My Ultimate Guide to L.M. Montgomery

I’ve waxed poetic about Louisa May Alcott, Jane Austen, and Maud Hart Lovelace. These are the literary women I am daily inspired by, the ones who have written books that have shaped me. We all have favorite authors, people whose books never fail to excite, who we’ll pick up any scribble they wrote from shopping lists to epic poems.
  
​ Though Alcott is my favorite author, there is another who comes close, she may even be the true favorite, the jury is still out. 

Where with Alcott I tend to stick to her canon of 8 children's novels, there is one writer who I will gobble up anything she has ever penned.
    
It’s crazy to me that it’s taken so long to write a blog post dedicated to her. I’ve talked about her books many times before, but never all of them. It’s quite the shame that the puffed sleeves, myriad of miscellaneous orphans, and the red dirt of Prince Edward Island haven’t gotten more attention on the blog. 
    
But today my friend, that changes. Because today I would like to introduce, or reintroduce you to one of my favorite authors, L. M. Montgomery.
    
I’m sure the name is familiar to most of you, and that’s a good thing! Her novel Anne of Green Gables is one book that every person with a pulse should read.
    
Whether you’re new to Montgomery or are die hard fan like me, I hope this blog post will give you some insight into the writings of L.M. Montgomery, her books, and, for those of you who already are in the fandom, some other things to read, watch and pretty books to buy.

​Who Was L.M. Montgomery?

Lucy Maud Montgomery was born in 1874 in Prince Edward Island Canada.  Though the world at large knows her by the name L.M. Montgomery, to friends and family, she was Maud, so that’s how I’ll refer to her in this blog post.
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She lived a life similar to many authors, slightly troubled. She grew up on the Island being cared for by her grandparents as her father worked on the mainland and her mother passed away not long after Maud was born.
    
Her childhood wasn’t the happiest situationally, but she loved her island dearly and was therefore able to keep a positive outlook on life (though later on she dealt with severe depression.)
    
Her career was made up of teaching and writing. Her first novel, Anne of Green Gables was published in 1908 and was met with much success. Mark Twain pronounced Anne “the dearest and most moving and delightful child since the immortal Alice”, and the book still boasts legions of fans (including Duchess Kate.)
    
​Maud’s love life was a bit complicated at the beginning, she was unhappily engaged to her third cousin and also had a romance with a farmer's son. But eventually she settled down with the Presbyterian minister Ewan MacDonald.

She was a prolific writer, and very famous during her lifetime publishing 20 novels, and hundreds of short stories and poems. 
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Maud is known for her beautiful descriptions and imagery, sometimes this part of her writing style can be a bit daunting, but the more you read, the more you’ll fall in love with it. She is a legend on Prince Edward Island, the place that 18 and a half of her novels are a love letter to. Reading her books is the cheapest way to travel to this Canadian Maritime Province.

Why I Love L.M. Montgomery

When I pick favorite books, those books need to be books that have impacted my life in some way shape or form. My family listened to the audio books of Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea when I was quite young, and I remember not really loving them. 
    
​But I have a vivid memory of being assigned Anne of the Island for school. I was so invested in the novel that I sat in my parents bed reading it for an hour or so until my mom came in wondering where I had gone off to. Little did she know I was at Redmond College with Anne Shirley ;).

I spent a lot of time away from Maud’s writing because quite honestly, feminine classics weren’t my taste. But as I started to get back into classics, I asked for the Puffin in Bloom classics collection, and the first one I re-read was Anne of Green Gables. 
    
This is another vivid memory of mine. I made a cup of fruity white tea, and I sat on the couch to start reading this book. And it changed how I’ve lived ever since. 
    
Anne taught me to look up instead of down. To revel in creation, to love life, to become a sister and a friend to everything and everyone. God has a way of using strange things, and in my life he used this little book.  

​A short time after reading the entire Anne series, I wrote this, 
    
“The worst came. So then I made a date with Anne. We met like new acquaintances. I was open and hurting, and Anne, well Anne taught me. She taught me how in the hardest times there is still beauty and comfort even if it’s only in a poetic phrase or the face of a flower. Together we learned that tempers can and must be tamed; that imaginations are wonderful things but we must use them with caution. Anne and I learned about forgiveness and friendship. Anne had Diana, but I had Anne.”
    
Of course, that is a bit of a dramatic piece of literature on my part, but I believe that it shows a little of what I learned from these books. 
    
Since then, Maud’s books have become my safe place. I always find myself feeling so happy when I’m in the middle of one of her stories, and it is my wish that you would be able to experience that as well.

​How To Start Reading L.M. Montgomery

As I said before, Maud wrote 20 novels. Within that she wrote one series of 8 books, a trilogy, two duologies, and five standalones. I have read sixteen out of 20 of her books, and will do my very best to give you a guide to them.

​The Anne Books

The Anne books are Maud’s best known books, and my personal favorites. There are eight books in the series and the series spans Anne’s childhood to middle age. The first six were published chronologically, then later on Maud added two more novels to the canon (in addition to these there is a poetry/short story collection that technically falls at the end of the series, but many fans ignore its existence. I have yet to read it.)
    
Even though publication order is a bit all over the place, read the books in chronological order, things will make the most sense and have the most impact this way. 
    
​If you haven’t read Maud before, I recommend starting with the Anne series. It’s about a young orphan girl named Anne Shirley who is sent to a set of middle-age siblings looking for a boy to help on their farm. Instead they get Anne, an overly imaginative spitfire redhead.

1. Anne of Green Gables
This book cover’s the aforementioned plot of a little girl getting adopted by a pair of siblings. But it's so much more than that. It’s a coming of age story filled with laughter, friendship, old fashioned sensibilities and puffed sleeves. If you are going to read one novel by L.M. Montgomery, read this one. The beginning can be a bit hard to get into, there are a lot of very long sentences and a little main character who likes to rattle on, but trust me, it’s worth it and gets better.

  2. Anne of Avonlea
This novel starts when Anne is sixteen and a new teacher. It’s a slower novel without much of a plot, but this is where Maud’s genius lies. She creates such a peaceful and beautiful image of Anne’s life, that you can’t help but savor it.

3. Anne of The Island
Many fans I know say this book is their favorite in the series. It’s the most romantic of all the Anne books, and follows her as she studies at Redmond College. It’s very very cozy, funny, sweet, and full of charm, plus the side characters are some of my favorites (Phillipa Gordon is iconic).  I have to agree with the legions of fans, this is one of the best.

4. Anne of Windy Poplars
This book is one of the ones that was written later on. It fills in three years of Anne’s life as she teaches at a large school in the town of Windy Poplars. It’s epistolary, mainly written in letters to her fiance, and though it isn’t my favorite, it is still very good, and it’s the only novel that actually comes from Anne’s point of view.

5. Anne’s House of Dreams
The house of dreams is a theme we see throughout the earlier Anne books, and in this one, Anne finally gets hers. The novel opens with Anne’s lovely wedding, and the rest of the book covers her adventures and misadventures as a young wife living in a new town, meeting new people, and solving a mystery. This book may sound dull, but trust me, it’s anything but boring

6. Anne of Ingelside
I’m going to say it, this is my least favorite of all the books in the series. The last book written, we get a glimpse into Anne’s early motherhood. This book is about her children, but it’s also about her as she deals with love's first delight fading and the stresses of motherhood. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still good, but there are better ones to come.

7. Rainbow Valley
Unpopular opinion, this is the best book in the series. It’s primarily about Anne’s children and their neighbors the Meredith's (who are pastors kids). They get into so many scrapes, but this book is stunningly beautiful. There is gentle romance, deep friendships, and the sound of children’s laughter floating through the glen. Also, the foreshadowing in this book is haunting.

8. Rilla of Ingleside
This book is the least Anne centric book of the series. World War one has just begun, and it chronicles what life is like for Rilla, the youngest of Anne’s children, to come of age during it all. 
 
​It’s the darkest book in the series, but yet, the beauty and the hope still shine through. This book could technically be read as a standalone, but it’s the perfect little finisher for the series.
    
​It also is a historically significant book, if you want to know more about that, I made a short video on it that you can see here.

Maud's Other Books and Which Ones Are The Best In My Humble Opinion

Obviously, Maud wrote many books, here are my favorites in order. Hopefully this helps you find a new read.

Jane of Lantern Hill 
    
​This book, like most of Maud’s books, is stunning. It’s about Jane, a young girl who doesn't know her father. But suddenly, he sends her to spend the summer with him on Prince Edward Island. It’s a beautiful book about a father and a daughter living a cozy summer together. I love it so so much.

The Story Girl and The Golden Road
    
​These books are a duology. They are told from the point of view of Beverly King, a boy in the books, who narrates the story as a grown man. He recounts his and his cousins adventures when they were children, and more than anything, he records his cousin Sara’s stories. She has a natural gift for storytelling and Bev has a gift for writing them down. It’s hard to really say what these books are about, but just take my word for it that they are so good. 

Pat of Silverbush and Mistress Pat
    
​Maud’s other duology is about a girl named Pat who lives with her family on a farm called Silverbush. Pat has a very deep connection to her home and loves it like a person, often to her own detriment. But when she makes friends with a local boy named Jingle, she starts realizing how wonderful people are too. The first book focuses more on Pat and Jingle’s escapades and the sequel is about Pat’s romances and how her love for keeping up her house gets in the way of that. I think the sequel is better than the first.

The Emily Trilogy (Emily of New Moon, Emily Climbs, and Emily’s Quest)

​There is a lot to love about this series, and also a lot that confuses me. It’s about recently orphaned Emily Starr who goes to live with her cousins. Emily has a burning passion to be a writer and that’s a huge focus of her story. The books follow her and her best friends Ilse, Teddy, and Perry from childhood to young adulthood. I do like these books, but some things about them just don't sit right with me. There is a weird sense of magical realism in each of them that never made much sense, and also an age gap romance that I found very annoying. Don’t let this scare you away though, these books still are fantastic and have legions of fans.

Of books I have not read, there are Kilemny of the Orchard, Magic for Marigold, The Blue Castle, and A Tangled Web. I am planning on tackling a few of them this summer. Let me know if you’ve read any!

In addition to all of the novels, I would also highly recommend you check out Maud’s short story collections. Especially if you’ve already read most of her cannon. A great place to start with these are Chronicles of Avonlea and Further Chronicles of Avonlea which reference and feature some dear characters from the Anne series. Another favorite collection is Christmas With Anne which has Christmas short stories and selections from the Anne books that pertain to Christmas.

​Maud also wrote a memoir about writing called The Alpine Path that I’ve heard great things about, and again, haven't yet read. She was just such a prolific writer.

​Film Adaptations

Maud’s books have been adapted many times, specifically the Anne books. ​

My personal recommendation for the best adaptation of the Anne books is the 1985 Sullivan Pictures Anne of Green Gables mini-series. The sequel simply called Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel is also quite good though it smushes three books together. I would not recommend the third mini series “The Continuing Story” as it no longer is based on the books.

A side note for those wondering, I DON'T like Anne with an E, nor do I recommend it. It doesn’t reflect Maud’s books well at all, it’s so dark and the characters have weirdly modern perspectives. But I’m open to hear if you guys like it, and if so why you like it. 

There are quite a few other adaptations, but I have yet to see them. I would love to know if you have a favorite.

Other than the Anne books, Jane of Lantern Hill was adapted by Sullivan Pictures, and Emily of New Moon has a live action series and an anime (Anne also has an anime which I have heard great things about.) I haven’t seen any of these, but of course, carry high hopes for them that I’m sure will be dashed to the ground.

​Books Inspired by L.M. Montgomery

Great authors always influence other authors, and Maud is no exception. Here are a few books based on the Anne books that I love!

Much Ado About Anne by Heather Vogel Frederick

​This is the second book in the Mother-Daughter Book-Club Series, and in it the girls are reading Anne of Green Gables. The girls are putting on a fashion show to save their friends family farm, and are, of course, getting into Anne like scrapes.

Marilla of Green Gables by Sarah McCoy
    
​This book takes place long before the Anne books. It’s about Marilla Cuthbert’s teenage years. There are sparks of romance, friendships and the novel gives us a glimpse into what may have happened to turn Marilla into the stern woman we meet in the first Anne book. It’s not quite Maud, but McCoy brings her own style to it and the writing is still very beautiful. I talk about it more in this video.

Anne Arrives (and the whole series) by Kallie George
  
​These books are a beautiful series for young readers that adapts the first Anne novel. I love the illustrations so much. Even as an older person, I think books like these are so valuable to read. And for young readers they offer a look into classic books that I think is so wonderful. I would highly recommend reading these.

Anne of Green Gables: A Graphic Novel by Mariah Marsden and Brenna Thumler
    
​Another beautiful visual interpretation of Anne. This graphic novel is an adaptation of Anne of Green Gables with many beautiful and colorful illustrations. This book would be perfect for young readers or those who have a hard time with long books. All the charm of Anne without the rambly narration.

The Landscapes of Anne of Green Gables: The Enchanting Island That Inspired L.M. Montgomery by Catherine Reid
    
This book is all about beautiful Prince Edward Island and it’s connections to Maud’s work. Beautiful photographs, quotes from the books, excerpts from Maud’s diaries, and lots of flowers make this nonfiction book as enchanting as PEI itself. 
    
​I love how the author delves into the love of gardens and nature that Maud infuses into her books, and another thing I really enjoyed about this book was how she also talked about the usage of nature in the film adaptations of Anne.

The Official Anne of Green Gables Cookbook by Kate MacDonald
  
​I love a good literary cookbook, and this is one of the best. Written by Maud’s granddaughter, in addition to getting really fun recipes based on the books, we get insight into Maud’s life in the kitchen. One of my favorite things about this book is that Kate included a few of Maud’s own recipes.

Pretty Editions

Before you go, let me tempt you with these beautiful book editions (with a few extra goodies thrown in for good measure.)

I am obsessed with this Wordsworth collector's edition of Anne. The gold, the color choice, the tiny Anne... I love everything.

I love how subtle and artistic this Harper Muse Classics edition is. It fully sums up Anne's affinity for russet apples that we read about in the book!

I love this touristy crew neck for Green Gables, I would absolutely live in this sweatshirt!

When I saw this edition, my jaw dropped. It's the novel but all of the letters, notes and ephemera from the story are in pockets throughout the book. The same curator made an edition of Little Women and it's my favorite book that I own. 

The book doesn't come out until September, but it's definitely one to pre-order or add to your wish list.

There are so many great Gilbert Blythe stickers and I need them all, but this one is adorable, I love how subtly Anne it is.

That’s all for this week! I hope you enjoyed this deep dive into one of my favorite authors. I hope I have convinced you to pick up one of her books for yourself!

What's your favorite L.M. Montgomery book? Which are you adding to your TBR? Do you have a favorite Anne adaptation? Let me know in the comments!

Belle Thomas

​Belle is the writer and dreamer behind An Old Fashioned Girl. She is passionate about reminding girls of their identity in Christ, classic books, history, Louisa May Alcott, and earl grey tea.