Alice Munro (1931-2024)

Alice Munro passed away this week. She's a Canadian legend, a literary giant, and a writer whose short stories about the lives of women were poignant, shocking, challenging, and devastating. She was a marvelous storyteller who didn't waste words. For her work she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013.

As a child, Alice Munro loved to read. Her Nobel Prize biographical page describes how she enjoyed reading books by fellow Canadian author L.M. Montgomery, as well as Dickens, Tennyson, and Emily Bronte. After Alice Munro completed college, she moved to Victoria, British Columbia. She and her then-husband James opened a bookstore. Munro began publishing stories of everyday women, often set in rural Ontario, Canada, stories that others might not find worth telling about women that others might never notice.

I sometimes think about the fact that three of my favorite authors are L.M. Montgomery, Alice Munro, and Margaret Atwood. All three authors are Canadian women who have written memorable and meaningful stories about girls and women.

One of the most poignant and puzzling films I've watched in the past couple years was Away from Her (2006), a film directed by the Canadian filmmaker and writer Sarah Polley. There's an L.M. Montgomery connection here too. Sarah Polley once starred as Sara Stanley in Road to Avonlea, a television series that was based on L.M. Montgomery's stories. After retiring from acting, Sarah Polley began telling stories in her own way on film. Away from Her was Polley's directorial debut. The film was based on Alice Munro's short story, "The Bear Came over the Mountain," which was published in the short story collection Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage. I re-read Munro's short story a couple years back and reflected on it here. It's the story of what happens to a man and his wife when the wife develops Alzheimer's disease.

Two summers ago, I visited Victoria, British Columbia for the first time. I had read about Munro's Books as being a special bookstore to visit, at first not realizing that it was once Alice Munro's bookstore. But once I knew, I had to go. Visiting the store was somewhat of an unintentional pilgrimage, but maybe one that was meant to be. I bought a copy of one of Alice Munro's books there (pictured above).

Image credit:
Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

Created May 15, 2024.
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Becoming Green Gables

Becoming Green Gables: The Diary of Myrtle Webb and Her Famous Farmhouse is a book by Alan MacEachern that will be published by McGill-Queen’s University Press in June 2024. Myrtle and Ernest Webb owned the farm that their cousin L.M. Montgomery based "Green Gables" upon. According to The Green Gables Diary website: "In spring 1924, Myrtle Webb began keeping a diary about her life on an ordinary farm in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island. Ordinary but for one thing: it was growing famous as the inspiration for Anne of Green Gables, written by her cousin L.M. Montgomery."

MacEachern's book tells "The story of the family whose home inspired Anne of Green Gables and how that literary connection enriched - and upended - their lives." His book examines the history of Green Gables and how the popularity of L.M. Montgomery's novel affected the Webb family and tourism to Prince Edward Island.

A digital exhibition that will accompany the book called "The Green Gables Diary" will launch this spring at: https://greengablesdiary.ca/

Here is the description of the book from McGill-Queen’s University Press:

In 1909 Myrtle and Ernest Webb took possession of an ordinary farm in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island. Ordinary but for one thing: it was already becoming known as inspiration for Anne of Green Gables, the novel written by Myrtle’s cousin Lucy Maud Montgomery and published to international acclaim a year earlier. The Webbs welcomed visitors to “Green Gables” and soon took in summer boarders, making their home the heart of PEI’s tourist trade. In the 1930s the farm was made the centrepiece of a new national park - and still the family lived there for another decade, caretakers of their own home. During these years Myrtle kept a diary. When she first picked up the pencil in 1924, she was a forty-year-old homemaker running a household of eight. By the time she set the pencil down in 1954, she was a seventy-year-old widow, no longer resident in what was now the most famous house in Canada. Becoming Green Gables tells the story of Myrtle Webb and her family, and the making of Green Gables. Alan MacEachern reproduces a selection of the diary’s daily entries, using them as springboards to examine topics ranging from the adoption of modern conveniences to the home front hosting of soldiers in wartime and visits from “Aunt Maud” herself. While the foundation of Becoming Green Gables is the Webbs’ own story, it is also a history of their famous home, their community, the nation, and the world in which they lived.

Reviews

“Humorous in some places and a tearjerker in others, Becoming Green Gables captures an untold story about the famed Green Gables and home-grown tourism prior to the founding of the national park.”
–Catharine Anne Wilson, author of Being Neighbours: Cooperative Work and Rural Culture, 1830-1960

“Becoming Green Gables provides an appreciation of the complex grassroots history of one of Canada’s most beloved historical sites.”
–Melanie J. Fishbane, author of Maud: A Novel Inspired by the Life of L.M. Montgomery

I am looking forward to reading this book and the launch of the digital exhibit.

Image credit:
Book cover of Becoming Green Gables: The Diary of Myrtle Webb and Her Famous Farmhouse by Alan MacEachern from McGill-Queen’s University Press.

Official website:
The Green Gables Diary

Purchase and read Becoming Green Gables:


Created May 14, 2024.
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Pullip Anne of Green Gables Dolls

In April 2004, the Korean fashion doll company Pullip released an Anne of Green Gables doll (Item F-516). These dolls were sold through a Japanese company called Jun Planning.

The Anne Shirley doll wears an olive green corduroy dress with a white pinafore or apron, white bloomers and black lace-up boots. The doll's deep red hair is arranged in two braids that are tied with red ribbons, and its face is framed with bangs. It has bright blue eyes and freckles. Also included is a hat decorated with white flowers, a carpet bag, and a doll stand.

Pullip dolls are 12 inches tall. Their articulated plastic bodies are designed on a 1:6 scale, and the dolls have oversized heads that are designed on a 1:3 scale. Levers on the back of each doll's head enable its eyes to blink and move from side to side. The jointed body allows for customization and posing. New collectible dolls are released monthly.

There is also a miniature Little Pullip Anne Shirley doll, but I'm not sure in which years it was released. If anyone has info on it, please let me know.

In May 2012, Pullip re-released the Anne Shirley doll due to its popularity as part of its Regeneration Series (Item RE-814). These dolls were sold through the Korean company Groove (which began distributing Pullip dolls in 2009).

I've only seen the Anne Shirley Pullip doll in photos, and I find them so intriguing looking...a touch charming, and a touch creepy. I hope to one day see the doll in person.

Image credits:
Promotional photographs of the 2004 and 2012 Pullip Anne of Green Gables dolls by Pullip.

Created May 13, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

She did not cry

"But, though she felt that something had taken her life and torn it apart, she did not cry."
-L.M. Montgomery
Jane of Lantern Hill

Read more quotes by L.M. Montgomery.

Image credit:
Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

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Created May 12, 2024.
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L.M. Montgomery's Emily of New Moon: A Children's Classic at 100

Last month, on April 23, 2024, L.M. Montgomery's Emily of New Moon: A Children's Classic at 100 was published by the University Press of Mississippi. This new book of scholarship on the Emily of New Moon series was edited by Yan Du and Joe Sutliff Sanders of the University of Cambridge. The scholarly volume contains contributions by Yoshiko Akamatsu, Carol L. Beran, Rita Bode, Lesley D. Clement, Allison McBain Hudson, Kate Lawson, Jessica Wen Hui Lim, Lindsey McMaster, E. Holly Pike, Katharine Slater, Margaret Steffler, and Anastasia Ulanowicz.

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

Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874–1942) was a Canadian author best known for writing the wildly popular Anne of Green Gables. At the time of its publication in 1908, it was an immediate bestseller and launched Montgomery to fame. Less known than the dreamy and accidentally mischievous Anne Shirley is Emily Byrd Starr, the title character in the trilogy that followed much later in Montgomery’s professional career, Emily of New Moon. Published in 1923, Emily of New Moon is the first in a series of novels about an orphan girl growing up on Prince Edward Island, a story that mirrors Anne’s but intentionally resists many of the defining qualities of Montgomery's most famous creation.

Despite being overshadowed by the immense popularity of Anne of Green Gables, the Emily of New Moon trilogy has become a subject of endless fascination to fans and scholars around the world. The trilogy was conceived during an important phase in Montgomery’s career during which she turned from Anne and plunged into more intricate aspects of gender, adolescence, nature, and authorship. While the novels have attracted rich critical attention since their publication, book-length studies proved surprisingly scarce. L. M. Montgomery’s "Emily of New Moon": A Children’s Classic at 100 is the first scholarly volume exclusively dedicated to the trilogy, coalescing different research perspectives. It offers a fresh point of entrance into a well-loved classic at its one-hundredth anniversary.

Reviews

"Du and Sanders present a robust collection providing new, unique, and exciting approaches to L. M. Montgomery’s Emily of New Moon series." - Ashley N. Reese, author of The Rise of American Girls’ Literature

"A hundred years after the first installment of Montgomery’s Emily of New Moon, this essay collection makes clear that Emily Byrd Starr’s coming-of-age story is as relevant as ever." - Dawn Sardella-Ayres, research associate for the L. M. Montgomery Institute

Image credit:
Book cover of L.M. Montgomery's Emily of New Moon: A Children's Classic at 100 by the University Press of Mississippi.

Purchase and read L.M. Montgomery's Emily of New Moon: A Children's Classic at 100:


Created May 11, 2024.
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Anne of Green Gables: A Graphic Novel

Anne of Green Gables: A Graphic Novel (2017) is an adaptation of L.M. Montgomery's novel by Mariah Marsden with illustrations by Brenna Thummler. The graphic novel is 232 pages in length. The lovely dedication reads: "To Lucy Maud Montgomery, who reminds us that nothing is more powerful than a girl with an imagination."

Here's the publisher's description of the book from the Andrews McMeel website:

Schoolyard rivalries. Baking disasters. Puffed sleeves. Explore the violet vales and glorious green of Avonlea in this spirited graphic novel adaptation.

The spirit of Anne is alive and well in Mariah Marsden's crisp adaptation, and it's a thrill to watch as the beloved orphan rushes headlong through Brenna Thummler's heavenly landscapes. Together Marsden and Thummler conjure all the magic and beauty of Green Gables. Like Anne herself, you won't want to leave.
 — Brian Selznick, author/illustrator of “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” and “The Marvels”

The magic of L.M. Montgomery’s treasured classic is reimagined in a whimsically-illustrated graphic novel adaptation perfect for newcomers and kindred spirits alike.

When Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert decide to adopt an orphan who can help manage their family farm, they have no idea what delightful trouble awaits them. With flame-red hair and an unstoppable imagination, 11-year-old Anne Shirley takes Green Gables by storm.

Anne’s misadventures bring a little romance to the lives of everyone she meets: her bosom friend, Diana Barry; the town gossip, Mrs. Lynde; and that infuriating tease, Gilbert Blythe. From triumphs and thrills to the depths of despair, Anne turns each everyday moment into something extraordinary.

I read this graphic novel last year and enjoyed it a lot. The illustrations are bright and crisp with the glorious reds, greens, and blues of Prince Edward Island.

Some readers have found Anne's green, pupil-less eyes to be blank, puppet-like, and somewhat off putting. And it's true that her eyes are curious and odd.



Anne's strange eyes also made me smile. They reminded of a wonderful set of books I was given as a child (and still have today) that were part of a series called "The World of Fairy Tales" by Froebel-Kan. The tales featured photos of puppets in elaborate sets as a form of storytelling. Some of the puppets had blank stares too (see photos of my Little Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk books below). Don't the puppet's eyes look like Anne's?



Using puppets to create scenes helped retell classic fairy tales in a unique way in the Froebel-Kan series. Similarly, Anne of Green Gables: A Graphic Novel is a unique retelling of Anne Shirley's story. I especially liked how the graphic novel captured Anne's most over-dramatic moments in spectacular fashion. You can just feel the drama.



Some of the most beautiful and touching pages were the ones without words, like this scene where Anne visits Matthew's grave.



I really enjoyed this retelling of Anne's story and recommend it.

Official Websites:
Andrews McMeel website
Brenna Thummler's website

Image Credits:
Book cover and panels from Anne of Green Gables: A Graphic Novel by Mariah Marsden and Brenna Thummler. Photographs of  Froebel-Kan's Little Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk book covers from "The World of Fairy Tales" series by World of Anne Shirley.

Purchase and read Anne of Green Gables: A Graphic Novel:

Created May 10, 2024. Last updated June 4, 2024.
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Finding Anne on Prince Edward Island

Finding Anne on Prince Edward Island is a guidebook that features locations that inspired L.M. Montgomery to write Anne of Green Gables. The travel guide was published by Ragweed Press as part of their "Island Pathways" series. The book was edited by Kathleen Hamilton and Sibyl Frei. The color photography is by John Sylvester, and the book includes many archival photos from the Prince Edward Island Public Archives.

It's a small spiral bound travel guide. I own a copy of the third printing, which was published in 1998. The guidebook features quotes from L.M. Montgomery's journals and from the Anne of Green Gables novels. The book's introduction states:

"This guidebook is designed for all those who are looking for ANNE and her creator, L.M. Montgomery, and it features the Island locations that you will most want to visit. The chapters are arranged alphabetically by location; each describes a different community on the Island, outlining the places of importance to L.M. Montgomery, and the ANNE attractions to be found there. Entertaining quotations from Anne of Green Gables and the other ANNE books are sprinkled through the chapters."

The contents include the following chapters:

Introduction
Belmont
Bideford
Cavendish
Charlottetown
French River
Hunter River
Kensington
Lower Bedeque
Malpeque
New London
Park Corner
Anne Day Tour
Select Bibliography
Index of Featured Attractions

Each chapter is subdivided into three sections: (1) The Setting, (2) About L.M. Montgomery, and (3) Attractions and Activities. Although so much information is readily available online, I still like to have a guidebook on hand when traveling. I like this one because it is focused on L.M. Montgomery's experiences and perspectives.


Image credit:
Photograph of the Finding Anne on Prince Edward Island book cover by World of Anne Shirley.

Purchase the Finding Anne on Prince Edward Island travel guidebook:

Created May 9, 2024.
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Anne of Green Gables Audible Audiobook

A new Anne of Green Gables audiobook published by Audible Originals dramatizes L.M. Montgomery's classic story. The performances were directed by Megan Follows, who starred as Anne Shirley in the acclaimed Anne of Green Gables (1985) and its sequels Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel (1987) and Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story (2000).

A Canadian cast brings the story to life. Anne of Green Gables is narrated by Golden Globe winner Sandra Oh (Grey's Anatomy, Killing Eve, The Chair), an Asian-Canadian-American actress. Anne Shirley is voiced by 17-year-old Canadian actress Michela Luci (Dino Dana), who won a Daytime Emmy Award. Marilla Cuthbert is voiced by Canadian Emmy Award winner Catherine O’Hara (Beetlejuice, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Home Alone, Schitt's Creek). Matthew Cuthbert is voiced by the Canadian actor Victor Garber (Alias, Milk, DC's Legends of Tomorrow), who has received multiple Emmy and Tony nominations.

This retelling of Anne of Green Gables was released on November 30, 2023, which is L.M. Montgomery's birthday. L.M. Montgomery's story was adapted by Abi Hynes, and the production has an original score and immersive sound.

In an interview with the CBC, Megan Follows says, "I loved the idea of going back and deeply immersing myself in the text, in the writing of Lucy Maud Montgomery." Follows goes describe Anne as rare considering the historical period saying, "That advocacy of a female to have the right to speak up and to be heard and to be seen was unheard of at that time. She was revolutionary in that way — to have an imagination, to have feeling, to express feelings, and for girls to express anger."


Official Websites:
Anne of Green Gables Audible Audiobook - watch the trailer, and view a behind-the-scenes video
Anne of Green Gables Audible audiobook at Amazon.com

Image Credit:
Promotional image for the Anne of Green Gables Audible audiobook.

Reference:
Yarr, Kevin. (2023, December 3). Anne of Green Gables audiobook 'a whole new world,' says Megan Follows: Follows directs all-star Canadian cast in latest dramatization of Montgomery work. CBC News. Retrieved from: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-anne-green-gables-audible-audiobook-1.7043654

Created May 8, 2024. Last updated June 5, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com