Lucy Maud Montgomery was one of Canada’s most successful and prolific authors. Her first novel, published 8n the early years of the 20th century, was ‘Anne of Green Gables’, a story much beloved for generations (and turned into a number of movies and TV series, most recently by Netflix). It tells the story of Anne Shirley, a bright, imaginative, and irrepressibly talkative red-haired orphan girl who is mistakenly sent to the elderly siblings Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert at their farm, Green Gables, in the fictional community of Avonlea on Prince Edward Island — the siblings had requested a boy to help with farm work. Rather than sending her back, the Cuthberts are gradually won over by Anne’s vivid personality and boundless spirit, and she becomes a beloved part of their lives and community. The novel captures the way of life on Prince Edward Island at the turn of the century, and has been translated into countless languages.
The fictional farmhouse exists in real life, and yes, it has Green Gables. It has become a place of plgrimage for L M Montgomery fans (and the idly curious like me and the boss). It has been lovingly restored to look the way that Montgomery would have known it (it was actually her cousin’s farm but she spent a lot of time there because it inspired her.
’As we found out more about the author, she became more and more intriguing. You could almost describe her as an early exponent of women’s liberation – she was determined to succeed in the largely male word of wrìters, was strong willed, organised – but valued virtues like kindness and friendship above all else.
walking around the house, it wasn’t hard to imagine her writing in the early hours of the morning before setting off for her day job as a teacher. She says her favourite in all the world was a path leading through the woods away from the farmhouse which she christened ‘lovers lane’, so of course we walked down it, and it was, indeed, beautiful and peaceful.
… and a bit of a treat for us – we saw a tiny bat (ANnette later found it was called a little brown bat).
Finally we had to leave for our next destination, crossing over the giant Confederation Bridge that joins Prince Edward Island to the mainland. A magnificent feat of engineering!
A three-and-a-bit hour drive to St John in New Brunswick, where we’re staying in a beautifully furnished Victoria. Mansion (Annette is channelling L M Montgomery here, if Montgomery had had an iPhone)
Tomorrow, we head for Grand Falls, New Brunswick.
