Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874- 1942)-whose Anne of Green Gables and many other novels are loved by readers around the world-kept extensive journals for most of her life, beginning them in 1889 when she was fourteen and continuing them until shortly before her death. Spontaneous and frank, they are unusual for their narrative interest: Montgomery's gifts as a storyteller are as much evidence here as in her novels. This first volume of the immensely successful Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery launched in 1985, takes Montgomery to 1910, the year before her marriage, when she left Prince Edward Island. The autobiographical content will fascinate every devoted reader of the Anne books. But the Montgomery journals are especially interesting because they provide a unique social history and the privilege of viewing closely the life of a remarkable woman. Comprising perhaps the most vivid and detailed memoir in Canadian letters, the journals join Anne of Green Gables in ensuring Montgomery's lasting place in Canadian literature. This volume is a rich and engrossing prelude to the whole.

An instant best-seller in Canada, the first volume of The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery recorded the growing power and imagination of one of the world's best-loved writers, the author of the classic novel for children, Anne of Green Gables . The London Free Press hailed it as "pure gold, the deeply felt, finely evocative rendering of years both heartbreakingly sad and splendidly triumphant," and The Montreal Gazette termed it "one of the most haunting documents in Canadian literary history." The second volume promises to be equally intriguing and powerful. Ranging from 1910 to 1921, Montgomery's revealing journal documents a time of great upheaval, both in her life and in the world around her. Here she records her thoughts about the death of her rigid, intolerant grandmother, who had ruled her life so strickly...her troubled marriage to the Reverend Ewan Macdonald...the move from her beloved Prince Edward Island to a small Ontario town...her shocked reaction to the First World War...and the rewards and difficulties of being a noted writer. Spontaneous and frank, these journals are unusual for their narrative Montgomery's gifts as a storyteller are as much in evidence here as in her novels. The autobiographical content will intrigue every dedicated fan of Anne of Green Gables and the other Anne books, but the Montgomery journals are also interesting because they provide a unique social history and the privilege of viewing closely the life of a remarkable woman.

Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942), the author of the classic novel for children, Anne of Green Gables, kept extensive journals for most of her life, beginning them in 1889 when she was fourteen and continuing them until shortly before her death. An instant bestseller in Canada, the first volume of The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery covers the years up to 1910 and culminates in the publication of Anne of Green Gables . The second volume (1910-1921) portrays Montgomery in the midst of great upheaval, both in her life and in the world around her. Now, the long-awaited third volume brings us through her middle years, a time when Montgomery's personal and professional lives are becoming even more complex. Ranging from 1921-1929, this revealing journal documents her efforts to juggle the demands of motherhood, parish obligations, indifferent household help, grief at the loss of older friends and family—everyday struggles to balance a woman's social and domestic duties. Here she writes of the triumphs and trials of being a best-selling growing fame; the successful midwifery of her new heroines Emily and Marigold and a more adult novel, The Blue Castle ; the struggle to allocate time for correspondence with publishers, fans, friends—and to actually write. We trace the happy conclusion of her lawsuits against an unscrupulous publisher and the disappointing outcome of a lawsuit arising in a minor automobile accident. And we learn of her personal Ewan Macdonalds' envy of his wife's publishing and social success; the dark shadow cast by his attacks of melancholia; and her fear that her sons might evince similar tendencies. In these years, Lucy Maud Montgomery turned more and more to her journals to record her insights, opinions, and epiphanies. These journals will not only intrigue every fan of Anne of Green Gables and the other Anne books, but will also provide an intimate look at life as portrayed by this remarkable writer.

Of the earlier volumes of L. M. Montgomery's journals, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Carol Shields has "These diaries possess the crisp, honest, unsparing voice of a real woman who fought all her life to bring her two selves the celebrated writer and the unloved child." Now comes the much anticipated fourth, and penultimate, volume in the series, covering the tumultuous period from 1929 to 1935. By 1929 Montgomery was 54 and known world-wide as the author of Anne of Green Gables . Yet with the stock market crash came a severe drop in her royalties and other troubling financial problems. Tremendous personal difficulties Montgomery witnessed her husband's total nervous breakdown, faced concerns over her own mental state, and became the unwilling object of a young woman's passionate declaration of love. Yet this is not a period without joy, as the volume opens with exuberant travels to Prince Edward Island and western Canada and ends with her looking forward to a new life in Toronto. For anyone wishing to better understand this complex and gifted author, as well as the time and place in which she lived, these journals offer a wealth of insight and information.

Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942), the author of the classic novel for children, Anne of Green Gables, kept extensive journals for most of her life, beginning them in 1889 when she was fourteen and continuing them until shortly before her death. The much anticipated final volume of The Selected Journals of L. M. Montgomery caps the publication of the unique and powerfully told life-story of this gifted writer. Providing an intimate portrait of the last years of her life as well as a fascinating social history of life in a Toronto suburb, this final volume covers the years 1935 to 1942, the year of Montgomery's death.