lucymaudemontgomery

@Scochrane26 - I'm your #JolabokaflodSwap match this year!!! I mailed your package earlier this week, but in typical Sarah-Style did not actually notate on the envelope anywhere that it was a Litsy package or who it was from 😂 So be on the lookout for a blue padded envelope from Ohio - that's your Swap gift!!! Merry Christmas!!

@MaleficentBookDragon thanks so much for hosting - I love this simple swap!!

dabbe ❣️🎄❣️ 4d

AnnCrystal 😍🎄🤩💝. 4d

Scochrane26 Thanks for letting me know, Sarah! 4d

45 likes3 comments

BarbaraJean

Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, 1905 to 1906 | Lucy Maud Montgomery

“Clorinda stopped short suddenly. She had just remembered that she would not have liked to say that last sentence to Aunt Emmy. Therefore, there was something wrong about it. Clorinda had long ago learned that there was sure to be something wrong in anything that could not be said to Aunt Emmy.”

I loved today‘s story, with its focus on giving out of who you are, rather than what you can spend.❤️

#KindredSpiritsChristmas #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead

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

BarbaraJean Today‘s story, “Clorinda‘s Gifts,” is available on Hoopla and in the tagged collection, or online here: https://www.fadedpage.com/books/20150144/html.php#Clorindas_G...

Tomorrow we‘ll read “Katherine Brooke Comes to Green Gables,” which is an excerpt from Anne of Windy Poplars (2nd Year, chs. 5-6). The excerpt is in the tagged collection, or the full text of the book is available here: https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20100608

Christmas with Anne: And Other Holiday Stories

CogsOfEncouragement This one was really sweet, I enjoyed it. 7d

TheAromaofBooks I know LMM wrote a lot of short stories for “churchy“ magazines and such where she “had“ to have a moral to the story, and it makes me wonder how many in this collection were originally written with that purpose. But I still really enjoy them because she makes the lesson so palatable and thoughtful. 7d

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lauraisntwilder @TheAromaofBooks I've been wondering that, too. This one definitely felt like that, but she is so good at forming characters quickly that it was still enjoyable. 7d

TheAromaofBooks @lauraisntwilder - Exactly, she makes her characters still feel so realistic and relatable, even in a 6-page story, that it feels like we're just learning the lesson alongside them instead of being preached at. 7d

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks @lauraisntwilder Yes, this one seemed very much like a teach-y one for young people! I wondered that about “The Osborne's Christmas“ as well. Both clearly have a “lesson” but as you said, Sarah, they don‘t feel preachy. I thoroughly enjoyed both!

I started poking around to see if I could find publication info on “The Osbornes Christmas” because it seemed SO much like a Sunday school paper or similar. ⬇ 6d

BarbaraJean (Cont'd) I found this page, which has pub info for a lot of LMM's stories: https://www.fadedpage.com/sc/montgomery.php

It didn't shed light on the Osbornes, but it does say that Clorinda was published in the Epworth Herald. I looked that up and found that it was a newspaper for a Methodist Episcopal young people‘s service organization, so the “moral of the story” purpose checks out! https://www.nyac.com/theepworthheralddec2009 6d

BarbaraJean OK, never mind, that page DOES have info on “The Osborne's Christmas“--not sure how I missed it! It was published in “Zion's Herald,“ a weekly Methodist publication “devoted to religion and moral subjects“ (according to Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/pub_zions-herald?tab=about). IA also has that issue scanned if you want to see the original! https://archive.org/details/sim_zions-herald_1903-12-16_81_50/page/1604/mode/2up (edited) 6d

lauraisntwilder She was writing for the Methodists?! Felicity King would be scandalized! 😂 6d

TheAromaofBooks @lauraisntwilder - I lost it 😂 6d

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder 😂😂😂 5d

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TheAromaofBooks

Across the Miles | Lucy Maud Montgomery

@BookmarkTavern - I'm your match for the #StuffedStockingSwap !!! I finally got your package in the mail yesterday and USPS says it should be there Friday!! I hope you love it!! 😁

@Avanders thanks so much for hosting this fun swap every year!!!

Avanders 👏🏼👏🏼🎄☃️❤️😘 2w

BookmarkTavern Oh I am so excited! 💖💖💖 2w

43 likes2 comments

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 😊 3mo

TheAromaofBooks So fun!!! 3mo

24 likes2 comments

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. 3mo

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. 3mo

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 😆 3mo

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. 3mo

17 likes4 comments

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 ⬇ 3mo

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 ⬇ 3mo

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⬇ 3mo

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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. 3mo

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! 3mo

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 😆 3mo

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) 3mo

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) her happy. 3mo

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" > 3mo

lauraisntwilder < all the men whose proposals she rejected. 3mo

13 likes10 comments

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 3mo

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! ⬇ 3mo

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. 3mo

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! 3mo

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. 3mo

11 likes5 comments

lauraisntwilder

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

pick

LMM's early 30s, despite literary success and fame, seemed to have more than her fair share of sadness. Depression and loneliness were ever present in the winter months, with just her elderly grandmother for company. But when she's happy, if she's spending those happy moments writing, her words are effervescent and full of the beauty of the natural world. #kindredspiritsbuddyread

26 likes

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) 4mo

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 ⤵️ 4mo

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 😂😂) 4mo

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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! 4mo

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“ ⬇ 4mo

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 ⬇ 4mo

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. 4mo

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. 3mo

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... 3mo

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⬇ 3mo

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) start to make sense of all the feelings. 3mo

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. 3mo

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