡| Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (+10)

São 8 livros na edição da Principis que é a mais baratinha e vc encontra facilmente por aí, até nas feirinhas de livros do shopping e na Biblion. Não tem ordem específica, mas comece por Um Estudo em Vermelho.

Pra quem gosta de mistérios, ter 8 livros para acompanhar as aventuras do detetive mais famoso do mundo parece até pouca coisa.

Como eu disse na "descrição", sugiro começar por Um Estudo em Vermelho, que é o começo (quando o Watson e o Sherlock se conhecem), apesar de não ser um dos melhores, na minha humilde opinião. Depois disso, você lê na ordem que quiser pq não vai fazer tanta diferença. Eu, por exemplo, li dois dos livros, então os 56 contos de uma vez e aí os outros dois livros, terminando com O Cão dos Baskerville, meu xodó.

🧡| Crônicas Lunares - Marissa Meyer (+14)

São 4 livros (Cinder, Scarlet, Cress e Winter) e mais dois extras (Stars Above e Levana). Esse daqui vc n encontra no shopping, mas tem na Biblion kkkkk

E qm ama releituras de contos de fadas mas tbm curte ficção científica vai AMAR as Crônicas Lunares!

Como disse na "descrição", o primeiro é Cinder, que conta a história da melhor mecânica de Nova Pequim: Cinder, uma garota ciborgue de 16 anos, que recebe uma visita inesperada em sua loja ~ dizer quem é não é spoiler, até pq levando a história da Cinderela em conta fica bem óbvio, mas não vou tirar a magia da coisa.

🧡| Minha Vida Fora de Série - Paula Pimenta (+12)

São 5 livros (todos intitulados de MVFS, vc sabe a ordem pela temporada) e com o sexto a caminho!

Meu preferidinho, dono do meu coração e lar do meu crush literário supremo!

No primeiro volume (que inclusive é oq tem classificação +12), conhecemos a Priscila que tem 13 anos e acabou de se mudar para BH com a mãe. Além de lidar com o divórcio dos pais, a mudança de estado, a falta de seus bichinhos e suas novas amizades, agora também terá que encarar um novo amor.

• Trilogias

🧡| Amor & Livros - Jenna Evans Welch (+12/+13)

A ordem não importa muito, mas recomendo ler primeiro Amor & Gelato, depois Amor & Sorte e, por fim, Amor & Azeitonas.

Entre um passeio por Verona, Irlanda ou Grécia, qual você escolheria?

Acho que Amor&Azeitonas foi o único que não resenhei por aqui - achei legal, mas o pessoal faz parecer que ele é incrível e revolucionário -, mas eles são meio "independentes". As protagonistas até se conhecem mas não se encontram e é mais sobre a viagem/cenários, auto descoberta e romance msm. Tem uma vibe bem "Sessão da Tarde".

🧡| Renegados - Marissa Meyer (+14)

Primeiro, Renegados, depois Arqui-Inimigos e então, Supernova. Tbm tem na Biblion, pra qm quiser :)

Já notou que essas indicações tão sendo bem "para todos os gostos"? Kkkkkkk sair da minha zona de conforto literária facilita a vida de vcs tbm 🙃

Pra qm gosta de heróis e vilões, isso aqui é PERFEITO pra vc!

Nessa trilogia da Marissa Meyer, somos apresentados a um mundo cheio de reviravoltas onde ou você é um vilão ou um herói. E Nova Artino é uma vilã que quer acabar com os Renegados por não terem aparecido pra ela quando precisou.

Mas (talvez) um jovem renegado a faça mudar de ideia.

• Duologias

🧡| Pollyanna - Eleanor H. Potter (+10)

Pollyanna e Pollyanna Moça - vc tbm encontra eles facilmente nas feirinhas de livros do shopping e tbm é baratinho .

Pollyanna é uma garotinha loira que contagia a todos com sua alegria e o "Jogo do Contente", que foi ensinado a ela por seu falecido pai. Entretanto, sua tia Polly (com quem mora, já que é órfã) não parece muito animada com a presença da criança.

🧡| Alice - Lewis Carroll (+10)

Alice no País das Maravilhas e Alice Através do Espelho. N sei se tem no shopping, mas é bem provável e tem na Biblion tbm.

Aquela história clássica que todo mundo conhece: Alice cai na toca do coelho e vai parar no País das Maravilhas, um lugar bem maluco cheio de criaturas estranhas que até hoje vivem na nossa imaginação.

Enfim gnt, é isso, o post de hj ficou quilométrico kkkkkkk

Bjs e boas leituras <333

#livros #leitura #livrosderomance #books & libraries #leitores #books #books and reading #livros nacionais #paula pimenta

[alwayschasingrainbows]

Tangled Web Readalong Chapter 1.7.

another long post, so sorry about it, but I have so many thoughts about one, incredibly short paragraph...:

"Peter, being notoriously and incurably left-handed, had not been accepted for overseas service." (Tangled Web).

It appears that Peter Penhallow did not fight on the front lines of World War I. Didn't he enlist in the infantry after being rejected for overseas service? Was he unable to take part in the fight because he was left-handed? I haven't heard about such cases of exclusion from combat, but maybe one of you has such knowledge?

By the way, in this novel World War I is presented in a very negative light, which is surprising in Montgomery's novels. You can see how much her bitterness has grown over the years. In Rilla of Ingleside, the war is presented as a fight for a better world: bloody, yes, but glorious nonetheless. The soldiers returned wounded and aged, but in the glow of the glory of sacrifice for a better cause.

In Tangled Web, however, we see a completely different face of war: Naomi's husband does not recognize her and does not love her as before; Donna and Virginia lose their husbands, and their grief is shown in a mocking way; one of the men dies of pneumonia before he even has a chance to leave a training camp; the other experiences a "moment of glory", but it is described ironically and without due respect.

It seems to me that Montgomery no longer believes in fighting for a better world.

In Rilla, war is presented as consuming many lives, tragic, but in a way also... glorious and not without meaning. Pacifists are portrayed as ridiculous and harmful.

In Tangled Web, however, so far none of the main characters has commented on the war as a "great victory" or "a glorious fight for the homeland." In fact, it seems that none of the characters whose adventures we have seen so far took part in it (aside from Naomi's husband).

We know absolutely nothing about Hugh's reasons not to join (or did he?). Peter did not- although given his temperament and adventurous spirit he ought to have been the first to enlist. Left-handedness seems like Maud's hastily concocted explanation. Maybe Maud believed that war robs people of everything - including their energy and love for living on the edge? Maybe she didn't want Peter to stop being Peter?

I wonder how the war might affect the characters in other of Montgomery's books. Would Barney be able to love forests and write books about them if he had to fight for survival for four years? Would Teddy be able to paint if he had to come face to face with another man - perhaps a writer, a doctor, a father - and had to choose between his life and that man's? Or Walter, with his love of beauty - would he have been able to write poetry if he had survived?

One might say that Andrew Stuart continued to live, got married and started a family. True. But he himself claimed that the war aged him ten years. We don't know the trauma he underwent. Perhaps his too quick marriage to Robin, his inability to be a good husband to his young wife and a good father to his newborn baby was the result of war trauma? Who knows what was left of Andrew-of-the-years-before in Andrew who returned in 1918?

In her later novels, I think Maud doesn't specifically mention the war in relation to her characters (except Andrew). She even creates worlds in which there is no mention of war… Emily's Quest's ending, for example never mentions the war even though it should have happened there, especially as something about the war is mentioned in Emily Climbs: "one stormy night in a February of the olden years before the world turned upside down."

Similarly, there is no mention of the war in The Blue Castle (IWW) or Mistress Pat (IIWW) - at least as far as I remember - if I am mistaken, please correct me :).

I find it so interesting how Maud's change of heart is portrayed in her novels.

#lm montgomery #blue castle book club #the blue castle #lantern hill book club #lantern hill spoilers #emily of new moon #rilla of ingleside #tangled web #tangled web book club #blue castle spoilers

[bookloure]

January 2024 Wrap-Up✨

This month has been loooong! I finished five books, and here they are, from my most to least favorite:

5⭐ Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (post-apocalyptic)

4.5⭐ Manansala by Enrique Villasis (poetry collection) Rilla of Ingleside by LM Montgomery (classics)

3⭐ A Man and His Cat, Vol. 1 by Umi Sakurai (manga)

2.75⭐ Goodnight Punpun, Vol. 1 by Inio Asano (manga)

One of my goals for this year is to limit the books I read to one per week. And I'm abandoning that goal this early. I just loooove the feeling of having lots of books on the go and not being conscious of how many books I finish in a week. This limiting of myself just made me a tad bit sad. So that goal has to go lol.

I share more of what I read on Instagram!

#book review #bookblr #booklr

[ickle-ronnie]

Rilla of Ingleside *SPOILERS!!!* 

Your sign to read the books.

Rilla of Ingleside MESSY appreciation post

This book was perfect. The amount of emotions I felt while reading it. It made me laugh and it made me cry. I never thought that an Anne of green gables related book would ever make me cry this much but it did.

The humor was on point. I was literally shaking with laughter at some points. Susan MY QUEEN chasing whiskers on the moon for proposing to her with an iron pot is my DREAM. Susan thinking that Rilla just got a husband out of nowhere. Anne thinking "Who would want to marry this baby" 💀 AND SO MANY MORE. I also love the little shirbert things.

After *SPOILER!!!* Walter's death I literally had to go hide in the washroom to weep. Another one of my book boyfriends is dead. Walter is by favourite Blythe child.

This book describes the feeling of the women who had to stay and wait while the men fought in wars perfectly. I mean I wasn't there but um yeah 🧍‍♀️

Rilla was such a relatable character. When I read about her hating babies I said FINALLY! And her screaming in the theatre? Me written all over it. Her wanting beaux and getting scared after 2. We've all been there. Her crying after rejecting that other guy (I have a terrible memory). This is so me and I have a story to prove it.

ANYWAYS THIS IS YOUR SIGN TO READ THE BOOKS!! YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT.

#anne with an e #awae #renew anne with an e #rilla of ingleside #walter blythe #marilla cuthbert #rilla blythe #shirbert #diana barry #anne shirley #awae fanart

[mihrsuri]

Possible Idea I Had For Thesis: Rilla of Ingleside and other just post WWI childrens lit as a look at the way society depicts war for children.

#lil and her boring life #actually the main one was around childrens toys pre and post WWI #also idek if wording right #but that was the general idea #(it would have been for history)