L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years 1911-1917

L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years 1911-1917 | Jen Rubio

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I fell behind in reading this with #kindredspiritsbuddyread last year, but I caught up this month by reading a few pages every morning. This is the third volume of LMM's journals and I've found them all so interesting. I especially like reading a little a day. It has made LMM feel like a companion.

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BarbaraJean

L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years 1911-1917 | Jen Rubio

It‘s 11:30pm on Friday here, and I won‘t be able to finish this tonight. 😩 I have class all day tomorrow, so… here‘s a discussion prompt with zero questions and you can discuss amongst yourselves! Especially that section about LMM‘s “love affairs” 😆 (That‘s about as far as I‘ve gotten) I‘ll hop into the discussion as I‘m able and as I make progress in my reading!

JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks I still have about 40 pages left, so you are all good!! I will say that my favorite part of the “love affair“ section was when Edwin, who caused her so much stress and agony, and to whom she was actually ENGAGED, only gets one sentence! 😂 4d

lauraisntwilder One of my main take aways from this volume was that I'm glad I didn't marry a clergyman! Those pastoral visits just about drove her to drink. 😂 It's so hard to imagine living in a time of such a huge war, with no 24 hr news cycle, no social media with reporters on the ground. My parents grew up in LA and have been following the wildfire news on YouTube. But poor Maud had to wait for a newspaper to be printed. 4d

lauraisntwilder I sympathized with Maud's feelings of disconnection with Cavendish, while simultaneously the people who made home feel like home were dying or changing. 4d

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lauraisntwilder Oh, but my favorite part in the whole book was Ewan's reaction to meeting Maud's sister. He was so rarely mentioned, but that line of his made me laugh. 4d

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks 😂 😂 I cracked up when she wrote there was no need to say much of him. I wrote in the margin: “Because so much has been said already!“ I loved that whole “love affair“ section, including the request from the editor that she write about it for “adoring Canadian girls“! The sweetness of finding out that her first crush “had really been all my young fancy had painted.“ And then the singer whose eyelids intrigued her 😂 ⬇ 1d

BarbaraJean (Cont'd) I was struck by how often she said some man had cared terribly for her and then followed that by saying he had meant nothing to her. So flippant! And it makes me SO sad to read (again) that she was never in love with Ewan. With LMM having written love stories like Anne & Gilbert and Valancy & Barney... it makes me doubly sad she didn't have that love & partnership in her own life. Maybe part of why she needed friendships so deeply. 1d

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder Seriously! It brings to life all the more why she never wanted to marry a minister!! That one entry where she talked about how they'd been “visiting wildly“ to get in all those pastoral visits before the roads “broke up.“ I just couldn't. Ewan's reaction to her sister was hilarious. I wish we got more of a picture of what Ewan was really like. That one line made me like him a lot! 1d

BarbaraJean All the bits and pieces about Page were fascinating and infuriating. Maud feels so many things so deeply, and with the war and the looming legal threat with Page, I can feel her struggles mounting. It makes me feel for her and wish she had a therapist!! Or at least a kindred spirit nearby. (That's probably another casualty of being a minister's wife, now that I think of it--hard to have a confidant among parishioners.) (edited) 1d

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BarbaraJean

L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years 1911-1917 | Jen Rubio

I apologize for not posting this sooner—I don‘t know how it got to be Wednesday and I‘m only just starting this last chunk of volume 3!! How is everyone‘s journal-reading coming along?

I‘ll plan to post questions this weekend—late on Friday if I can, because I have a busy weekend ahead. Looking forward to discussing with all of you. And now I‘ll dive into my reading! #LMMJournals #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead

JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks I'm enjoying this section!! I'm intrigued by how obsessed LMM is with the war. It's obvious that she's an anomaly among the somewhat backwater area where she lives, but I wonder if more people in Canada at the time felt as she did, as she's quite obsessive about it. 6d

lauraisntwilder I'm actually on track to finish on time, which is great because I was behind on all the other sections. Not because I wasn't enjoying it, but life got in the way. 6d

lauraisntwilder Oh! I've also ordered a copy of The Watchmen, her poetry collection that she barely mentioned except to say she didn't expect much to come of it. 😜 6d

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BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks I am intrigued by her interest in the war, but not as intrigued by reading her updates about war developments (or the footnotes explaining them) 😂 It gives so much personal context for Rilla, though!! Like you, I‘m curious how closely the rest of the population was following events. There must have been lots of people who felt as she did, given the newspaper coverage she talks about. 5d

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder Oh yay about catching up! And 😂 about the poetry collection! I realized I actually have it in an ebook collection of LMM‘s works, but her comments don‘t exactly inspire me to read it… 5d

lauraisntwilder @BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks I'm definitely not reading all the footnotes. Not just the war ones, either. I'm not finding them very helpful for her personal interests either. She'll mention someone and the footnote will go ahead and tell when they died, which I don't always want to know at the moment I'm reading about them. 5d

TheAromaofBooks @lauraisntwilder @BarbaraJean - I have definitely been skipping the war footnotes! I don't actually need to know all the nitty gritty historical details of what LMM is talking about 😂 5d

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder @TheAromaofBooks Well, now I'm gonna skip them, too! 😂 Honestly, I really wish the footnotes were more helpful, or at least consistent. The editors give way too much info sometimes (like death dates and war details), and not enough or irrelevant info at other times (so many times I wish I could get a refresher on who someone is and when LMM has mentioned them before). 5d

25 likes8 comments

lauraisntwilder

L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years 1911-1917 | Jen Rubio

I'm catching up on LMM's journals and am also reading Anne of the Island, both for #kindredspiritsbuddyread. Today, I happened to read this same phrase in both books! Maud gave Anne her own dislike of change, definitely.

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BarbaraJean

L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years 1911-1917 | Jen Rubio

#LMMJournals #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead

I didn‘t realize until @TheKidUpstairs mentioned it a few days ago: 2024 is the 150th anniversary of LMM‘s birth. At that point, I remembered LMM‘s birthday was in November, but I didn‘t remember the date and thought I‘d missed the day. And then I read this last night and realized it‘s TODAY! Happy 150th Birthday, L.M. Montgomery! 🎂🎉In celebration, share in the comments something you love about LMM‘s books!

AvidReader25, rubyslippersreads, quietjenn, Daisey, LeahBergen, JenlovesJT47, CogsOfEncouragement, Prairiegirl_reading, lauraisntwilder, kwmg40, sblbooks, TheAromaofBooks, Roary47, julieclair

BarbaraJean For me, I love the kinship that I feel with so many of her characters (Anne, Emily, Valancy…), and how deftly she can draw a character with just a few sentences of description or dialogue. And, how much comfort and laughter I find in her books! 2mo

TheBookHippie I love Anne- but Emily, for me, is a kindred spirit. 2mo

JenlovesJT47 Same age as I am now! 👵🏻 I am way behind on reading the journals but I hope to get to them soon. Looking forward to reading the Christmas stories! 💚 2mo

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jewright I loved that Anne was smart but had a temper. She was so real to me when I read her as a child. I read every single one of her books and loved them all. Rilla of Ingleside is my favorite book of all time. 2mo

CSeydel 🎂🎉 2mo

LeahBergen Happy Birthday, Maud! I love her for showing ten-year-old Canadian me that Canada had a “classic” children‘s author, too! I‘d only read British or American classics up to that point. 2mo

TheAromaofBooks I just so admire her knack for capturing human nature. So many of her stories feel timeless because she connects readers to universal experiences. I grew up on LMM and have read and reread her books so many times. I don't know what I would do without them!! 2mo

lauraisntwilder Her humor is so perfect. I feel like she perfected the art of "laughing with" someone, rather than at them. She could make the ridiculousness of a situation so clear, but it feels good natured rather than cruel. 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheBookHippie Yes!! I love the Anne books, but Emily is so much more relatable for me. @JenlovesJT47 Glad to have you along for the Christmas stories! They're a lot easier to keep up with or hop in and out as you're able! 2mo

BarbaraJean @jewright Yes, I love how real Anne feels. And Rilla is one of LMM's best—I love the view it gives of the “home front“ of WWI, while showing Rilla's growth in maturity. @LeahBergen I love that!! I think LMM would be so pleased to know that her works have continued to be read so widely, and are considered classics. 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks She is definitely a master at characterization! I've loved reading her observations in her journals—she had such a keen eye for what made people tick, and knew how to convey that. @lauraisntwilder Yes! And I think so much of that “laughing with“ feel comes from how she's also able to laugh at herself. That really comes across in her journals. 2mo

julieclair I love the overall hopeful, cozy, homely tone of her books. 2mo

AvidReader25 I love the theme of found family. Her characters are often orphans or have strict, cold families. I love that they often end up closest to the people they choose. 💙 2mo

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BarbaraJean

L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years 1911-1917 | Jen Rubio

#LMMJournals #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead discussion: July 14, 1913 - Mar. 12, 1916

“How I love my old journal and what a part of my life it has become. It satisfies some need in my nature. It seems like a personal confidant in whom I can repose absolute trust.”

There was a LOT in this week‘s section: from the heartbreak of the loss of her child and the WWI years to Stuart‘s birth. What parts did you find particularly interesting or meaningful?

JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

JenlovesJT47 This is how I feel about journaling. 💚 2mo

TheAromaofBooks This was SUCH an interesting section! I found it interesting how invested LMM was in WWI when, at some level, it was somewhat distant from her - she doesn't seem to really have anyone close to her serving as a soldier, for instance. I LOVE Rilla of Ingleside, so it was also interesting to see real-life backdrop/feelings for that future story.

Losing the baby was just sooo heartbreaking! And her being so miserable when she's pregnant but still ⬇ 2mo

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) having to do so much made ME feel tired!

One thing that struck me about this section - most of the biographies we've read have really acted like LMM didn't even like her husband, barely tolerated him, found him to be a bore, etc. But multiple times in this section, LMM mentions being glad that he's there, being sad that he's leaving, missing him while he's gone, etc. While I never get an impression of genuine kindred-spirit-ism-ness ⬇ 2mo

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TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) between them, it also doesn't feel like their marriage is as unequal or as miserable as I feel like it was implied in other books we've read. I do think later in life both of their mental health issues caused a lot of breakdown in their relationship, but here in these middle years it feels like while they may not have a lot of passion that they do still share friendship, companionship, and an ability to work together. 2mo

TheAromaofBooks I'm really looking forward to rereading Anne of the Island. It's another favorite of mine. And you know, ol' Publisher Page was a total jerk, plus a thief, but... I do think we have him to thank for more Anne books sooo 😂 2mo

BarbaraJean @JenLovesJT47 Yes! You can see this reflected in her journal as well—it's such a needed outlet for her. @TheAromaofBooks The way she writes about Ewan in this volume surprised me, too! You can see there was a compatibility there & her decision to marry him makes more sense. It makes me frustrated at the various biographies that seem to characterize her marriage based only on the later years—which were awful, but it's not like it was ALL terrible! 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks On the other hand,there was a passage in this section where she talked about the only perfect happiness being in the arms of someone she loves with all her heart. She then universalizes it as “every woman's real idea of happiness“ but it broke my heart a little to see her express happiness in that way. She didn't say it right out, but it was pretty clear she didn't feel she had that in Ewan. ⬇ 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks I'm really looking forward to Anne of the Island, too!! It'll be next up for us in January! It's so strange to read that LMM didn't think much of it. It's always been one of my favorites—probably because I love getting to finally see the culmination of the Anne/Gilbert romance. 2mo

TheAromaofBooks I get the feeling from the journals that Maud didn't, for lack of a better word, trust passion. That if you feel all the physical attraction and butterflies and yearning, then there must be something wrong. I think she chose Ewan almost because she DIDN'T feel those things for him, which meant that he was a safe, simple, practical choice. I think she feared the part of her that had such dramatic emotional swings from high to low and wanted ⬇ 2mo

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) someone who could help her to find balance and stability. But I think she had no idea that Ewan actually also suffered from similar swings, so in the end she missed out on the joys of the highs while still ending up with someone who made the lows worse, and that genuinely is so sad and lonely. But through this section especially I do feel like they were at least friends who were able to work together comfortably, so it made me feel like ⬇ 2mo

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) her marriage wasn't just 100% disaster 100% of the time, which is honestly the impression I got from the biographies. In this section, I feel like she's actually pretty content. Her journals obviously have her aggravations and frustrations with everyday annoyances, but she also talks about loving her home, being glad to return there, the joys of being in charge of her own household, etc. 2mo

TheAromaofBooks Also, her losing the baby really made me think about House of Dreams and how incredibly emotional that section has always been and how she must have pulled from her own experiences and feelings. SO sad. 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks I think that's right, especially given how she talks about Herman. With him, she'd experienced passion without compatibility and I think it scared her. I think you're right that she wanted someone who would give her contentment & stability. And he does at first! I've been pleasantly surprised that she is so content through this whole volume. Marriage and motherhood do bring her what she hoped for, at least for a time. ⬇ 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks It was interesting that in this section, she longed for home in Leaskdale while visiting PEI! That trip had terrible weather, and she noticed changes in the people & the place, but for LMM to prefer Leaskdale to Cavendish spoke VOLUMES about her contentment in her new life. Yes, the loss of her baby was heartbreaking! House of Dreams echoes that experience so strongly. The parallels in her life & work add so much to the re-reads! 2mo

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BarbaraJean

L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years 1911-1917 | Jen Rubio

“What a pity it is so hard to be both good and interesting. I am not good—but I *am* interesting!”

#LMMJournals #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead

JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

TheKidUpstairs Great quote! Leaskdale is just down the road from me, the Lucy Maud Montgomery Society of Ontario runs a lovely museum there, and they have speakers come throughout the summer for talks and afternoon tea events. Just last week Megan Follows was there for a celebration of LM Montgomery's 150th :) 2mo

JenlovesJT47 💚💚💚 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheKidUpstairs Oh, how lovely!! What a treat to have that so close! I discovered a few days ago that I‘d completely missed that it was just LMM‘s 150th! An egregious oversight in the midst of this deep dive buddy read into LMM‘s life and works 🤦🏻‍♀️ 2mo

38 likes3 comments

BarbaraJean

L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years 1911-1917 | Jen Rubio

A reminder for the #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead-ers who are following along with the #LMMJournals: this coming week (Nov. 24-30) we‘ll be picking up the journals again for just one week, before we dive into LMM‘s Christmas stories.

On Saturday 11/30, we‘ll discuss July 14, 1913 - March 12, 1916 from Volume 3 of LMM‘s Complete Journals. Looking forward to it!

JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

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BarbaraJean

L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years 1911-1917 | Jen Rubio

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMJournals

We‘re back into LMM‘s journals this week, starting volume 3 with LMM‘s honeymoon travels, setting up the manse in Leaskdale, and reflections on new motherhood. I‘m behind on this week‘s reading—so just a general check-in this week, posted early because tomorrow is packed! 😊

How are you doing with this week‘s reading?
What have you noticed? Are there sections, quotes, or themes that stood out to you?

JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks I am almost done reading this section, so I'll pop back in. Also, just confirming, we aren't reading the Chronicles as a group, right? I may still read through them because I'm kind of interested in how they fit into her overall publishing progression arc haha 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Yes, I decided not to include Chronicles this time around—I wasn‘t super interested in re-reading, and they pop up in the journal so close to Golden Road that logistically it also worked better to leave them out! I‘d love to hear your thoughts if you do read through them at this point, though! 2mo

lauraisntwilder I'm behind, too, but I'm enjoying being back in Maud's world again. She made me laugh when she talked about her new dining room, with "only one window which gives a view of several ugly back yards including our own." I also loved the irony of her traveling to places she loved from books/poems and being annoyed when they were packed with tourists. Who goes to PEI and doesn't go to the Anne sights? Would you even go there otherwise?? 2mo

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TheAromaofBooks Like @lauraisntwilder I was glad to be back to reading Maud's thoughts again. Her honeymoon sounds like quite the whirlwind! You have to wonder if she had any thoughts about Ewan vs. MacMillan when she met M in person. And was M's fiancee really as bad as Maud portrayed her, or was she being a little catty/dog-in-the-manger-ish?? On the other hand, it sounds like Maud was physically so uncomfortable from her cystitis, who can blame her for being⬇ 2mo

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) a little grumpy?? How horrible to have a problem at a time when there were no antibiotics or anything that could actually help her problem. It just sounds miserable, especially while traveling!

It's been fun to read about her setting up house and of course the arrival of Chester. But it's also kind of hard to read about her being soooo in love with her baby knowing that he's going to absolutely literally destroy her life later 😢 2mo

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder @TheAromaofBooks I've been enjoying Maud's voice again as well! I had to laugh at her comments about literary sites being crowded with tourists. I think she would be aghast at how AoGG sites are such a tourist attraction now! I feel for her annoyance, because who wouldn't want those gorgeous sights to themselves, for reflection & full immersion in the experience? It's a shame when the experience is diminished by the crowds, but ⬇ 2mo

BarbaraJean (Cont'd) ...also just a little entitled to be so indignant that others also want to experience those same sights. @TheAromaofBooks Her descriptions of MacMillan's fiancee were really funny! I didn't get the sense that she was being catty (who knows, though!), but I did feel like her skills in writing a quick, vivid character sketch were on full display there! The passages where she gushes about her love for Chester were SO bittersweet to read. ⬇ 2mo

BarbaraJean (Cont'd) The note on the May 6, 1913 entry really got me. “My own dear little son! What a blessing you are to me! Will you always be so?“ and then the later added note: “Oh, dear God! 1937!“ 😭 Another passage that struck me was in the June 29, 1913 entry, when she talks about truth and not having the courage to tell it because she's a slave to old conventions and rules. That rings so true about her struggles with conventions and appearances. 2mo

TheAromaofBooks Yes on the conventions thing!! Because I definitely feel like a lot of her life choices were made because of “what would people say“ and “upholding the family name“ instead of what she actually wants from life. And that entry about Chester!!!!! 😢 2mo

24 likes9 comments

BarbaraJean

L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years 1911-1917 | Jen Rubio

#BookMail! Volume 3 of LMM‘s complete journals arrived today, and I spent some time happily planning out the next few months of the #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead, figuring out where #LMMReread and #LMMAdjacent books should fall, which adjacent reads to include, and scoping out an LMM Christmas plan! 🎉 More details soon 😊

rubyslippersreads, Daisey, LeahBergen, CogsOfEncouragement, lauraisntwilder, kwmg40, TheAromaofBooks, Roary47, julieclair

TheAromaofBooks Yay!! When did we even originally start with our Kindred Spirits reads? You would think I would be burned out on LMM by now, but I have just so thoroughly enjoyed exploring one author and her works so completely. 6mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks We started in October 2020!! I‘ve really enjoyed this deep dive, too. (Well, obviously or I wouldn‘t keep it going 😂) It‘s been such fun reading along with you and the group! 6mo

TheAromaofBooks We may need a four-year anniversary party! 😂 I can't believe it's been that long!! 6mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks I know, right?! Maybe I should host an Anne-themed swap or something! 6mo

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