After Green Gables: L.M. Montgomery's Letters to Ephraim Weber, 1916-1941

by Hildi Froese Tiessen (Editor), Paul Tiessen (Editor)

Ephraim Weber (1870–1956) was a struggling young writer when he began corresponding with L.M. Montgomery (1874–1942) in 1902, six years before she published her first novel. Weber's initial letter was that of an admirer. Montgomery responded warmly, and the two quickly began a correspondence that became an intellectual mainstay for both of them over the following forty years. After Green Gables is a fascinating collection of letters sent by Montgomery to Weber between 1916 and 1941. This was the period of Montgomery's greatest literary success, but privately she was deeply troubled by her unhappy marriage. The letters, revealing an intense social and intellectual dynamic between Montgomery and Weber, cover, among other subjects, their strong differences of opinion on matters such as pacifism and war and their joint rejection of the effects of literary modernism. Drawing on Weber's voluminous correspondence with other Canadian figures – particularly journalist Wilfred Eggleston – editors Paul Tiessen and Hildi Froese Tiessen skilfully illuminate Weber's interaction with Montgomery, especially in matters concerning literature and culture, religion and politics, and education and entertainment. The editors provide various readings of Weber, based on his aspirations as a writer, his active participation in the Canadian culture of his day (including his friendships with hometown schoolmate William Lyon Mackenzie King and community leader Leslie Staebler), and his heritage as a Mennonite. After Green Gables brings to life a distinctly Canadian literary and intellectual association of writers. Montgomery's letters to a man committed to writing and to the cultural development of Canada reveal her intellectual preoccupations and her personal hardships. This is an essential text for Montgomery fans and scholars as well as readers with an interest in the development of Canada's literary culture.

Genres: Nonfiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published June 17, 2006

Reviews

[Toni Wyatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting epistles from Maud to Mr. Weber. These back up her journals and don’t shed any light as to her personal affairs and problems. She alludes to illness and unhappiness due to the Second World War, but she doesn’t give any indication to Mr. Weber about the reason she suffered a nervous breakdown leading to her overdose.

We all know it was Chester.

What is really great about these letters is that it does detail what she read and how she felt about various authors and government leaders during her time.

Worth reading, but not really much of anything you couldn’t get from her published journals. 5 stars nonetheless.

[Sheryl Sato · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating glimpse into the life and thoughts of L.M. Montgomery. A wicked sense of humour and open discussion on many events of the time period.

[Martyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

My feelings towards this book are pretty much identical to those of the first volume, The Green Gables Letters. It's very expensive for what it is, and adds little or nothing to our knowledge of Montgomery. While it is nice to have more of her extant writings published, it's not necessarily the best way of presenting them.

The hardback edition, published by University of Toronto Press in 2006, has a green cloth cover and has no dust jacket. Fortunately I managed to get my new copy for less than half of the usual asking price, but still, it is way overpriced, aimed more at libraries and academic institutions I suppose, than at the general fan of Montgomery. It felt like an academic piece of work. Where the letters could simply have been transcribed and published exactly as they were, the editors no doubt felt obliged to make their own personal contribution to the work to justify the funding they received to pursue this project, or because they enjoyed the opportunity of being able to get their own work published by tying it on to the tail of something far more important. As with Eggleston's introduction to the first volume, I found the even lengthier introduction to this volume just as needless and unenjoyable. The footnotes were also lengthy and often contributed nothing of significance to the understanding of the letters.

The book contains 306 pages at the very maximum (including all title pages etc). The letters themselves (24 in total) cover 204 pages - but if you removed all the footnotes that number would probably be reduced by another third. To read the letters alone would probably be quite an easy way occupy one's time, but all small print of the footnotes disrupted the letters and seriously slowed down the reading of it (which for people who feel the need to read the book from cover to cover - especially to get their money's worth - feel obliged to read. The less determined reader could skip the footnotes and introduction and simply read the letters alone in a fairly short space of time).

But as with the previous volume, I didn't feel that the book provided any new insights into Montgomery's life. She wasn't being more honest and open than she was in her journals. Usually, during this period, she was simply writing one letter annually, and was referring to her notebooks or her journals for inspiration as to what to write about. Cross-references in the footnotes would make it possible for readers to compare narratives in the letters with those in the published journals, to see if they contrast in any way. One gets the impression that Montgomery doesn't like to be criticized. If anyone gave her praise, she would put on an attitude of modesty and downplay her achievements, and if anyone found fault with her works, she would go on the defensive.

For the casual reader the price will be prohibitive, for die-hard fans, get it if you are desperate, or just watch and wait until you see it available cheaply (for the hardback edition certainly). If unsure, try and borrow it from a library first. It might be that having read it once, you will never want to read it again.

It is a bit tantalising to be reminded that there are unpublished letters from Montgomery to G.B.Macmillan still in existence. One wishes that publishers would just get a job over and done with and reprint all extant letters in full and in one fell swoop, instead of publishing selections in dribs and drabs over the course of many years. I hope that all the extant letters of Montgomery to Ephraim Weber have now been published, though how the letters sent between 1909 (where the first published volume ended) and 1916 (when this volume started) went missing, I do not know.