The Selected Journals of L. M. Mongomery, Vol. II

By L.M. Montgomery

Book Overview

Elizabeth Waterston is a 2011 Fellow of The Royal Society of Canada.

This volume of Lucy Maud Montgomery's journals records a time of great change and upheaval both in Montgomery's life and in society. When she wrote the first entry in this volume she had recently become a world-famous author, having published Anne of Green Gables in 1908. Here we become privy to her response to the death of her grandmother, her marriage and honeymoon trip to Scotland and England, and her departure from Prince Edward Island to the new restrictions of her life as the wife of a Presbyterian minister in an Ontario village.

Montgomery reveals the intensities of friendships, the minutiae of homemaking, and the joys of motherhood along with the traumas of a disturbed marriage. By turns tart and sentimental, sharp-sighted and anxiety-ridden, L.M. Montgomery provides a compelling record of her remarkable life against a background -- both social and literary -- of a tumultuous period in Canadian history.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195418018
• ISBN13: 9780195418019
• Release Date: December 2014
• Publisher: Oxford University Press Canada
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 1.52 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

The journals

This is a fabulous work. As a teenager, I read all the novels published by L.M. Montgomery and absolutely loved them. The journals, though, add another dimension to her writing. I have read all 4 volumes of the published journals (supposedly there is one more to come) multiple times. These books offer a fascinating look into the upper middle class life style from the late 1800s to the mid 1930s when the author passed away. Some of issues she covers:-a powerful look at World War I from the view of Ontario resident-childbirth in the days before pain killers (she said a toothache was worse)-her awe at scientific advance (when vitamins were discovered she realized why she was always so lethargic all winter)-her husband's mental illness in the days before drugs-meeting the who's who of Canada at the timeAbsolutely fascinating for anyone who loves history!

Best of Montgomery's Journals

Volume II is easily the best of Maud's journals; it is the one that I "dip" into whenever I have a few moments or need a bedtime book and consequently is starting to show some wear and tear. It covers the most dramatic points in her life--her marriage, birth of her sons, the discovery of her husband's mental illness, and the death of her best friend, as well as her most prolific years as a writer. She hasn't yet begun to hide as much in her journals, which makes the third and fourth volumes frustrating to read. Since anyone reading the second volume will probably go on to read them all, I should say here that third volume was rather tedious with the lawsuits and maid problems, and number four, though weirdly compelling, was painful to read as her imminent breakdown is all to evident--it is like watching a train wreck in slow motion. I wonder if the journals of her last years will ever be published-- I understand that there are problems with people still living, etc.

I LOVE this book....

This book is fantastic! If you liked the previous "journals", you'll adore this one. It's more in-depth, full of emotion and a wonderful look at LM Montgomery's life at an incredibly interesting time in history. Can't wait to get to the next volume!

An excellent insight into one of canada's most loved writers

These journals put the writing of this rather amazing woman into a new light. It gives the joy she has given millions a new more brilliant glow. They are abridged, but the emotion of what was taken out is still present. It makes her prose inspirational by comparison to her experiences and her emotions.