Lucy Maud Montgomery

Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings | Mary Henley Rubio

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead - Gift of Wings discussion - 4 of 4

What did you make of the events surrounding Maud‘s death—her mental state, the medications and “page 176” found on her bedside table, and the supposed missing 175 pages? What did you think of the conclusions Rubio comes to regarding Maud‘s death?

Any further thoughts on this massive biography? (Congrats to us for finishing this tome!)

rubyslippersreads, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

BarbaraJean I'm torn about Rubio's theories on Maud's death. (I was glad that she didn't theorize/speculate about it as strongly as she did about Edwin Smith and her theories that he and Ewan inspired AoGG and Blue Castle!!) The “page 176“ is curious indeed. It seems pretty clear that it's not a suicide note, but the “missing pages“ are a puzzle to me. I'm kind of glad it's unclear whether it was an accidental death or suicide. I don't think I want to know. 8mo

lauraisntwilder I think Maud's death is widely accepted now as suicide, but this painted a different, much more complicated, picture. Either way, it's a shame that she and Ewan (and Chester?) weren't able to get the help they desperately needed. I don't know what to think about those missing 175 pages. Why hasn't someone written that as a novel yet? 8mo

TheAromaofBooks Part of me thinks that Maud was in a place where she was resigned to “what will be will be“ kind of thing - her comment to someone about she might not be here in a couple of weeks, but other comments that made it sound like she had no intentions of going anywhere make me wonder if her overdose was technically accidental, but also not necessarily unwanted, if that makes sense. No matter what, it is just such a sad ending to an inspiring life. ⬇ 8mo

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TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) Like @lauraisntwilder said, it's so sad that she and her family weren't able to get the help they needed, and that the very fact that they needed help was so strongly stigmatized at the time. 8mo

TheAromaofBooks Overall, I did get a lot of out of this biography and found it to be well-researched. I didn't care for some of Rubio's speculations, but I also think she spent so much time immersed in Maud's world that she kind of felt like she “knew“ what Maud was really like. I'm VERY glad we took two months on this one as it was a lot to take in, and 10-15pg daily bites were about right for me!! 8mo

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder Exactly - Rubio paints a much more complex picture of her death, and I really appreciated that complexity and nuance. It's kind of ironic given all the speculation Rubio inserts in the rest of the book, that her portrayal of Maud's death does acknowledge we can't know what actually happened. @TheAromaofBooks Seeing Maud as “resigned“ in those last days makes a LOT of sense. 8mo

13 likes6 comments

BarbaraJean

Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings | Mary Henley Rubio

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead - Gift of Wings discussion - 3 of 4

What are your thoughts on how Maud‘s work was viewed later in her career—dismissed as “books for girls” and sidelined by critics/editors such as William Arthur Deacon and Pelham Edgar?

Has reading Gift of Wings changed the way you view Montgomery‘s fiction? If so, in what ways?

rubyslippersreads, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

BarbaraJean It was heartbreaking to see her books disregarded and LMM herself pushed out of the CAA, when she did SO much for Canadian literature, both in her writing and her advocacy. I couldn't believe the audacity of those who basically said “We need great Canadian literature... but not her. She's not great Canadian literature.“ 🙄 I was so frustrated by the dismissal of her work as “sentimental,“ and supposedly not “serious“ or worthwhile as literature. 8mo

BarbaraJean I was glad Maud stuck to her belief that rural communities and everyday life were rich with depth and universal in their examination of human experience. I agree with her. I think reading this has changed the way I view LMM's fiction--I will definitely have a different experience re-reading her books, knowing more of the personal context. I think I will likely do more looking for LMM herself in her fiction, more closely than I did before. 8mo

lauraisntwilder Honestly, I'm not surprised she was mistreated. Much as I love the classics and Literature (with a capital L!), there's always a contingent of intellectuals who look down on books that aren't depressing, especially if the main character isn't a man. The idea of creating a Canadian literary world was fascinating to me though, as I'd never realized how relatively young Canada is as a country. 8mo

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lauraisntwilder The book helped me with the reading of the Anne books. I thought Anne of Ingleside was kind of lackluster and I couldn't keep all the kids straight in my head. I had no idea Rainbow Valley was written first! Readers of Maud's day would have already known all those characters. I plan to read the Emily books next, but because of this bio, I want to read The Blue Castle and A Tangled Web. 8mo

TheAromaofBooks Everything about this aspect made me so mad!!! It reminded me of high school, where we were told to read a list of “classics“ all of which were depressing. It's no wonder that so many kids come out of school not interested in reading! It's Maud's commitment to “everyday life“ stories that has kept them so relatable a hundred years later. Anne, Emily, and other heroines experience the same highs and lows that we still do now, outside of their ⬇ 8mo

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) time and place. Maud's ability to write such uplifting, kind stories even during times of emotional turmoil in her own life really is inspiring. I'm so glad that she stayed true to her belief that those types of stories are important. @lauraisntwilder 8mo

TheAromaofBooks @lauraisntwilder - The Blue Castle is possibly my very favorite of LMM's books. I love that story so much. It starts sad, but once Valancy makes some key choices, the book picks up amazingly. A Tangled Web is a story that I like but don't love, mostly because it is actually several stories all in one, so some of them I like and some of them I don't haha 8mo

lauraisntwilder @TheAromaofBooks Now I'm really looking forward to The Blue Castle! 😊 It sounded like Maud was really inspired, like a whirlwind of creativity, when she wrote it. 8mo

TheAromaofBooks Oh oh one other thing I thought of - how tantalizing was the idea of a Jane of Lantern Hill sequel??? I want Jane and Jody so much!!! I wonder what happened to the partial manuscript??? 8mo

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder This gave me a totally different view of Anne of Ingleside, knowing what LMM was going through while writing it. I think it's possibly her weakest book, it's super uneven, the ending & the whole Christine thing is really weird, but knowing the personal turmoil in LMM's life makes me forgive a lot! Like @TheAromaofBooks, Blue Castle is probably my favorite by LMM. There's so much about it to love. Even if the hero is named Barney! 8mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks @lauraisntwilder Now I have TWO LMM fanfics I want to read: a recreation of Jane and Jody, and a recreation of the missing 175 pages! (edited) 8mo

TheAromaofBooks @BarbaraJean - YES!! 8mo

11 likes12 comments

BarbaraJean

Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings | Mary Henley Rubio

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead - Gift of Wings discussion - 2 of 4

After reading this biography in which LMM‘s journals play such a strong role, are you interested in reading LMM‘s journals? Why or why not?

(Or, if you have read her journals, how did they inform your reading of this biography?)

rubyslippersreads, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

BarbaraJean I've been interested in reading the journals, and I think I still am, but I need some distance from this book before I'd be ready to tackle them. It's clear that they'll be a difficult read, emotionally speaking! 8mo

lauraisntwilder I think I would like to read them someday, but I agree, not right away! 8mo

TheAromaofBooks I have to agree with both of you. I am sure they would be interesting, but this biography was so intense that I'm definitely not ready for the emotional journey of her personal journals! @lauraisntwilder 8mo

9 likes3 comments

BarbaraJean

Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings | Mary Henley Rubio

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead - Gift of Wings discussion 1 of 4

What do you think of the way Rubio handles the latter half of LMM‘s life?

What aspects of LMM‘s life stand out to you from the second half of the book? What was particularly surprising, interesting, or sad to you?

rubyslippersreads, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

BarbaraJean In this half, it felt like there was less speculation than in the first half--but maybe I just got used to it?! I had fewer angry notes in the margins. 😂 I again disagreed with lots of Rubio's interpretations of Maud's books and I found it frustrating that she gave spoilers for every single one! (I feel like I need to apologize to @lauraisntwilder - you haven't finished reading all of her books yet, right?! 😩) 8mo

BarbaraJean Also, I was taken aback by how absolutely awful Maud's older son was, and the emotional havoc that caused for someone who already struggled with her husband‘s depression as well as her own. And it was so, so sad to read that all the remedies used at the time for depression and “nerves” likely had such a disastrous effect, both for her and Ewan. It made me wonder how different her life would have been if proper treatment had been available. 8mo

lauraisntwilder I think my favorite part of the whole book was in this half -- her exchange with Violet, the aspiring writer. Obviously, the version of Maud that's in her journals is real and says a lot about who she was, but the version Violet saw, that is, the public version of Maud felt more representative of what it would have been like to meet her. 8mo

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lauraisntwilder @BarbaraJean Chester was surprisingly awful. Just kept getting worse! I haven't read all LMM's books, but I didn't the spoiler-y bits. Rubio focused on completely different parts than I would have of the ones I have read, so I don't think it matters much. I read Rilla of Ingleside this month and, as you and @TheAromaofBooks discussed last month, she was WAY off on her interpretation. 8mo

TheAromaofBooks I could hardly BEAR to read about Chester! What a dreadful person! The story where he was stealing money from the single mother, all while pretending to help her!? Oh my GOSH. I felt like in some ways Chester's story overshadowed Maud's during parts of this second part. It did seem necessary to help us understanding what Maud was going through and why she was struggling emotionally, but it was a hard slog. I felt bad for Stuart, too, who just ⬇ 8mo

TheAromaofBooks (Cont'd) got shuttled into the “good son“ role and somewhat overshadowed by his brother's drama. I've seen similar scenes play out in real life, where one sibling can completely destroy a family's happiness. It's hard to know what to do. Should Maud have just cut him off? Would she have been happier if he was just out there doing his thing without her? I just don't know. 😕 8mo

TheAromaofBooks @lauraisntwilder - I was genuinely MAD about the way Rubio interpreted the ending of Rilla 😂 I love that book so much, and it just felt like Rubio went out of her way to make up stuff. I felt the same with her conclusions about Aunt Mary Maria in Ingleside being Maud's “alter-ego“ because Maud had “come to hate Anne and Anne's happiness.“ !??!!?! That just felt like SUCH a stretch! 8mo

TheAromaofBooks Everything about the medications was also so distressing. It really had me thinking about what drugs are prescribed now and whether we'll find out later that they're actually more harmful than helpful. The medical world has obviously improved over all, but it can still be scary how little we know about what's happening!! I felt so terrible for Maud and Ewan, doing what they were told would help them, and it was actually making them worse. 8mo

lauraisntwilder @TheAromaofBooks And I liked Aunt Mary Maria! 😂 8mo

TheAromaofBooks @lauraisntwilder - I always thought AMM added some needed spice to the story. It gave Maud an opportunity to explore different parenting concepts and also to put strain on different aspects of the family that left them stronger and more bonded than they were before. I thought so many of her stories and decrees were kind of hilarious 😆 8mo

lauraisntwilder @TheAromaofBooks I agree! Living with her would be hard, definitely, but she was one of the best parts of the book! 8mo

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder Yes, I loved that section about Violet! I liked how Rubio stressed that she heard a very different view from those who knew or met Maud. The “real“ Maud must have been somewhere between the trauma of the journals and the encouraging, storytelling, even “jolly“ Maud that many others experienced. I'm looking forward to reading her correspondence with McMillan later in the year, to get yet another view of her. 8mo

BarbaraJean I'm certainly not qualified to armchair diagnose, but Chester certainly seemed like he had sociopathic tendencies! (Rubio certainly didn't hold back in speculating about him possibly being a psychopath!) @TheAromaofBooks I kept wanting Maud to cut him off and throw him out of the house. She tried to set some boundaries in rewriting her will, but it seemed like too little, too late. I did agree with Rubio when she talked about how much of ⬇ 8mo

BarbaraJean (Cont'd) Maud's fiction was about pursuing or fulfilling a longing for parents and a loving home/family - and how sad it was that Maud didn't have that in her own family, seemingly either growing up, or in her own marriage/family. It makes sense that she was kind of always looking for that in her fictional worlds, especially in that latter half when her writing really becomes a therapeutic escape for her. 8mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks @@lauraisntwilder I haaaaaated Aunt Mary Maria, but I also haaaaated Rubio's interpretation of her as Maud's alter ego punishing Anne's happiness. So ridiculous. A little bit of AMM went a LONG way for me--at first she was amusing but then she just. wouldn't. go. home. 😂 8mo

lauraisntwilder @BarbaraJean That's why I loved her! She was so absolutely like a guest that won't leave. And poor Susan was ready to knock her on the head with a frying pan. 😜 8mo

7 likes16 comments

lauraisntwilder

Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings | Mary Henley Rubio

pick

I've read 10 pages or more of this book almost every day since July 1, and I'm really going to miss Maud. I think one day I might like to read her journals, but I'm fairly sure Rubio covers the highlights. I think my favorite detail is that it was a Globe and Mail Best Book, when long-time editor William Arthur Deacon was a total jerk to Maud. #kindredspiritsbuddyread

BarbaraJean Delicious irony on that Globe and Mail pick!! 8mo

18 likes1 comment

BarbaraJean

Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings | Mary Henley Rubio

pick

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead
The depth & breadth of the research that went into this is impressive. It‘s a fascinating account of LMM‘s life, and I enjoyed finding out so much personal context for her writing. LMM worked so many tidbits of her own life & family stories into her fiction, and I loved making connections between her books & details of her life & family history. However, the tone Rubio takes through much of the biography is frustrating. ⬇

BarbaraJean (Continued) Rubio engages in a level of speculation that I found both annoying and often inappropriate. Her repeated refrain that Maud “must have” felt or thought a certain way became infuriating at times. While it‘s clear that Maud is an unreliable narrator in her journals, Rubio goes beyond the task of a biographer by filling in the gaps herself or “correcting” the account with what seems to be her own dubious speculation. ⬇ (edited) 8mo

BarbaraJean Rubio‘s depth of research into Maud‘s life does give her more license to speculate than the average reader, but I wish she‘d taken more care to moderate her tone when she did so. That said, I‘m appreciative of the scholarship that went into this—and I‘m glad I read it. I finished the book both saddened by the anguish Maud weathered in her later years & amazed by how comforting & hopeful her books are, when her own life was full of so much sadness. 8mo

BarbaraJean Looking forward to discussing this on Saturday with @TheAromaofBooks @lauraisntwilder and @rubyslippersreads! 8mo

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lauraisntwilder I only have 27 pages left! I'm going to feel so lost without my daily dose of Maud & company 8mo

LeahBergen What a lovely review! 8mo

TheAromaofBooks Great review!!! I agree, it was the “must haves“ that really started to annoy me. But I was surprisingly engaged in this book despite its length and the often-sad material. Quite excited for our discussion!!! 8mo

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder It has left a bit of an empty space after reading along for the past two months! @LeahBergen @TheAromaofBooks Thank you! 8mo

BarbaraJean Oh! I forgot to mark this for #ChunksterChallenge2023! This one is my third Chunkster Mini. @Amiable 8mo

Amiable Nice job! 8mo

39 likes9 comments

TheAromaofBooks

Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings | Mary Henley Rubio

pick

I have been working my way through this ~650pg biography for two months as part of the #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead I ended up with a LOT of feelings, so my full review can be found on GR - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5789714840 - but in short - I enjoyed this, but with reservations. It was definitely well-researched, and I'm quite jealous of the many interviews Rubio was able to have with people who personally knew Montgomery. ⬇

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) However, there were multiple times where I felt like Rubio went a bit off the rails in her speculation about various motivations, situations, and writings. (I've detailed a few that I found the most egregious in my GR review.) Montgomery's life got very sad towards the end especially, and it was so hard to read about her slow spiral downwards, greatly aided by her absolutely dreadful son. 😕 I also found it fascinating (and terrifying) ⬇ 8mo

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) to read about the drugs that were prescribed to Montgomery and her husband for “nerves“ and depression, and how since then we have found out how horrifically destructive those “medications“ actually are. It makes me wonder what we'll look back on in 100 years and shake our heads that it was so freely handed out.

All in all, a worthwhile read if Montgomery's life interests you, but while I did find it interesting to learn more about her ⬇ 8mo

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) and where she was in life when she wrote each book, it was also genuinely depressing to learn how much of a struggle her life was. It makes her books, for the most part so full of joy and light, all the more inspiring.

Thanks so much for picking this one @BarbaraJean - I'm really looking forward to our second-half discussion!!!

Also fit into my 2008 slot for #192025 @Librarybelle !!
#BookSpinBingo 8mo

Librarybelle Great review! 8mo

67 likes4 comments

BarbaraJean

Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings | Mary Henley Rubio

This description of Maud‘s standard format for answering fan letters is so interesting. This part cracked me up: “Occasionally someone‘s letter appealed to her, and she gave that person permission to write her once a year.” I have so many questions. Did she enforce this limit? If so, how? Was there a penalty for writing too frequently? Did devoted fans mark an annual “Write to L.M. Montgomery Day” on their calendars? 😆
#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead

lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

MommyWantsToReadHerBook 😂😂😂 9mo

lauraisntwilder I can't imagine having that kind of confidence. "Peasant, you amuse me. You may write to me again next year. But only once, let's not get crazy." 8mo

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder 😂 Exactly!! 8mo

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TheAromaofBooks Right?? How exactly did she phrase that in the return letter!? 😂 8mo

lauraisntwilder @TheAromaofBooks I'd like to know that, too! 8mo

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder @TheAromaofBooks “I am pleased to inform you that your letter has met my stringent requirements and I hereby confer upon you permission to continue our correspondence at a frequency of no more than one letter per calendar year.” 8mo

TheAromaofBooks “Failure to comply with these terms may result in mean journal entries about you for future generations to read and dissect“ 😂 😂 😂 @BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder 8mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks 😂 😂 😂 After reading that section about Isabel Anderson, I understand better why LMM would have had completely valid reasons for limiting fan correspondence!! @lauraisntwilder 8mo

30 likes8 comments

lauraisntwilder

Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings | Mary Henley Rubio

Page 314. Will we ever be free of this man?! @BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks

BarbaraJean 😂😂 9mo

TheAromaofBooks Like a bad penny! 😂 😂 9mo

15 likes2 comments

BarbaraJean

Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings | Mary Henley Rubio

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead Discussion - Gift of Wings part 1 (post 4 of 4)

There‘s SO much here to discuss about LMM‘s life—
What aspects of LMM‘s life stand out to you from this first half of the biography?
What particularly fascinated, surprised, or delighted you? (Or frustrated you!)

rubyslippersreads, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

BarbaraJean These are kind of minor, but I was delighted by the description of her spotted china dogs, Gog and Magog. I'm sure I've read about that before, but I love it so much. Also the Woolner jug, which must have been an inspiration for the jug in Tangled Web! And so many little asides about LMM's experiences or personality reminded me of her heroines - Pat's love for home and place, Valancy's rich inner imaginings, Anne's extreme joys and sorrows. 9mo

BarbaraJean The legal battles (both with Page and over the car accident) were both fascinating and frustrating. I was surprised at how long the case with Page went on, and horrified at how vicious it got. Page deserved to be taken down, and I was impressed at Maud's determination! 9mo

TheAromaofBooks Yes!!! I was completely intrigued by the entire Page lawsuit, and found myself going through random old books to see if they were from Page (many were!). I couldn't believe how vindictive he was, and it's just dreadful that he literally stole so much money from her! 9mo

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TheAromaofBooks I don't know where else to discuss this, but something else that really made me angry was Rubio's bizarre interpretation of the ending of Rilla. Personally, I think that book is full of warmth and humor, and having Rilla revert to her lisp at the last moment is part of that, a smile at the end, in a story where Rilla so often had misadventures. But Rubio somehow decides that this means that “women could now happily revert to being wives and ⬇ 9mo

TheAromaofBooks (Cont'd) mothers. Rilla's returning lisp marks symbolically the end of women's performance on public stages. They retreat into domesticity.“ ?!?!?!?!?!!??! What. The. Heck. That literally doesn't make any sense, for one, since it's obviously not how Maud, a successful author and career woman, felt. It just felt so incredibly made up!!!! Am I crazy for thinking that??? 😂 9mo

lauraisntwilder @TheAromaofBooks I haven't read Rilla yet! I'm making my way through the Anne books and Rilla is next. I'm glad you think Rubio is wrong because her version sounds awful. 9mo

lauraisntwilder Oh my goodness. My job is processing royalties for a literary agency. I cannot express how shocking it is that Page was paying Maud royalties on the wholesale price rather than the retail price. I don't know what the standard was then, but the standard wholesale discount today is 40 - 55%. If the wholesale price was 50% of retail, he was literally stealing half of what she was due. Maud DESPERATELY needed an agent!!! 9mo

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder WOW - I didn't realize wholesale/retail pricing was that far apart. And it sounded like that little detail was NOT common at the time, just common for Page, who also targeted female authors he could exploit. 😡 9mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks I was also put off by her interpretation of the ending of Rilla. It seems contradictory to the way Rubio describes Maud's intentions for the novel, as well as Maud's approach to women's roles in general. Maud was not overtly a suffragist but she certainly valued a woman having a career, she didn't change her name on her published work after she was married... so many aspects of Maud's life speak against that interpretation! 9mo

18 likes9 comments

BarbaraJean

Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings | Mary Henley Rubio

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead Discussion - Gift of Wings part 1 (post 3 of 4)

Rubio often mentions that LMM copied out her journals starting in 1919, assuming that during that process, Montgomery edited and “shaped” her journals with an eye toward future readers.

Does this affect your view of LMM as a reliable source on her own life?
What do you think of how Rubio reads between the lines of LMM‘s journals and other writings?

rubyslippersreads, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

BarbaraJean This does affect my view of LMM as a reliable narrator in her journals, but that also doesn't feel as problematic to me as I think Rubio makes it out to be. By nature, a first-person account is biased—and the unreliable narrator is one of the things that fascinates me most about first-person narratives. Nobody can be unbiased about themselves! But I don't like the way Rubio inserts her own speculations into LMM's journals. ⬇ 9mo

BarbaraJean I think Rubio gave herself too much license to downplay what she thought was unimportant (even if LMM emphasized it) and to emphasize what served her interpretation of LMM (even if support was largely absent in the journals or other sources). I just didn't see a strong basis for her saying that Ewan's love fueled the creation of Anne (or that he inspired Gilbert and Matthew!) or that Smith's admiration helped bring about the writing of Emily. 🙄
9mo

TheAromaofBooks I guess I complained about these things on earlier posts 😂 but yes, exactly!! I was genuinely confused by how much emphasis Rubio puts on Edwin Smith especially, despite the fact that Maud specifically does NOT mention him. Yes, this could mean that he was so important that she didn't want to talk about him, but it could ALSO mean that... he wasn't that important?? 9mo

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lauraisntwilder I think young Anne would have cut out a lot of embarrassing scrapes from her own narrative. I don't think it makes her unreliable, but I also don't think it's wrong to speculate what the omitted items mean in a greater context. Were they removed because they're not important or because they hurt the narrative? I think it's fine to speculate -- so long as those speculations are labeled as such. 9mo

lauraisntwilder As for Ewan and Edwin, I think it's interesting that Rubio points out in her notes (Leaskdale Years #65) that Emily was dedicated to Maud's pen pal George MacMillan. She never dedicated a book to Ewan or Edwin 9mo

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder Exactly - I think if Rubio had used softer terms, like “might“ instead of “must,“ I wouldn't have been so frustrated with the speculating. And I had that same thought about LMM's book dedications, that if Ewan & Edwin had been such inspirations in her work, why did she never dedicate a book to either one? However, she does dedicate Anne of Ingleside to “W.G.P.“ - understood to be Will Pritchard. But Rubio glosses over Will! 9mo

lauraisntwilder @BarbaraJean Oh, of course Will got a dedication! I was a little surprised that he was such a minor figure in this bio and such an important character in Maud. I think it would've been nice if she'd made the distinction of when something was in an earlier journal and omitted later, when possible. She's definitely opinionated! 9mo

16 likes7 comments

BarbaraJean

Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings | Mary Henley Rubio

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead Discussion - Gift of Wings part 1 (post 2 of 4)

What do you think of the book so far as a biography? What do you think of Rubio‘s overall tone, and the way she narrates and interprets LMM‘s life?

rubyslippersreads, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

BarbaraJean I'm impressed by the amount of research & scholarship that went into the book & I love the little bits from interviews with people who knew Maud. I wish there was more of that. I have a hard time with the amount of speculation Rubio inserts into her writing, especially around Ewan's & Edwin Smith's emotional influence on LMM's books. I don't know if I buy Rubio's conclusions, or at least, I want more support for some of the assumptions she makes. 9mo

TheAromaofBooks I feel the exact same way. I think Rubio blurs the lines a lot between where she is summarizing something Maud thought in her journals and where Rubio is drawing her own personal conclusions. I struggled a lot with sentences like, “Maud's 'gift of wings' had finally enabled her to take flight, thanks to the astonishing effect of the dimpled and rosy-cheeked Ewan.“ ????? If Maud's journals don't say that, it seems like a pretty big jump. 9mo

TheAromaofBooks I thought it was weird how much time Rubio spends talking about Maud as an independent woman working to make her place during a time when it was hard for women to do so, yet then turns around and basically gives a huge dollop of credit to men for “inspiring“ Maud at critical moments, as though she wouldn't have been able to write Anne of Green Gables or Emily of New Moon if she hadn't had these random men walk into her life. 9mo

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TheAromaofBooks The whole section about her photograph on the beach, and Rubio spending multiple paragraphs explaining what Maud's feelings “must“ have been and telling us exactly what Maud was expressing by the way the photograph was taken - that's the type of thing that really annoys me, because it's literally Rubio making stuff up. If Maud said “nothing in her journal entry about taking her camera“ then how can you turn around and assert that “the real reason⬇ 9mo

TheAromaofBooks (Cont'd) for her walk ... seems to have been to take this haunting picture for posterity“ ????

She similarly sweepingly tells us how Ewan “must“ have felt about being married to Maud, despite the fact that we have no written record from his perspective. So while I do appreciate the immense amount of research and interviews to make this biography happen, I definitely think it needs to be read with some skepticism. 9mo

lauraisntwilder I think Rubio had lived and breathed LM Montgomery's life so much by the time she wrote this, that her own conceptions would be hard to separate from the hard facts. In the end notes, Rubio references Maud's "old journal," her "handwritten" journal, and her final typed version. I think there's a lot to learn about someone based on what they leave out or reshape. I still don't feel like I know Maud at all. (Cont'd) 9mo

lauraisntwilder I still don't have a strong feeling of her personality. The person described in this biography is interesting and all, but her books are so funny and none of that humor is present in the book. I don't know how it would be added, but Rubio's Maud is driven, stymied, limited by circumstances and the time, and unlucky in love -- both romantically and in friendship. I still have no idea if I'd like her if I met her. 9mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Yeesss about that Ewan quote! I was SO frustrated that Rubio kept attributing Maud's inspiration to Ewan & Edwin. Give the woman due credit for her own imagination, her own invention, her own work. I just rolled my eyes at the descriptions of the two photos. There is a stark difference between them, definitely worth comment given the circumstances of each, but Rubio harps on the intention behind it far beyond believability. 9mo

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder Yes, that makes so much sense that Rubio might have found it hard to separate out her own assumptions - but at the same time I think it's an important task for a biographer to make clear delineations between speculation and fact. And it is VERY valid to examine how Maud describes (or omits) things vs. other accounts that give a different picture. I just wish Rubio had done more to acknowledge where she was speculating. 9mo

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder There were places where I felt like Maud's personality came across: some of the quotes from her journal about gossipy neighbors & the passage she wrote to a future grandchild. But those glimpses are few! Rubio does acknowledge that it's hard to get at what Maud really thought & felt deep down (the quote from her daughter-in-law on p. 280). I think that's why I found the speculating about feelings/motivations so frustrating! 9mo

14 likes10 comments

BarbaraJean

Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings | Mary Henley Rubio

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead Discussion- Gift of Wings part 1 (post 1 of 4)

What biographical information about LMM did you have going into this book? Has reading the first half of Gift of Wings changed your previous impressions of L.M. Montgomery (either details of her life, or your sense of who she was as a person)? If so, in what ways?

rubyslippersreads, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

BarbaraJean Going into this biography, I had the impression that the most important loves in LMM‘s life were Nate Lockhart, Will Pritchard, and Herman Leard (based on House of Dreams and Maud—granted, Maud is fiction). I was surprised that here, Nate and Will are skimmed over quite quickly and Rubio asserts LMM made the “affair” with Herman out to be more than it was, after the fact. Rubio grants much more importance to Ewan, and to Edwin Smith. 9mo

BarbaraJean I don't know if I had a strong sense of Maud's personality before, and so much of this has fleshed that out for me. Snippets of her humorous takedowns of the gossips in the church, her deeply felt words on motherhood and the war, and her determination in the legal battle with Page--all of these stand out as giving me a better feel of what Maud was like. 9mo

TheAromaofBooks Most of my biographical knowledge was really just from reading House of Dreams earlier this year (which I thought was actually useful to read first as it gave me a basic outline of her life, which Rubio is fleshing out a lot more). I always find it interesting to see what biographers choose to dwell on. I felt like House of Dreams emphasized Maud having a bad/lonely/sad childhood, while Rubio says it was overall happy and that Maud later chose ⬇ 9mo

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TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) to focus on the negatives. I found this interesting, “Maud's writerly instincts told her that emphasizing early hardships would make adult achievement more impressive.“ (pg275) I can't decide how I feel about that - Rubio seems very convinced that Maud greatly exaggerated the negative aspects of her life in retrospect. Do you think that's true? I remember reading a biography of Kurt Cobain (big jump haha) and that biographer was comparing 9mo

TheAromaofBooks (Cont'd) stories Cobain told about his childhood to the actual facts of what had happened, yet Cobain had told the stories so long they were now “his truth.“ Do you think Maud had a similar experience, with her imagination and depth of feeling, a tendency to focus so much on those negative experiences until they became the complete reality to her? Or did she purposefully make it up? Or was it really as bad to her as she wrote? So thought-provoking 9mo

lauraisntwilder I just knew what I'd gotten from House of Dreams and Maud. Also, my family went to Prince Edward Island the summer I was 12 and I hadn't read any of Montgomery's books. (I got a copy of Emily while we were there.) 9mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks I bracketed that same sentence! My margin note: “Speculative. She knew this technique, but did she intentionally apply it, or did she just view her childhood this way?“ And then on the next page I put: “Would be nice to know what this alternate interpretation is based on.“ I don't think Rubio demonstrates that LMM's childhood was mostly happy. I may be biased from House of Dreams, but that author got it from somewhere! ⬇ 9mo

BarbaraJean I'd want more support for the happy childhood before I'd agree that Maud intentionally played up the negatives. I think your Kurt Cobain parallel is apt (big jump or not!!). Given Maud's imagination and frequent highs and lows, I could see her exaggerating a difficult childhood in retrospect. But I don't think it's a lie when LMM says she intends to paint her life truthfully. I don't think she does it intentionally, I think she sees it as truth. 9mo

12 likes8 comments

BarbaraJean

Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings | Mary Henley Rubio

I‘m going back through my underlines and notes in the first half of the book, and this note cracked me up! I was pretty frustrated with Rubio‘s speculation about both Ewan and Edwin Smith.

“…allowing us to speculate on complexities in Maud‘s and Ewan‘s relationship…”
“To understand the especial significance of Smith‘s very limited appearance in Maud‘s journals…” 🙄

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead

rubyslippersreads, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Yes! There were a few places where I felt like Rubio was venturing pretty far out on the speculation branch, especially regarding Maud's feelings towards Edwin Smith. “She doesn't mention him much so that must mean he is very important“ isn't necessarily a true statement, but Rubio definitely presents it as an obvious fact. I felt like she spent an inordinate amount of time talking about how Maud “must“ have felt towards him. 9mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks I can't even tell you the number of times I wrote “speculation!“ in the margins! If she had framed it as “perhaps“ or “it seems probable,“ etc. I think it would have landed differently for me. 9mo

24 likes2 comments

BarbaraJean

Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings | Mary Henley Rubio

I‘ve got 45 pages to read before I can put together some questions for the #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead discussion tomorrow. I‘m wearing my Anne of Green Gables t-shirt. I think it‘ll help. 😁 Also: questions may be posted a little later than usual tomorrow. 😆

rubyslippersreads, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

lauraisntwilder You can do it! I have errands this morning, so I won't be able to discuss until later in the day anyway. 9mo

TheAromaofBooks I'm really intrigued to discuss this one, and also VERY glad we split it over two months, as it is a lot to take in! 9mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks I'm so glad I got a copy of the book ahead of time and realized the length of it!! I hadn't even thought to check page count until my copy arrived in the mail and I unwrapped this big thick tome. 😂 It's definitely a LOT more to absorb than the YA biography we read!! 9mo

43 likes3 comments

TheAromaofBooks

Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings | Mary Henley Rubio

@BarbaraJean - I thought you might find this interesting - reading about the lawsuits between Montgomery and her publisher made me wonder if any of my old editions were L.C. Page ones - and they are! I found this list of titles especially interesting, listing Further Chronicles as an “Avonlea“ book instead of an “Anne“ book in order to stay (barely) within the contract.

It also got me wondering if he screwed Pollyanna's author, Eleanor Porter ⬇

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) the same way! Her books were also wildly popular and turned into films. 9mo

BarbaraJean Oh, that list of other titles is fascinating! Calling them “Avonlea” books so he could group them all together 🙄 All the stuff about Page is infuriating!! I‘d bet he pulled similar tricks with Pollyanna. Horrible man. Thanks for sharing this! (edited) 9mo

39 likes2 comments

BarbaraJean

Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings | Mary Henley Rubio

Just a reminder: our #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead discussion of the first half of Gift of Wings will be this coming Saturday, 7/29.

I‘m a little behind at this point, but I‘m finding it super interesting to contrast this with House of Dreams, the YA bio we read earlier this year—especially when it comes to LMM‘s romantic relationships. How is your reading going? What have you found most interesting so far in the first part of this biography?

rubyslippersreads, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

rubyslippersreads I‘m way behind—I haven‘t even started the book yet—but will catch up when I can. 9mo

lauraisntwilder I'm on page 264. It's definitely not a quick read, but I'm enjoying it. 9mo

lauraisntwilder Oops, didn't answer your second question. I work in royalties, so I'm fascinated by LC Page saga. Maud is a great example of why writers need agents! 9mo

TheAromaofBooks I actually sat down and figured out what pages I needed to read to divide this book up for the whole month, and that's working well for me. I'm finding it very interesting and have actually marked a few things I want to be sure to mention during our discussion!! 9mo

BarbaraJean @rubyslippersreads Feel free to jump into the discussion whenever you‘re ready! @lauraisntwilder You‘re ahead of me! I‘m definitely interested to hear your perspective on the royalties issue. @TheAromaofBooks I did the same thing, but haven‘t been keeping up with my daily allotment of pages! Super interesting, though. Looking forward to discussing! 9mo

25 likes5 comments

LitsyEvents

Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings | Mary Henley Rubio

Hey Kindred Spirits! Join us for a summer read of Mary Henley Rubio‘s comprehensive biography of L.M. Montgomery.

Since this #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead selection is a lengthy tome, we‘ll be tackling it over two months. We‘ll discuss the Introduction through Chapter 13 on Saturday July 29, then Chapter 14 through the Epilogue on August 26.

All are welcome—
REPOST do please let @BarbaraJean know if you‘d like to be on the tag list!

32 likes

BarbaraJean

Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings | Mary Henley Rubio

Hey Kindred Spirits! Join us for a summer read of Mary Henley Rubio‘s comprehensive biography of L.M. Montgomery.

Since this #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead selection is a lengthy tome, we‘ll be tackling it over two months. We‘ll discuss the Introduction through Chapter 13 on Saturday July 29, then Chapter 14 through the Epilogue on August 26.

All are welcome—please comment below if you‘d like to be on the tag list!

rubyslippersreads, quietjenn, Linsy, Jerdencon, Bkwrm7, LeahBergen, JenlovesJT47, AnneCecilie, Prairiegirl_reading, Centique, megnews, lauraisntwilder, StayCurious, kwmg40, sblbooks, TheAromaofBooks, LitsyEvents, julieclair

TheAromaofBooks I'm trying to track down a copy of this one - my library let me down for once!! 😭 10mo

lauraisntwilder I'm in! I just ordered a copy this morning. 10mo

julieclair I am going to skip this one, and rejoin y‘all in September, for

Magic Island: The Fictions of L.M. Montgomery

10mo

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BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Me too!! Most of the nonfiction LMM selections aren't available in my library system. Which “forced“ me to order copies from AbeBooks. 😆 @lauraisntwilder Yay! Glad to have you! @julieclair Got it - will check in with you for September! 10mo

TheAromaofBooks I did find an eBay copy today. Such a shame I'll have to own it forever! 😂 10mo

LeahBergen I think I‘m going to have to skip this one; I‘ll be travelling too much this summer. 😕 10mo

rubyslippersreads I have the ebook, so I‘m in. 10mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks I have confidence that you‘ll bear up under this burden of book ownership. 😆 @LeahBergen Will miss having you for this one! Hopefully you can jump back in for September. @rubyslippersreads Yay! I‘ll add you to the list! 10mo

27 likes8 comments

BarbaraJean

Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings | Mary Henley Rubio

I revised our #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead schedule for the rest of the year & forgot to post an update.🙃 So here you go! Because Gift of Wings is so long, it's now spread over July/Aug. Then I switched Magic Island & Grace of Wild Things—Magic Island is designed to be read alongside the Rubio biography, so I put those one after the other. And, Grace of Wild things is a “witchy“ AoGG retelling, so it seemed fitting for October. Join in when you can!

Karisimo I really enjoyed

The Grace of Wild Things

12mo

LeahBergen Thanks for the update! 12mo

TheAromaofBooks Yay!! Thanks for the update!! 11mo

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megnews I‘m in for June. 11mo

BarbaraJean @Karisimo I just finished it! My library hold came in early, so I decided I‘d go ahead and read it now. I enjoyed it, too! It didn‘t have quite the emotional depth I wanted, but I think maybe I need to take a fun MG novel on its own terms 😆 11mo

BarbaraJean @megnews Yay! I‘ll make sure you‘re on the list for

Maud: A Novel Inspired by the Life of L.M. Montgomery

11mo

Karisimo @BarbaraJean yes, I agree it‘s definitely more for fun than depth 11mo

31 likes7 comments

catebutler

Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings | Mary Henley Rubio

It‘s so nice to get back to a reading schedule! It‘s a beautiful afternoon, quiet, and balmy. I‘m spread out on the dining table with four books I‘m currently working on. A candle is flickering in the background and I‘m sipping on a gorgeous green tea called, ‘Bergamot Bliss‘ - the citrus note from the bergamot is divine! I‘m currently immersed in this dense biography about LM Montgomery. It‘s a lot to process, but I‘m enjoying it! #nonfiction

twohectobooks How far into this are you? I had a lot of problems with it and wished I‘d enjoyed it more. 5y

catebutler @twohectobooks I just saw your post when I pulled up the book to link! I‘m about 200 pages in. It is definitely a mind dump in spots, & I agree with you about her speculations & theories. I am enjoying it, but slowly taking my time. I could tell from the first chapter this wasn‘t one I could rush through! I can just imagine the work & time it took to go through all the material she had to work with. Did this book change your opinion of Mont.? 5y

twohectobooks I don‘t think it‘s changed my opinion. I read most of her books as a tween and young teen, and at some point I‘d learned that her own life wasn‘t a very happy one, although I hadn‘t realized just how bad. This bio‘s real strengths are the parts that concern her work as a writer and contributions to the literary community. She was a complicated woman and is still someone I admire! 5y

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twohectobooks I hope you end up liking this one more than I did! Also I realized that you and I had also talked about the Laura Ingalls Wilder bio! I still haven‘t gotten around to that one. 5y

catebutler @twohectobooks I‘m glad to hear your opinion of her hasn‘t changed. I too remember reading something a while ago about her unhappiness in real life, which actually made me appreciate her writing even more. I like depth in characters & in real life people. And yes! We did! I‘m so curious about your thoughts on the LIW bio. I must confess, it did leave me with a little bit of a bad taste, but I‘m glad I read it. Once you pick it up, let‘s discuss! 5y

Freespirit Ohh I don't want my teenage dream of being Anne to be damaged....I read those books over and over..should I read this? 5y

catebutler @Freespirit I don‘t think it will ruin it for you. I actually have found upon reading this, that I admire and esteem Montgomery even more. Plus, her world building, descriptions and characters will always have a special place in my heart. This biography is very very well researched, so take your time with it. I‘ve been reading in small doses and really enjoying it so far. But, it does feel like I‘m reading a thesis! ☺️ 5y

Freespirit Ok Cate I think I will watch out for it. Thank you😊 5y

catebutler @Freespirit If you‘d like to learn more about Montgomery, I do recommend it. Let me know if you pick it up, I always love discussing and chatting. 🧡 5y

Freespirit Will do👍🏼 5y

52 likes3 stack adds10 comments

LeahBergen

Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings | Mary Henley Rubio

Happy Birthday!!! 😘😘😘

rubyslippersreads

batsy Love it 😁 6y

Cathythoughts Happy Birthday @rubyslippersreads 👠👠👠💃🏾💃🏾 6y

rubyslippersreads 😂😂😂😘😘😘 I ❤️ it! 6y

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rubyslippersreads @batsy I know! I ❤️ the way LMM looks so excited about my birthday. 😂 6y

rubyslippersreads @Cathythoughts Thanks! 😊 6y

LeahBergen @rubyslippersreads I thought the trumpet added a certain lively panache 😆 6y

Andrew65 Happy Birthday @rubyslippersreads 🎉🎊🍾🥂🍰🎂 6y

87 likes7 comments

twohectobooks

Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings | Mary Henley Rubio

#friyayintro @jesshowbooks
1️⃣ Ha! As if I could pick.
2️⃣ Dark, over the Xmas break. Watch it in German, it‘s fun.
3️⃣ Tagged bio of LM Montgomery. It was way too intensely detailed about her extreme anxiety in her later years. Unbearable.
4️⃣ Created my account after seeing a post on Birth.Movies.Death ca Apr 16. So ~1.5 years.
5️⃣ We‘ll see if I can find some.

rubyslippersreads I have this on my TBR list, but maybe I'll plan on just reading parts of it. 🙁 6y

catebutler I started watching Dark, and really like it, I need to get back to it. And I also have the L. M. Montgomery bio on my TBR! Sometimes it is so hard to read about real life events of favorite (childhood) authors. 6y

twohectobooks @rubyslippersreads @catebutler it‘s very highly rated on goodreads so obviously others feel differently than I do. The biggest problem imo is that the author edited Montgomery‘s journals, which Montgomery wrote in WAY more in her later years. Rubio could‘ve used an editor with a much heavier hand to balance out this book between the PEI years and the Ontario years. 6y

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catebutler @twohectobooks That makes sense to me. I actually just read the new biography, Prairie Fires about Laura Ingalls Wilder and felt the same about how the author decided to present some of the real life facts about LIW. She really did focus on some of the bleaker aspects and moments of her life, which left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. It was still good, but just fell a bit in my opinion/rating. 6y

twohectobooks @catebutler ah! Prairie Fires is also on my tbr! 6y

catebutler @twohectobooks I‘d love to hear your thoughts once you‘ve read it. I‘ve been anxious to chat about it, with someone. 😊 6y

19 likes6 comments

twohectobooks

Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings | Mary Henley Rubio

Full review: http://www.twohectobooks.com/2017/09/canada150-lucy-maud-montgomery-gift-of.html

Kinda wish I'd edited this a bit more..

9 likes

twohectobooks

Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings | Mary Henley Rubio

pan

My God, this is terrible. Rubio edited Montgomery's journals for publication, and is clearly up to her elbows in Montgomery's life. This led to her writing a biography with exhaustive (EXHAUSTIVE) details and what felt like a lot of speculative content. Rubio feels the need to repeat so many details that could've been avoided if the book was like 50% shorter, and it could've been. Kept reading because of #canada150 and journal/writing inspiration.

9 likes

twohectobooks

Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings | Mary Henley Rubio

Dr. Edward H. Clarke ... argued that women's bodies were a battleground in which two organs--the brain and the ovaries--struggled for dominance. Higher education, he said, would cause the ovaries to atrophy, with a potential result being the end of the human race.

TrishB 😱😱 7y

batsy I hope somebody laughed in his face back then. 7y

7 likes2 comments

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