Litsy

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 2w

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! 2w

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?? 2w

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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⬇ 2w

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 😢 2w

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 ⬇ 1w

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. ⬇ 1w

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. 1w

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!!!!! 😢 1w

24 likes9 comments

BarbaraJean

The Golden Road | L. M. Montgomery

For those following along with #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMReread or #LMMJournals, in November we‘re starting Vol. 3 of the Complete Journals and also reading The Golden Road.

Then in December we‘ll read LMM‘s Christmas stories! I‘ll assemble a #KindredSpiritsChristmas story-a-day schedule for us to read these cozy holiday stories together. All are welcome—if you‘d like to join in just for December, let me know and I‘ll add you to the tag list!

rubyslippersreads, Daisey, LeahBergen, JenlovesJT47, CogsOfEncouragement, lauraisntwilder, kwmg40, TheAromaofBooks, Roary47, LitsyEvents, julieclair, Seabreeze_Reader

Seabreeze_Reader Enjoy your reading. 🙂Unfortunately I won't have time in my schedule to join in. 3w

BarbaraJean @Seabreeze_Reader Thank you! Maybe we‘ll catch you another time 😊 3w

TheAromaofBooks I actually read the “Haunted“ short story this week! Still plowing my way through Seven Gables 😅 My copy of the journals should be here this weekend. I'm looking forward/also somewhat apprehensive to read about LMM's early marriage years and leaving PEI. Are the Christmas stories going to a specific book of collected stories, or just random ones from here and there? 3w

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BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Seven Gables turned out to be quite a slog! 😬 I‘ll see how this volume of the journals feels—I‘m a bit apprehensive as well! There are more of LMM‘s books to break things up with at this point, though, and I‘m going to go through the notes and jot down adjacent titles to work into the schedule also. The Christmas stories are random—I have a list compiled from a few different Christmas collections (minus that weird Red Room one!) 3w

Roary47 The golden road looks enchanting. I‘m going to read the first book really quick to be on track. 🥰 3w

TheAromaofBooks Yeah, The Red Room, randomly depressing and not remotely Christmasy haha That story was a disappointment! 😂 3w

julieclair @TheAromaofBooks I actually read the haunted story too! I‘m so proud of us! 😀 3w

julieclair I will skip the journals, but join in for The Golden Road. And December sounds delightful! 3w

BarbaraJean @Roary47 Yay! Glad to have you join in, and I hope you enjoy both books! 😊 3w

BarbaraJean @julieclair Looking forward to reading Golden Road and Christmas stories with you! And good job reading the ghost story—LMM loved ghost stories, but it sounds like it‘s not in any of our wheelhouses, so good job to all of us! 3w

Daisey I‘d like to try to join in for the Christmas stories. Please add me to that list. 3w

BarbaraJean @Daisey Will do! Glad to have you along for the Christmas stories! 3w

CogsOfEncouragement Christmas story-a-day sounds delightful, please count me in. 1w

BarbaraJean @CogsOfEncouragement I've added you to the tag list! Glad to have you along! 1w

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LitsyEvents

Elizabeth and Her German Garden | Elizabeth Von Arnim

Here's the #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead schedule for October & November! We've got three #LMMAdjacent reads in October, then in November, we'll start Volume 3 of the complete #LMMJournals, with an #LMMReread of The Golden Road in the middle. I have separate tag lists for each, so (if you haven't already) let me know if you'd like to be tagged for any of the above! Discussions are on Saturdays, and all are welcome.

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BarbaraJean

Elizabeth and Her German Garden | Elizabeth Von Arnim

Here‘s the #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead schedule for October & November! We‘ve got three #LMMAdjacent reads in October, then in November, we‘ll start Volume 3 of the complete #LMMJournals, with an #LMMReread of The Golden Road in the middle. I have separate tag lists for each, so (if you haven‘t already) let me know if you‘d like to be tagged for any of the above! Discussions are on Saturdays, and all are welcome.

rubyslippersreads, Daisey, LeahBergen, JenlovesJT47, CogsOfEncouragement, lauraisntwilder, kwmg40, TheAromaofBooks, Roary47, LitsyEvents, julieclair

TheAromaofBooks I\'m looking forward to starting Elizabeth and Her German Garden today. I was surprised to find it as a Penguin English Library Edition - maybe more popular in Britain than here? I heartily disliked the only other Hawthorne I\'ve read (The Scarlet Letter) so I\'m interested to see if I like Seven Gables any better 😂 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks My county library system has exactly ONE print copy of Elizabeth, which I\'ve put on hold because I\'m SUPER interested to get hold of it: the library catalog says it was published in 1913! I\'ve also only read Scarlet Letter by Hawthorne—I thought it was interesting, but not amazing—so I\'m also interested to see what I think of Seven Gables. The main criticism I\'ve seen is that it\'s not scary enough (which is a plus in my book!) 2mo

TheAromaofBooks The pretty Penguin edition was only $11 on Blackwell\'s website, so I splurged 😂 https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Elizabeth-and-Her-German-Garden-by-Eli... 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks The Penguin one is such a pretty edition! All the ebook covers on Hoopla are either generic or just terrible. 😂 2mo

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BarbaraJean

The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery: 1910-1921 | Lucy Maud Montgomery

This evening was fine & crisp and I drove into Uxbridge to meet Ewan who has been away all week attending a conference in Toronto. We have a dear little mare "Queen," who is not afraid of motors or anything of that kind & I can drive her without fear. We had a pleasant drive home through the moonlight and a delightful home-coming, with Frede & Sonny Punch [Chester], a bright fire and a good supper awaiting us.
#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead
#LMMJournals

lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

BarbaraJean I came across this today on FB and was delighted! This quote is from Vol. 2 of the Selected Journals—so it‘s farther along in Maud‘s life than we‘ve gotten yet, but I thought I‘d share 😊 2mo

TheAromaofBooks So fun!!! 2mo

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BarbaraJean

The Complete Journals of L.M. Montgomery: The PEI Years, 1901-1911 | L.M. Montgomery

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMJournals

LMM includes lots of details on her inspiration for places, people, and events in AoGG (pp. 348-356) and AoA (pp. 356-7), a little about Kilmeny (p. 357), and then details on Story Girl (p. 316 and pp. 404-408).

📚What do these details add to your reading of these books?
📚What do they offer you in understanding more about LMM and her writing?

lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks I definitely enjoyed hearing about some of her inspirations - I also felt like some of her explanations were in the nature of making sure people understand who/what were NOT inspirations 😂 I really love the way that LMM (and many authors) are able to pull threads from different aspects of life and weave them into a different story. 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Haha—yes, it felt like there was a lot of “setting the record straight“ going on! As well as wanting to record it for posterity. So much of this third volume (her third volume, not the third published volume... I REALLY wish the editors had split up the journals in the same way LMM did!!) has felt like she's writing for an imagined future audience as much as she's keeping a journal for herself. 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Also, all her details about which stories come from her own family lore really adds a lot to my view of Story Girl. Knowing it was such a beloved book to LMM, and with these added details about the sources for the stories... I'm really looking forward to re-reading it with that added lens! I also love knowing that she didn't think very highly of Kilmeny as a book 😆 2mo

lauraisntwilder That was an interesting section. I've been making notes of all the times something reminds me of her books. The way she talks about her home in Cavendish, for example, is so much like Pat. They didn't burn down the house, but her leaving felt just as final. 2mo

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BarbaraJean

The Complete Journals of L.M. Montgomery: The PEI Years, 1901-1911 | L.M. Montgomery

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMJournals

📚Now that we‘ve read further into LMM‘s adult life, what aspects of her personality stand out to you that maybe you hadn‘t noticed before?
📚What picture do you get of who she is and what she was like as a person?

lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks I've always known she was very proud/a bit of a snob, and I feel like that is definitely true. The whole section towards the end where she is telling about her family history and connections, even the part where she was summarizing the neighbors - she definitely ranks people and considers her family a cut above many of the others. However, I think that makes her determined to live up to her family name and the idea of “bringing shame“ to the ⬇ 2mo

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) family is a real horror to her. It really seems to me that that is a bit driving part of what kept her with her grandmother for so long, and it definitely seems to be what kept her from certain romantic entanglements. LMM also had an amazing sense of humor and a knack for friendship. I think she had a huge capacity for affection that was thwarted again and again. Her description of her marriage as something that made her “content“ made ⬇ 2mo

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) me so sad for her because it felt like she married someone who couldn't even be a real friend to her, and she seems like someone who desperately needed friendship in her life. I find myself wondering what her life would have been like if her mother had lived, if she had grown up in a house with parents who cared about her, with some younger siblings - I'm rambling wildly away from the actual question here 😂 but I guess the point is that⬇ 2mo

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TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) I think her journals show us not just who she was, but glimpses of who she could have been under different, happier circumstances. I so admire her determination to stay positive, to take moments to just drink in the beauty of the world around her and find peace in it, her commitment to what she viewed as her duties, and her ability to find and distill humor and humanity into virtually everything she wrote. 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks The snobbishness is EXACTLY what I was thinking! That really came across in this volume more than in the previous one. But that judgmental eye combined with her sense of humor results in some hilarious recounting of various events! Her critical eye allows her to stand aside from certain moments and see the ridiculousness of it. I also wonder what it would have been like to meet her—whether I'd have stood up under her scrutiny! 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks I echo your ramblings in thinking about LMM! So often when reading these journals, I run through “what if“ scenarios. I think she'd have been so much more grounded and less susceptible to depression) if she'd had a childhood with loving parents & siblings, instead of strict grandparents who did NOT understand her. Or if she'd married someone who could have been a true confidant and partner. Or if she'd had a good therapist 😆 2mo

TheAromaofBooks Her sad marriage is what really gets me the most, I think. It just seems like she was finally in situation where she could be “free“ and instead she shackles herself to someone she doesn't really respect and saddles herself with basically a full-time job (minister's wife) that she KNOWS she isn't going to like. I think it's SO interesting how many of her life choices really were based on “what people might say“ instead of what would actually make⬇ (edited) 2mo

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) her happy. 2mo

lauraisntwilder @BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks I was surprised at how often she reread the parts of her journal that made her sad, but she didn't have anyone to reminisce with - her friends were either far away, dead, or greatly changed. As you've already mentioned, I wish she could've had some psychological help. She seems to have decided her life was over done with by the time she's 35 or so, like all her good days were over. Add to your list of "what ifs" > 2mo

lauraisntwilder < all the men whose proposals she rejected. 2mo

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BarbaraJean

The Complete Journals of L.M. Montgomery: The PEI Years, 1901-1911 | L.M. Montgomery

I have a super busy Saturday tomorrow, so I‘m posting our #LMMJournals #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead questions early!

Here we are at the end of the second volume of LMM‘s complete journals, ending this volume just after her marriage and the start of her honeymoon.

📚What stood out to you from this week‘s reading? From this volume overall?
📚What have you found to be most interesting or surprising from reading LMM‘s journals so far?

lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks So it's starting to run together a little, but was this the section where she actually went and met Mr. Jerk Publisher Page? What a creep! He's so manipulative! You can see how he made a successful career by preying on female authors! I wanted to tell her to run away!!! But instead she signed another contract with that horrid man. However, it was super fun to read about her journey to Boston and her adventures there haha 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Yes, that was in this section! I got mad about slimeball Page all over again. What struck me was that she saw through his manipulation, but STILL signed that unfair contract. Even though she identified all his tricks, they were still effective tricks! And she goes on to acknowledge that she does NOT trust him. The guy knew what he was doing (unfortunately). But yes, I did otherwise enjoy reading about her Boston adventures! ⬇ 2mo

BarbaraJean (Cont'd) I thought it was lovely that she was able to have that trip, and enjoy herself so thoroughly. It was so rare for her to have that kind of experience at that point in her life, and it felt like the kind of escape she needed so desperately. 2mo

TheAromaofBooks Yes, she definitely knew what he was doing and seemed to just kind of have a “devil you know“ kind of attitude towards the whole situation. That guy was SUCH a sleeze! 2mo

lauraisntwilder @BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks It was my son's birthday weekend and I got distracted and never answered these! What stuck out to me the most was how little she talked about being engaged. She stopped talking about Ewan completely. 2mo

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BarbaraJean

The Complete Journals of L.M. Montgomery: The PEI Years, 1901-1911 | L.M. Montgomery

“I do feel so worried and unhappy all the time. I cannot even write my worries out here—they go too deep and cut too keenly. I seem to enjoy *nothing.* Always there is the undercurrent of dread and anxiety and heartsickness.
…If I had anyone to share the worry with me—to talk things over with—to assist—to encourage! But I have no one. And everywhere I look I can see nothing but darkness.”
😭💔⤵️
#LMMJournals #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead

lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

BarbaraJean I thought we were going to have more balance between pain and happiness in this volume, Maud? That lasted until winter, I suppose. 😭 My heart really goes out to her with these kinds of entries. If only she‘d had access to some mental health professionals! 3mo

Blueberry 😥 3mo

TheAromaofBooks I just read this section this morning. Even scarier was just the next page or so when she takes the pain medication - knowing that she ends up taking addictive/destructive substances for the rest of her life (through medical ignorance of the time) that entry basically saying “maybe it isn't bad if I only take it now and then“ was kind of chilling. But I also can't blame her - days and days without sleep because of pain is so horrible! 3mo

lauraisntwilder It's even harder to read knowing she outlives Frede, the only person who seems to alleviate the pain and darkness. 3mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks I know, right?! She's so hesitant about taking it at all, then rationalizes it in a perfectly reasonable way... but you just can't help seeing the foreshadowing! @lauraisntwilder I wish for a parallel universe where LMM didn't have to stay with her grandmother and Frede didn't die and the two of them can just have their own place and live out their best lives as cousin-old-maids. 3mo

31 likes5 comments

BarbaraJean

The Complete Journals of L.M. Montgomery: The PEI Years, 1901-1911 | L.M. Montgomery

“In spite of my free confessions and self analysis, a stranger perusing these journals would receive from them a quite misleading impression of my real character and life.”

“…the second volume gives the impression of a morbid temperament, generally in the throes of nervousness and gloom. …in reality these spasms came at long intervals, when loneliness and solitude had broken down my powers of endurance. ⤵️

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMJournals

JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) “…Between these times I was quite tolerably happy, hopeful and interested in life.

Well, I begin the third volume. I am going to try to strike a better balance in it—to write out my happiness as well as my pain.”
(Feb. 11, 1910) 3mo

BarbaraJean This is exactly what I was thinking in reading the bulk of this second volume of LMM‘s journals (side note: I wish they‘d been published to correspond to LMM‘s volume divisions!)—that it‘s not a balanced picture of her life. Since she so often uses her journal to “write out” her pain, we don‘t have a record of the happy times. But this got me thinking: does writing out the pain and not the happiness not only give a stilted perspective to the ⤵️ 3mo

BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) …”stranger” reading LMM‘s journals, but also emphasize the pain and not the happiness to LMM herself? What do you think: is it better to let yourself vent and get it all out, or to count your blessings and not focus on the negatives? Or is there a middle ground? (Asking for a friend 😂😂) 3mo

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lauraisntwilder I've always been a sporadic journaler, but I recently realized I hadn't written anything in my journal since shortly before my sister's cancer came back 3 years ago. We were still in lockdown mode, waiting for my son to be old enough for the vaccine, and I think the cancer news was just too much. I didn't have the words. In general though, I think it's good to vent! 3mo

TheAromaofBooks Whoops, I commented about this on the other post, because I hadn't read this one yet 😂 I think balance is good. I genuinely believe that gratitude and appreciation for our blessings make us better, happier, more pleasant people, so I'm a big believer in focusing on the positive. I definitely use my journal to sometimes write out “big feelings“ and I think that lots of times those are negative ones because we tend to try and figure out “why“ ⬇ 3mo

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) when bad things are happening. When good things are happening, we don't generally deep-dive into the analytics as much, or at least I don't 😆 Sometimes things genuinely are hard, and you need to get things sorted out to figure out the best way through. But sometimes it's my attitude that's the issue, and sitting down and writing down 10 things I'm thankful for today, or writing a quick note to someone I appreciate helps me turn myself ⬇ 3mo

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) around.

And not to get super religious on social media, but I'm a Christian, so lots of times I'll read Psalms when I'm feeling down - it's so good to remember that having feelings isn't a bad/sinful thing, and also knowing that I'm not the only one who has ever felt this way helps me keep my problems in perspective. 3mo

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder @TheAromaofBooks It's fascinating to me how journaling works so differently, even for the same person at different times! There are times that writing everything out has helped me immensely, and other times that I think it's exacerbated things by me rehashing stuff I needed to let go. And then as you said, Laura—sometimes there just aren't words. I used to keep a “prayer journal“ that really helped me process life circumstances ⬇ (edited) 3mo

BarbaraJean (Cont'd) ...and reflect on both the good & bad, with God (now I'm getting Christian-y, too 😊). I used to write in that journal almost daily, but there was a year I barely wrote at all because I was processing in different ways & praying in different ways. (I also realized I needed to stop measuring my faith by how often I was journaling!) I tend to over-analyze the bad & lean towards pessimism, so balancing out my reflection is important for me! 3mo

lauraisntwilder @BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks This line, from page 397, seems relevant to this discussion: "I long shrank from the pain I knew would be attendant upon the writing of grandmother's death and leaving Cavendish." I totally understand that. I think "writing it out" when you're down is helpful, but this is an important distinction -- you know bad times will pass, but some changes (like death) are permanent & words & writing can fall short. 2mo

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder Yes! She CANNOT write it out when it comes. That long gap between March 1911 and January 1912 is jarring to see, but so telling. When I saw the gap in dates, I did a double take, and then thought “Oh, no...I know what happened in between... 2mo

TheAromaofBooks @BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder - Yes, I definitely think there is a sort of emotional paralysis that comes with genuinely huge changes/times of grief, especially ones you weren't expecting. I think writing it out can really help with situations where you are trying to make sense of things, make decisions, sort of analyze life, etc. But something like someone dying - it's a different kind of sadness, and you have to get further along before you can⬇ 2mo

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) start to make sense of all the feelings. 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Absolutely. I read Madeleine L'Engle's “The Summer of the Great-Grandmother“ right after my mother passed away, and I remember thinking so many times while reading that book: “This is exactly what it was like, and I wish I could record it the way she has.“ But it was still too close. 2mo

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