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Imagining Anne: L.M. Montgomery's Island Scrapbooks
L. M. Montgomery’s beautiful Island scrapbooks, covering a period from 1893 to mid-1910, are finally back in print. Reflecting Montgomery’s youth and optimism, these full-colour pages are filled with meaningful insight into the life of a young writer’s inspiration during the period when she would create the beloved character of Anne Shirley, who would win the hearts of readers worldwide with the publication of Anne of Green Gables in 1908.
With annotations and notes from Montgomery scholar Elizabeth Epperly, Imagining Anne allows fans a revealing look inside the mind of one of the most cherished writers of the twentieth century.
With annotations and notes from Montgomery scholar Elizabeth Epperly, Imagining Anne allows fans a revealing look inside the mind of one of the most cherished writers of the twentieth century.
176 pages, Paperback
Published June 30, 2019
3 people are currently reading
103 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Rollins Epperly
16 books11 followersElizabeth Rollins Epperly is a writer, professor, and administrator.
She was born in 1951 on her mother’s birthday in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Her parents were passionate readers and read aloud for years to their children. A fascination with L.M. Montgomery’s writing led her to Prince Edward Island in Canada, where she became in 1969 the first student to register at the newly amalgamated University of Prince Edward Island.
She graduated with degrees in English literature (B.A., UPEI; M.A., Dalhousie University; Ph.D., University of London in England), specializing in 19th Century British novels and poetry. She taught at Memorial University of Newfoundland and UPEI. At UPEI, she founded the L.M. Montgomery Institute, served as UPEI’s first woman president, and became Professor Emerita of English.
She published two books on Anthony Trollope before daring, in 1992, to publish The Fragrance of Sweet-Grass, the first full-length critical study of all Montgomery’s novels. Never out of print, it was reissued with a new preface in 2014. The biennial international L. M. Montgomery Institute conferences, which she began in 1994, are credited with anchoring Montgomery studies.
In addition to dozens of essays and book chapters, she has published books on Montgomery’s photography, scrapbooks, letters, and Canadian context. She has served as curator for real-time and virtual exhibitions and has pursued Montgomery research in Sweden, Japan, Spain, Scotland, and China as well as in the US and Canada.
Power Notes, a creative non-fiction narrative describing her university presidency (to be published in 2017), is an invitation to consider power and story in new ways.
She was born in 1951 on her mother’s birthday in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Her parents were passionate readers and read aloud for years to their children. A fascination with L.M. Montgomery’s writing led her to Prince Edward Island in Canada, where she became in 1969 the first student to register at the newly amalgamated University of Prince Edward Island.
She graduated with degrees in English literature (B.A., UPEI; M.A., Dalhousie University; Ph.D., University of London in England), specializing in 19th Century British novels and poetry. She taught at Memorial University of Newfoundland and UPEI. At UPEI, she founded the L.M. Montgomery Institute, served as UPEI’s first woman president, and became Professor Emerita of English.
She published two books on Anthony Trollope before daring, in 1992, to publish The Fragrance of Sweet-Grass, the first full-length critical study of all Montgomery’s novels. Never out of print, it was reissued with a new preface in 2014. The biennial international L. M. Montgomery Institute conferences, which she began in 1994, are credited with anchoring Montgomery studies.
In addition to dozens of essays and book chapters, she has published books on Montgomery’s photography, scrapbooks, letters, and Canadian context. She has served as curator for real-time and virtual exhibitions and has pursued Montgomery research in Sweden, Japan, Spain, Scotland, and China as well as in the US and Canada.
Power Notes, a creative non-fiction narrative describing her university presidency (to be published in 2017), is an invitation to consider power and story in new ways.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 2, 2020
I absolutely adore the story of, "Anne of Green Gables" by celebrated Canadian author L.M. Montgomery.
This is a collection of two of her Personal Scrapbooks that she kept throughout her life. These in particular are centred around her life on Prince Edward Island (where she was born and grew up.) She collected and kept many things that she considered important in her life.
It was fun to scour through the clippings and to read some of her thoughts and see perhaps where she got the inspiration for the delightful character of Anne Shirley.
This book is charming and has a hint of old-fashioness to it. A wonderful book to display on the coffee table. It's so easy to flip through and become engrossed in another time.
I'd like to kindly thank NetGalley and Nimbus Publishing for granting me access to this Advanced Reader Copy. It was truly a delight!
This is a collection of two of her Personal Scrapbooks that she kept throughout her life. These in particular are centred around her life on Prince Edward Island (where she was born and grew up.) She collected and kept many things that she considered important in her life.
It was fun to scour through the clippings and to read some of her thoughts and see perhaps where she got the inspiration for the delightful character of Anne Shirley.
This book is charming and has a hint of old-fashioness to it. A wonderful book to display on the coffee table. It's so easy to flip through and become engrossed in another time.
I'd like to kindly thank NetGalley and Nimbus Publishing for granting me access to this Advanced Reader Copy. It was truly a delight!
April 10, 2020
The main effect of this collection of L.M. Montgomery's scrapbook is to tantalizingly remind the reader of how lovely her novels and stories are. These scrapbook pages have me yearning to go pick up an Emily book or a short story collection after many years away from them.
The scrapbook pages are beautifully reproduced, although in the digital version of the book they did not enlarge very clearly, and it was therefore impossible to actually enjoy reading the news clippings or handwritten notes. Perhaps the finished product will be better. Most remarkable is the brilliant colors on many of the pages. Cut-outs of flowers blaze with vivid and attractive colors that she loved.
Each page is paired with a little bit of commentary about what Montgomery was memorializing or what symbols had meaning for her at different points in her life. Not all of them are very interesting to the casual reader, but I imagine it would be really satisfying to have these scrapbook pages at hand while reading Montgomery's journals.
Thanks to NetGalley and Nimbus Publishing for this digital review copy!
The scrapbook pages are beautifully reproduced, although in the digital version of the book they did not enlarge very clearly, and it was therefore impossible to actually enjoy reading the news clippings or handwritten notes. Perhaps the finished product will be better. Most remarkable is the brilliant colors on many of the pages. Cut-outs of flowers blaze with vivid and attractive colors that she loved.
Each page is paired with a little bit of commentary about what Montgomery was memorializing or what symbols had meaning for her at different points in her life. Not all of them are very interesting to the casual reader, but I imagine it would be really satisfying to have these scrapbook pages at hand while reading Montgomery's journals.
Thanks to NetGalley and Nimbus Publishing for this digital review copy!
March 9, 2020
It's fun to thumb through L.M. Montgomery's personal scrapbooks. The pictures and clippings are firmly rooted in out past (although not Montgomery's!), and along with their old-fashioned charm, parts of them also reveal Montgomery's personal history and sometimes give clues to what she would later write.
I also appreciated the written material by E.R. Epperly to help me put the books in context. For example, they're not in chronological order, and she changed some things in the books years later. Also, it's an ongoing challenge to preserve the scrapbooks, which are full of dried flowers. It was fun to get a peek at these books! I'm glad that people are working to study and preserve them.
I also appreciated the written material by E.R. Epperly to help me put the books in context. For example, they're not in chronological order, and she changed some things in the books years later. Also, it's an ongoing challenge to preserve the scrapbooks, which are full of dried flowers. It was fun to get a peek at these books! I'm glad that people are working to study and preserve them.
April 22, 2020
Having always been a fan of Anne of Green Gables and falling in love with every book Montgomery has written, I was intrigued when I saw this title on NetGalley and requested it right away.
In these pages are the very personal scrapbook pages that Montgomery created as a visual representation of events happening in her life and imaginings of her mind. The reader begins to learn of the true meaning and intentions behind the miscellaneous items found in Montgomery’s scrapbook. Maud kept many moments from special days with dear friends, hallmarks of her life, her many beaus, her photography, and the many clippings of fashionable ladies and cats. With these pages we get an intimate look at her life and see the evolution of her as a writer, drawing much inspiration for her characters and plots from those around her.
Although she was a very successful writer at the time, and a celebrity, we find very little of her accomplishments as a writer in these pages.
This is a lovely book and a nice one to add to the collection of anyone whose die-hard Montgomery fan. These pages and the research provide plenty of insight into her life.
3 stars.
**ARC provided by Nimbus Publishing via NetGalley
In these pages are the very personal scrapbook pages that Montgomery created as a visual representation of events happening in her life and imaginings of her mind. The reader begins to learn of the true meaning and intentions behind the miscellaneous items found in Montgomery’s scrapbook. Maud kept many moments from special days with dear friends, hallmarks of her life, her many beaus, her photography, and the many clippings of fashionable ladies and cats. With these pages we get an intimate look at her life and see the evolution of her as a writer, drawing much inspiration for her characters and plots from those around her.
Although she was a very successful writer at the time, and a celebrity, we find very little of her accomplishments as a writer in these pages.
This is a lovely book and a nice one to add to the collection of anyone whose die-hard Montgomery fan. These pages and the research provide plenty of insight into her life.
3 stars.
**ARC provided by Nimbus Publishing via NetGalley
July 18, 2024
Beautiful. This book, or re-creation, reminds me of my dear mums: LMM's love of fashion with pretty fabric swatches sprinkled throughout, social goings-on, and cats aplenty!
Those wedding write-ups though. The "popularity of the couple" demonstrated by the "many expensive presents they received" . . . gag.
Allusions to LMM's secret diary with Nora Lefurgey were enticing, esp. the hints about Ewan Macdonald towards the end of the second scrapbook. Haley's Comet! Mephistopheles! The Macneill relative who committed suicide and his daughter Amanda's crazed response! It all gets so dramatic at the close. And of course, the metaphoric and literal "bend in the road." I loved LMM's own cyanotypes of some of the very scenes I observed in PEI a few weeks ago, such as Cape Le Forge.
Those wedding write-ups though. The "popularity of the couple" demonstrated by the "many expensive presents they received" . . . gag.
Allusions to LMM's secret diary with Nora Lefurgey were enticing, esp. the hints about Ewan Macdonald towards the end of the second scrapbook. Haley's Comet! Mephistopheles! The Macneill relative who committed suicide and his daughter Amanda's crazed response! It all gets so dramatic at the close. And of course, the metaphoric and literal "bend in the road." I loved LMM's own cyanotypes of some of the very scenes I observed in PEI a few weeks ago, such as Cape Le Forge.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 8, 2020
I adored the Anne books when I was young and have also enjoyed rereading them as an adult. Every time a new book about L.M. Montgomery becomes available I want to spend time with it and this title is no exception.
Readers will get to know the young author through her scrapbook, a forum that provides a true sense of connection with Ms. Montgomery. Enjoy seeing what the author was doing right around the time that she would be writing about Anne in this beautiful book.
I recommend this title to those who are part of the author and Anne's fan club. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.
Readers will get to know the young author through her scrapbook, a forum that provides a true sense of connection with Ms. Montgomery. Enjoy seeing what the author was doing right around the time that she would be writing about Anne in this beautiful book.
I recommend this title to those who are part of the author and Anne's fan club. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.
April 9, 2020
In this must-read for fans of Lucy Maud Montgomery, pages from Montgomery's personal scrapbooks are reproduced and carefully annotated. I read an advance copy from the publisher on my computer so can't accurately comment on the image quality, but I think this would be a wonderful coffee table or gift book. Calling cards, fashion plates featuring puffed sleeves, pressed flowers, clippings of dramatic poems, and notes about kindred spirits combine to give readers a sense of Montgomery's life on PEI and the inspirations behind the world of Avonlea.
May 9, 2020
Anne of Green Gables is one of my favorite books, it has the most nostalgic feels in the world and it's just the most perfect feel-good story. This book is a must-read for hardcore fans of Lucy Maud Montgomery. It's a scrapbook that the author kept of the events and inspiration for the world she created and it's fascinating to see where she drew all of her ideas from. I absolutely loved this book, and would highly recommend it to all Anne of GreenGables fans.
Thank you to NetGalley and the Nimbus Publishing house for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to NetGalley and the Nimbus Publishing house for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review.
April 26, 2023
I learned so much about my favorite author in this, also finding I share a birthday with her son. I loved the insights into the scrap book but I do wish we were able to see more of what the clippings/notes were saying. I would have liked some enhanced/enlarged images of all those pieces because its so small its hard to read and i love peeking into the past with how articles were written or notes were passed. It was still a beautiful collection to see how Montgomery scrapbooked with insights into her life before, during, and after writing Anne.
April 11, 2020
As a fan of Anne of Green Gables and the television adaptation Anne with an E, I was thrilled to get a copy of this book. The book is both amazing and beautiful. It delves into L.M.Montgomery’s life and the inspiration behind Anne Shirley’s world. There are pages and pages of quotes, images and information. The whole things is amazing,
This is a must have for any fan.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this.
This is a must have for any fan.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this.
June 27, 2020
looks at pages from Lucy's scrapbooks and gives information about her time of making page, the items, and some other information. A look at what she found interesting.
June 29, 2020
really interesting book and I love the photos/scans, didn't know anything about her or much about anne tbh so learned alot
April 18, 2020
Such a lovely volume. You can find my full review on my blog: https://allthebookblognamesaretaken.b...
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews