October 25, 2004

The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery, Volume V: 1935-1942

The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery, Volume V: 1935–1942 edited by Mary Rubio and Elizabeth Waterston

The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery, Volume V: 1935–1942 edited by Mary Rubio and Elizabeth Waterston was published by the Oxford University Press in October 2004. L.M. Montgomery wrote extensive journals throughout her life, which provide personal insight to the talented author. Volume V covers the final years of L.M. Montgomery's life. During this period, Montgomery and her husband moved to Toronto, Ontario, where she immersed herself in the life of the city. Despite these pleasures, Montgomery and her husband both have depression and take barbiturates. She worries over her children and is disappointed in her sons' choices and scholastic performance. Toward the end of her life, L.M. Montgomery's depression grows until she stops writing, and her life spirals to a tragic end.


Here is the description of the volume from the Oxford University Press:

The final volume of the immensely successful The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery covers the years 1935 to 1942, the year of Montgomery's death. No longer dwelling in a farm community or a small rural village, Lucy Maud Montgomery explored life in downtown Toronto. Here she experienced the cultural riches the city had to offer while finding friendship and neighbourliness in the suburb of Swansea. The journal chronicles her hopes and satisfaction with her new home and neighbourhood, but also her struggles with her own and her husband's recurring bouts of depression, her worries about her sons' academic performance, and her thoughts on the world events during these years.

The final volume in the series offers an intimate eyewitness account of life in a growing city, a friendly neighbourhood, a changing world, and of a troubling family dynamic from 1935 to 1942, all recorded with Lucy Maud Montgomery's sharp eye and characteristic wit.


Review

"It is not often that a Maritime folk tale turns into Ontario Gothic. But that is what happens to L. M. Montgomery's life as we follow it through her journals."
-Maragaret Anne Doody, The Globe and Mail (full review)


Image credit:
Book cover of The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery, Volume V: 1935–1942.

Purchase and read The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery, Volume V: 1935–1942:

The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery, Volume V: 1935–1942 edited by Mary Rubio and Elizabeth Waterston

Created October 25, 2004. Last updated August 20, 2024.
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