Published in 1911, The Story Girl was L.M. Montgomery's favorite
novel. In it, she captures the delight of youth and the joy of storytelling. The novel may have been so dear to her heart because she used it as a showcase for her own childhood experiences and to retell her
personal family folklore and stories.
The Story Girl tells the tale of a group of children in Carlisle,
Prince Edward Island. The narrator of the story, Beverly King, looks back with
his adult eyes on a summer he and his brother Felix spent away from
Toronto on P.E.I. with their relatives while their father was away on business. Bev and Felix spend time with their cousins Dan, Felicity, and Cecily King, as well as Sara Ray, Peter Craig, and the
novel's namesake, Sara Stanley—the "Story Girl."
The children's minor adventures are interwoven with Sara's fearsome, mythological, humorous,
and human tales that mesmerize her young audience. She is the main character,
though, unlike Montgomery's other protagonists, she does not have a driving plot line. It is the narrator Bev, who
directs our attention to Sara's talents and charms throughout the story.
The Story Girl is followed by its sequel The Golden Road.
Created May 27, 2002. Last updated March 16, 2021.
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