#aogg quote

[gilbertsannegirl]

Outside was a fine blue night. A sparkling ribbon of moonlight garlanded the gulf. Inside the bar the harbour shone like a pavement of pearl. They stood before the door and waited—Captain Jim with his ripe, full experience, Marshall Elliott in his vigorous but empty middle life, Gilbert and Anne with their precious memories and exquisite hopes, Leslie with her record of starved years and her hopeless future. The clock on the little shelf above the fireplace struck twelve.

"Welcome, New Year," said Captain Jim, bowing low as the last stroke died away. "I wish you all the best year of your lives, mates. I reckon that whatever the New Year brings us will be the best the Great Captain has for us—and somehow or other we'll all make port in a good harbour."

L. M. Montgomery (Anne’s House of Dreams, New Year’s Eve at the Light)

[batrachised]

“I don’t want any dinner, Marilla,” said Anne, sobbingly. “I couldn’t eat anything. My heart is broken. You’ll feel remorse of conscience someday, I expect, for breaking it, Marilla, but I forgive you. Remember when the time comes that I forgive you. But please don’t ask me to eat anything, especially boiled pork and greens. Boiled pork and greens are so unromantic when one is in affliction.”

-Anne of Green Gables, LM Montgomery

[skybluearia]

I don't think if many people (or anyone at all) can relate to this post, but i see that many people were fans of Harry Potter or Percy Jackson or hunger games as kids, but i was an aogg kid from the very start. I read all 8 books when i was 9 or 10, and i reread it several times over the years, everytime with a new outlook on the world and myself.

Everything about it is nostalgic to me, from the moment Anne met Matthew in the train station, to her friendship to Diana, to her holding a grudge againts Gilbert for 5 years, to her silly mistakes in the first and second book, to her finding new friends in college and Ruby's death in the third book (which was hard to take tbh), to all those letters she wrote to Gilbert in the 4th book, to her marriage and the death of her first child, her meeting captain Jim, Leslie and Miss Cornelia in the 5th book, the 6th book where her children's adventures begin; the 7th book and the arrival of the lovely Merediths; and finally, the last book and the shadow of war over Anne's life, Walter's death and at last, her sons' homecoming and the beautiful ending which brought Rilla and Ken together. It's just that when you read the books you basically follow her all the way from her childhood to her girlhood and then womanhood, and then you start loving her children just as much as you love her. You live in Green Gables and Windy Poplars and Ingleside, you watch her grow old. You follow two generations of the lovliest people in literature. To me it was aogg from the very start and I'm glad about that, reading and rereading it is always somehow the reassurance that I need that the world isn't that horrible of a place, it's just messy, and in dire need for a cup of tea and good old friends you can visit old gardens with on your birthday :)

[proserpnias]

"It was a never-to-be-forgotten summer-- one of those summers which come seldom into any life, but leave a rich heritage of beautiful memories in their going-- one of those summers which, in a fortunate combination of delightful weather, delightful friends and delightful doings, come as near to perfection as anything can come in this world."

L.M. Montgomery, Anne's House of Dreams (1917)

[philippagordon]

“If you had married Roy Gardner, now,” continued Gilbert mercilessly, “you could have been ‘a leader in social and intellectual circles far away from Four Winds.’“

“Gilbert Blythe!”

“You know you were in love with him at one time, Anne.”

“Gilbert, that’s mean— ‘pisen mean, just like all the men,’ as Miss Cornelia says. I never was in love with him. I only imagined I was. You know that. You know I’d rather be your wife in our house of dreams and fulfillment than a queen in a palace.”

Anne’s House of Dreams, Chapter 14 “November Days”

[friendly-neighbourhood-librarian]

September slipped by into a gold and crimson graciousness of October.

—L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Avonlea

[noteworthynotions]

Three years ago today I picked up this book and began reading it for the first time, not knowing how much it would encourage me during a time of grief and loneliness. It renewed my love of reading & literature while also reminding me what a comfort good stories & characters can be.

Today I’ve started reading it again in the midst of another difficult season, and as I do so, I hope to share highlights here of words that speak the most to me and reach my heart—and will hopefully reach yours, too!

[thelonelybrilliance]

-Anne of Avonlea

[janefrigginausten]

[gilbertsannegirl]

She had a way of embroidering life with stars.

L. M. Montgomery (Chronicles of Avonlea, Old Man Shaw’s Girl)

[batrachised]

Hey, I loved Anne. What LM Montgomery book should I read next?

It's no secret that Anne of Green Gables is far and away LM Montgomery's most famous book. It's the classic; the book you think of when you heard the name LM Montgomery. It's her stereotypical Barbie, if you will. Even if someone has read a book other than Green Gables, it's usually the subsequent books in Anne's series (which is absolutely the right choice). Consequently, diving into the rest of LM Montgomery's work can be overwhelming. There are quite a few series of young women coming into their own, some of which are on Anne's level, and some of which aren't. Even beyond the Emilys and the Pats, there are also books that don't quite fit the mold of Singular Young Heroine Faces Life - The Story Girl features a much broader cast and scope despite its featured heroine Sara.

Because I love LM Montgomery and will talk about her at any point, I wanted to write up a brief summary of her series other than Anne and just try to express their vibes for someone who might be curious as to where to go next. Someone who loves Anne might hate Pat (who, me?), and someone who was tepid on Anne might love Emily. Of course, LM Montgomery is LM Montgomery, so her stories are usually solid regardless - but hey, sometimes you want an eerily witchy story, and sometimes you want a warm and cozy one. Disclaimer that I'm not including LMM's entire canon of work here (ie poems and short stories).

So, with that, let's get started.

Emily of New Moon (3 books)

Did you read the Anne series and think it was a little...Pollyanna-ish? Perhaps you even whipped out that dreaded word, "saccharine." Or maybe you loved it, but you're curious as to what a darker LM Montgomery would be. Say no more. Emily is a gothic, witchy series, with dark undertones of resentment and depression. It's also blatantly autobiographical - like, really, autobiographical - like, LM Montgomery straight up copied passages from her diary into the book autobiographical! The storyline overall does differ from LM Montgomery's life, but Emily dreams of being a writer much like Anne while being much sharper than Anne. It's also more eerie - there are hauntings and second sight events sprinkled throughout the series, along with the aforementioned gothic undertones overall. Yet for all this, it still solidly retains LM Montgomery's flair for cheeky stories and dreamy heroines and embarrassing moments and gentle life lessons. It's a still slice of life; it's just a slice of a darker one.

The Blue Castle (1 book)

Imagine the most generic, trope filled, basic romantic storyline - shy girl gets makeover esque - and then pump it full of LM Montgomery's genius, add in a few screwball twists for the fun of it, and create the most cathartic book ever written. Have a family you can't stand that you just want to tell off sometimes? This book is for you. Want to live that cottagecore life with your soulmate? This book is for you. Daydream of a better life? This book is for you. Love a book with plot twists that you never see coming? Oh boy, this book is for you. This is one of two novels that LM Montgomery writes for adults, and it shows in the material handled. We have unwed mothers, hints at sexual awakenings, sexual harassment, and overall LM Montgomery from an older perspective. The heroine here is 29 at the beginning of the book, an unusual age for an LM Montgomery story to begin. Also, Barney Snaith supremacy. If you loved Gilbert, you'll love Barney too (dare I say perhaps even more). The blue castle is one of LMM's few books where the love interest is one of the main characters too instead of a side plot. It's also a standalone novel, which makes it more accessible in terms of storyline.

Jane of Lantern Hill (1 book)

Lo and behold, another standalone novel! And in my opinion, LM Montgomery's best. Notable for having an actual lion in it (that was based on true events!), Jane of Lantern Hill is a cheerful story of a little girl coming into her own. More practical than the other heroines (Jane is the same girl who dreams of having a potato ricer), Jane stands in a very cozy story that has a parent trap type plot (no trapping involved, but long estranged parents do reunite). It also has one of LM Montgomery's best villains, Jane's Grandmother, who is a chilling example of emotional abuse without any buffoonery or comedy to soften it. If you're looking for a comfort book to read with a cup of tea on a rainy day, this is it. It's not really a romance - romance is the tiniest of plot threads in this - it's a father daughter story bestowed with the typical LM Montgomery magic.

The Story Girl (2 books)

This was LM Montgomery's personal favorite, and it's delightful. It features more of a cast of characters than a main heroine situation, although the main heroine is there, so it's a bit unique in that regard. It's also in first person, and (gasp) that person is a boy. That sets it very apart from her other novels! The Story Girl, as hinted by the name, is very story heavy; it's LM Montgomery telling the story of a crowd of children growing up on PEI, yes, but it's also her delving into fairy tales and urban legends (PEI style) and local history. If you really liked the Hester Gray chapters from Anne, you'll probably like this quite a bit; the novel takes the same sort of delving approach but with a broader focus (we hear stories of princes and stories of neighbors). It also, unlike her other novels, is a memory. Bev, our narrator, is a grown man recounting his childhood - something acknowledged in the first book and emphasized in the second. Without any romance in it (besides of course, in the stories) and with a broader character focus (Sara is our heroine, but she's one of a group, and not the narrator), this novel veers away from the typical tightly focused LM Montgomery coming of age formula. It's group shenanigans rather than a personal journey.

Pat of Silver Bush (2 books)

Ah, Pat. Oh, Pat. I suggest reading these after you read the rest of LM Montgomery's work. Pat is interesting because the narrative tells us one thing, and Pat's actions tell us another. It's a book to read and analyze as an LM Montgomery novel, in my opinion, rather than a book to read to enjoy. It's good - it features one of my favorite LM Montgomery heroes in Jingle - but Pat is frenetic and depressed, to the point the novel's attempted cheerfulness skitters into mania. It's an LM Montgomery that doesn't stick the landing, which makes where it does land all the more interesting. LM Montgomery loves characterizing houses - in this the house is a character to the point where it's almost ominous. It's LM Montgomery but with an unintentional offkey chord that makes for unpleasant reading but fascinating examination.

Rilla of Ingleside (1 book, from Anne's series)

Including this because she's technically a different heroine than Anne - this is a war novel. It's LM Montgomery, but it's also a war novel. It's Anne, and it's a heartbroken Anne. It's also LM Montgomery's magnum opus (at least in my humble opinion). It's gritty in a way all of LM Montgomery's books aren't; it's an account of WWI from a unique perspective of a girl on PEI (and account is the word for it - there's discussion of specific battles and events date by date). The theme of WWI pops up frequently in LM Montgomery's later books, all of them building up to this book - read it and you'll appreciate the beginning Anne books all the more, because you know where they end.

The Blythes are Quoted (1 book, from Anne's series)

Do you really, really want more Anne? You've read all the books multiple times, hunted down the short stories where she's referenced, and you still want more? You're in luck, because this book was published in 2009, over half a century after LM Montgomery died. It's full of short stories that offer glimpses of the Blythes growing up, but it also has stories that take place after WWI, and it has interludes with the Blythe family written in a script format (think reading a play). It's cutting - these are not happy interludes - but it adds a rich dimension to Anne's story, and gives another glimpse at what happened to the characters.

Other

There are a scattering of other novels - Magic for Marigold, A Tangled Web - along with hundreds of short stories. I'd save these for last. These vary wildly in quality and so you're as likely to hit a dud as a diamond in the rough. There are a few incredible short stories that are LM Montgomery at her best, but there's also quite a lot of odd ones that can get downright uncomfortable. Magic for Marigold and A Tangled Web hit the same issues, growing uncomfortably sexist/racist at points. If you are determined to read all of LM Montgomery's work (hey, I've been there), these are solid stories but there are better ones.

[gettothestabbing]

I'm always a little mad in spring. But it's such a divine madness!

Anne Shirley, Anne of Ingleside

[mollywog]

Anne Shirley 🤝 Katniss Everdeen

Hitting her future husband for a perceived slight against her that was actually a gesture of his affection.

(you might have already connected these but I wanted to share)

Oh!!! I love this!!

Anne and Katniss both have this one sided suspicion and misinterpretations of Gilbert and Peeta’s motives. They go on to have these beautiful friendships with feelings that they refuse/struggle to admit are romantic (not to mention, everyone else around them seeing it.) Then later, dramatic realizations over the depth of their feelings.

Then there’s this:

“Did you love Annie right away, Finnick?” I ask.

“No.” A long time passes before he adds, “She crept up on me.”

Which echos this:

Perhaps, after all, romance did not come into one's life with pomp and blare, like a gay knight riding down; perhaps it crept to one's side like an old friend through quiet ways; perhaps. . . perhaps. . .love unfolded naturally out of a beautiful friendship, as a golden-hearted rose slipping from its green sheath.

(While the passage is Finnick discussing Annie, I think it also describes Katniss’s feelings for Peeta)

Thank you so much for sharing @thesweetnessofspring!!

More on Shirbert and Everlark Here

[hazy-siren]

"The girlhood of which she had been cheated seemed to come back to her with the ripeness of womanhood; she expanded like a flower of flame and perfume; no laugh was readier than hers, no wit quicker, in the twilight circles of that enchanted summer. [...] Her beauty was illuminated by the awakened soul within, as some rosy lamp might shine through a flawless vase of alabaster."

L.M. Montgomery, Anne's House of Dreams (1917)

[hangon-silvergirl]

I'm reading Anne with my daughter for the first time, and this remains one of my favorite quotes in the whole series. It speaks to my soul (and always has). 🍂🍁🍃

[catsandbooksstuff]

I guess love doesn't conquer all.

I suppose I'll have my tragical romance after all.