Lucy Maud Montgomery

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Lucy Maud Montgomery, photo taken around 1897.

Lucy Maud Montgomery , OBE (born November 30, 1874 in Clifton, now New London , Prince Edward Island , Canada , † April 24, 1942 in Toronto , Canada, buried in Cavendish , Prince Edward Island) was a Canadian writer and poet . Montgomery published 23 novels, a volume of poetry and an essay on brave women during his lifetime. She wrote around 450 poems and 500 short stories, and her posthumously published diaries are over 5000 pages. The series of novels about the spirited, red-haired orphan girl Anne became a worldwide success. The first book, Anne on Green Gables , was published in June 1908. The bestseller, which was reprinted 32 times within the first five years, sold 19,000 copies in the first five months. The heroines in Montgomery's books are strong, independent girls and women who strive for higher education and who do not submit to the conventions that were common at the time. The protagonists enforce their wishes and dreams with regard to work, studies and marriage. This topic was already taken up before her by other authors of the time such as Jean Webster or Louisa May Alcott .

Life

Childhood and youth

Lucy Maud Montgomery in 1884

Lucy Maud Montgomery was born in Clifton, now New London, on Prince Edward Island in 1874. Her mother, Clara Woolner Macneill Montgomery, died of tuberculosis when Lucy Maud Montgomery was 21 months old. Her father then left the island and probably moved to western Canada. Montgomery moved in with her maternal grandparents, Alexander Marquis Macneill and Lucy Woolner Macneill in Cavendish . She found access to literature at an early age and read Robert Burns , Walter Scott , John Bunyan and Louisa May Alcott , among others . In 1883 Montgomery began writing a diary and her first poems. The following year, her father moved to Prince Albert in the province of Saskatchewan . In 1887 her father married for the second time. His wife, Mary Ann McRae, gave birth to Montgomery's half-sister, Kate, in 1888. In 1890 she moved in with her father and stepmother, but returned to her grandparents after only a year. In the same year Montgomery's first poem was published. The Daily Patriot in Charlottetown printed the poem entitled On Cape Le Force . Montgomery's half-brother David Bruce was born in 1891. As a result, Montgomery had to leave school for almost two months to help her stepmother with the household. This year she got three more publications: The Montreal newspaper Witness printed an article called The Wreck of the Marco Polo , the Prince Albert Times published A Western Eden . A Montgomery poem, Farewell , was reprinted in The Saskatchewan newspaper . In 1892, Montgomery graduated from school.

College and early years of employment

In 1893 she attended Prince of Wales College in Charlottetown, whose entrance test she passed as the fifth best of 264 students. Her half-brother, Hugh Carlyle, was born that same year. She completed what was actually a two-year course at Prince of Wales College in just one year and was top of the class in English literature , English drama and school management. After graduation, she taught at a dwarf school in Bideford . During this time she published short stories and poems in various magazines, some under the pseudonyms "Maud Cavendish" and "Maud Eglinton". In 1895 and 1896 Montgomery studied literature at Dalhousie University in Halifax . She then took a job at the school in Belmont . There she began a secret relationship with Edwin Simpson, a theology student and distant cousin.

In 1897, Montgomery moved to Lower Bedeque School , where she fell in love with Herman Leard, a young farmer. She ended the relationship with Simpson and taught in Lower Bedeque until her grandfather's death in March 1898. After her grandfather's death, she returned to her grandmother in Cavendish. She stayed there for 13 years, except for a nine-month break in 1901/1902. Herman Leard died unexpectedly in 1899, and Montgomery's father died a year later at the age of 58. In 1901 and 1902 she worked briefly in Halifax for the Chronicle and Echo newspapers . She began writing to Ephraim Weber from Alberta , a pen pal that would last her entire life. The following year she began corresponding with the Scotsman George Boyd MacMillan. Montgomery began a secret relationship in 1906 with the Presbyterian priest Edward (Ewan) Mcdonald (1870-1943), who had been pastor in the Cavendish Ward since 1903. Mcdonald went to Glasgow for a year , Montgomery stayed behind and devoted herself to the publication of her first book. After four publishers had rejected the manuscript, she sent it in 1907 to LC Page in Boston , who offered Montgomery a publication. In the contract, a fee of 9 cents per copy sold was agreed, as well as a continuation of the book.

Activity as a writer

The Green Gables farm , now a National Historic Site .

In June 1908 her first book came out: Anne on Green Gables . Montgomery received hundreds of enthusiastic letters from its readers, including a letter from Mark Twain . Anne was so successful on Green Gables that the book was translated into Swedish the following year, the first of many translations. The publisher also published the sequel Anne in Avonlea in 1909 , as well as some short stories and poems. Montgomery was working on another novel, Kilmeny of the Orchard . The book was published in 1910. In September 1910, the Governor General of Canada, Albert Gray, 4th Earl Gray , visited Charlottetown with his wife. Montgomery was introduced to the couple at their request and presented signed books to Earl Gray and his wife.

In March 1911, Montgomery's grandmother Lucy Woolner McNeill died. The next book, The Story Girl , came out in May . A little later, on July 5, 1911, Montgomery married Ewan Mcdonald. After a three-month honeymoon in England and Scotland, the couple moved to Ontario , where Ewan Mcdonald took up a position as pastor at St. Paul's Presbyterian Church in Leaskdale, now Uxbridge . The three sons Chester (* July 7, 1912 - † 1964), Hugh Alexander (* / † August 13, 1914) and Ewan Stuart (* October 7, 1915 - † 1982) emerged from the marriage. Montgomery probably dealt with the stillbirth of the middle son in 1917 in her book Anne's House of Dreams (Anne in Four Winds) , in which Anne's first child died a few hours after birth.

The litigation with LC Page

After several disagreements with her publisher LC Page in Boston, Montgomery moved in 1916 to the publishing house McClelland, Goodchild and Stewart in Toronto . The following year, the fourth volume in the Anne series and her autobiography The Alpine Path appeared , which was reprinted in sequels in Toronto Everywoman's World magazine. In 1918 the author fell ill with the Spanish flu . In the same year there was a lawsuit with the old publisher LC Page: Montgomery sued for underpayments and the unauthorized sale of reprinting rights as well as the intention to publish Further Chronicles of Avonlea without Montgomery's permission. The following year, Montgomery won the case, LC Page had her 20,000 dollars to pay. Little did the author know that the publisher was negotiating the film rights for the Anne series at the time . These were not mentioned in the contract, as the great success was not in sight when the contract was signed. The silent film Anne of Green Gables with Mary Miles Minter in the lead role premiered on November 23, 1919. LC Page received $ 40,000 for the film rights, Montgomery received nothing. The author was not satisfied with the cinematic implementation of her novels. She found Anne in Taylor's film too “sugar-sweet” and angry about the New England location , the use of an American flag, and explaining that if she hadn't known that the film was based on her novels, she wouldn't have recognized it. In 1920 LC Page, against Montgomery's will, published Further Chronicles of Avonlea ; the author complained again. The case went through several instances and was finally decided after nine years by the United States Supreme Court on behalf of Montgomery.

Later years

In 1921 another book in the Anne series was published, Rilla in Ingleside . The content now focused more and more on Anne's children, especially the youngest child, Rilla. In 1922 Montgomery began to write a new series of books, Emily of New Moon was published in 1923. The second book in the series, which again has Prince Edward Island as the setting, was already in the works. In addition, Montgomery was the first Canadian to be accepted into the Royal Society of Arts . In 1925 the second volume of the Emily series, Emily Climbs, was published . Ewan Mcdonald, who had been struggling with depression since 1919, suffered a relapse. In 1926 he was offered a position in Norval, now Halton Hills , Ontario. The family left Leaskdale and moved to Norval. The house in Leaskdale now houses the Lucy Maud Montgomery Leaskdale Manse Museum . The now 52-year-old published another novel this year, the only one not set on Prince Edward Island: The Blue Castle , a romance romance for adult readers, is set in northern Ontario. In addition, the publisher LC Page Anne reissued on Green Gables for the 59th time. The following year, 1927, the third volume in the Emily series was published: Emily's Quest . Montgomery was presented to the Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII and possibly the British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin . Two years later, Montgomery published another book: Magic for Marigold . This was followed by a book tour through western Canada, on which she first met her pen pal Ephraim Weber, with whom she had corresponded since 1902. In 1931 the author was heard on the radio for the first time, she read some of her poems.

In 1934, Ewan Mcdonald suffered another breakdown and spent a few months in a mental hospital. Montgomery, who had just become a grandmother for the first time, had increasing health problems. She worked with Marian Keith and Mabel Burns McKinley on a book about the biographies of courageous women, Courageous Women . Another film adaptation of her first novel came into the cinemas: Anne of Green Gables in the version from 1934. Again, the author received no share in the sale of the film rights. Montgomery suffered a physical and mental breakdown from which she had to recover for six weeks. In 1935, Ewan Mcdonald retired and left Norval. The writer is commemorated there today with the Lucy Maud Montgomery Memorial Garden . Mcdonald bought Journey's End on Riverside Drive in western Toronto and settled there with his wife. Also in 1935, Montgomery was awarded the Order of the British Empire . The following year, at the publisher's request, Montgomery returned to the Anne series: Anne of Windy Poplars (Anne in Windy Willows) appeared. The book filled the void between Anne's college days and her marriage. The Canadian government designated part of Cavendish as a National Green Gables Park .

Last work, illness, death, posthumous honor

Montgomery's grave in Cavendish Community Cemetery.

In 1937, Montgomery's mental health deteriorated, and the following year she suffered a nervous breakdown . Work on the last volume in the Anne series was difficult. Her husband's health also continued to decline. In 1939 Montgomery visited Prince Edward Island for the last time. Anne of Ingleside , the final book in the series, describing Anne's early years of marriage and the time with her young children, has been published. Her pre-existing depression worsened with the outbreak of World War II . In 1940, Montgomery worked on more stories about Anne despite her health problems; the planned band should be called The Blythes Are Quoted , but was only released in 1974, 34 years later, under the title The Road to Yesterday . Montgomery continued to have correspondence, including with her pen pal George Boyd Macmillan in Scotland. Her last letters express her concerns about the Second World War, about the increasing mental decline of her husband and about the future of her adult sons. In 1942 the first Canadian edition of Anne of Green Gables was published by The Ryerson Pres publishing house in Toronto. The writer died on April 24, 1942 in her home in Toronto. After the wake at Green Gables , Montgomery was buried in Cavendish Community Cemetery.

A year after her death, Montgomery was declared a "Person of National Historic Interest" by the Canadian government.

Meaning and afterlife

Montgomery's work was particularly valued in Canada during his lifetime. Due to her classification as a children's and young adult book author, literary criticism only dealt with her work 30 years after her death. At first, Montgomery was only reviewed by specialist journals for children's and youth literature. In its winter 1984/85 edition, the magazine of the Children's Literature Association dealt with the work of Montgomery, especially with the subtly hinted at feminism in her novels. It wasn't until 1997 that New York's Oxford University Press published an academic treatise on Montgomery's first novel.

Anne of Green Gables became a Canadian Asset. After Montgomery's death, a major marketing campaign began alongside the fight for the rights to her works. In addition to sequels and other books on the subject of Anne of Green Gables , such as The Anne of Green Gables Cookbook , the tourism industry began monetizing Montgomery's works with amusement parks, bed and breakfasts and gift shops. Thanks to the Anne Books, the tourism industry has become one of the most successful industries on Prince Edward Island.

Awards

In 1923 Montgomery was the first Canadian to be accepted into the Royal Society of Arts . In 1935, the writer of was George V. an Officer of the Order of the British Empire appointed. In the same year the author was accepted into the Literary and Artistic Institute of France .

Montgomery's work in film adaptations and on stage

Cast by Anne and Matthew in front of the Anne of Green Gables Museum in Cavendish (2007).

cinemamovies

The first film adaptation of a Montgomery book was released in 1919: Anne of Green Gables . The silent film starred Mary Miles Minter , directed by William Desmond Taylor . The film is now considered lost . In 1934 another feature film was made under the direction of George Nichols : Anne of Green Gables . Dawn O'Day played the role of Anne and took the stage name Anne Shirley while filming .

Television films and series

Musicals

The musical Anne of Green Gables - The Musical has been performed annually at the Charlottetown Festival since 1965 . This makes Anne of Green Gables the musical with the longest running time in Canada.

Another musical adaptation of the material came on stage in 2005: the musical Anne and Gilbert has been performed annually on Prince Edward Island since then . The plot is based on the books "Anne in Avonlea" and "Anne in Kingsport". In the first year the musical was performed 44 times and all performances were sold out. The Canadian press was positive.

Both musicals have now been released on CD.

Works (selection)

Book series and novels

The title page of the book "Anne of Green Gables" published in 1908
  • Anne
  • Emily
    • Emily of New Moon, 1923
    • Emily in High School (Emily Climbs), 1925
    • Emily in Blair Water (Emily's Quest), 1927
  • Patient
    • Pat of Silver Bush, 1933
      • English: Pat on Silver Bush. Translated by Nadine Erler. Verlag 28 Eichen, Barnstorf 2017, ISBN 978-3-96027-101-7 .
    • Mistress Pat, 1935. German: Pat on Silver Bush 2nd translator Nadine Erler. Verlag 28 Eichen, Barnstorf 2018, ISBN 978-3-96027-108-6 .
  • Story girl
    • The Story Girl, 1911. The storyteller. German by Nadine Erler. Verlag 28 Eichen, Barnstorf 2020.
    • The Golden Road, 1913
  • Sara in Avonlea (Road to Avonlea)
    • The Journey Begins (Road to Avonlea No 1, Eng .: Sara in Avonlea - The Arrival)
    • The Story Girl Earns Her Name (Road to Avonlea No 2, Eng .: Sara in Avonlea - Marilla's secret)
    • A Dark And Stormy Night (Road to Avonlea No 25, not translated into German)

The Sara in Avonlea book series has often been incorrectly attributed to Montgomery. However, only three of the English books in the series come from her, of which only the first two books are available in German. These first two volumes of the series contain parts of the books "The story girl" and "The golden road". All others were continued under her name by various authors and are adaptations of some episodes of the American television series The Girl from the City (Road to Avonlea).

  • Novels
    • 1910: Kilmeny of the Orchard (German Kilmeny in the orchard, translated by Nadine Erler, 2015)
    • 1926: The Blue Castle (Eng. The Castle in the Clouds, translated by Nadine Püschel, 2015)
    • 1929: Magic for Marigold (German: Marigold's magic, translated by Nadine Erler, 2018)
    • 1931: A Tangled Web (German: a tangled web, translated by Nadine Erler, 2019)
    • 1937: Jane of Lantern Hill (Eng. Jane on Lantern Hill, translated by Nadine Erler, 2015)

Collections of short stories and poems

Short story collections
  • 1912: Chronicles of Avonlea.
    • Stories from Avonlea. German by Nadine Erler, 2019.
  • 1920: Further Chronicles of Avonlea
    • News from Avonlea. German by Nadine Erler, 2020.
  • 1974: The Road to Yesterday (unabridged version 2009 under the title "The Blythes Are Quoted")
  • 1988: Akin to Anne
  • 1989: Along the Shore
  • 1990: Among the Shadows
  • 1991: After Many Days
  • 1993: Against the Odds
  • 1995: Across the Miles
  • 1995: At the Altar
  • 2009: The Blythes Are Quoted
    • In German: Short Stories 1909 to 1922. Lucy Maud Montgomery's short stories. Selected and translated by Sarah Jost. Self-published
  1. Animal stories. Afterword Sarah Jost, 2016
  2. Christmas stories. 2016
  3. Horror stories. 2016
  4. Children's stories. 2016
  5. Senior stories. 2017
  6. Love Stories, 1st 2017
  • Poems
    • 1916: The Watchman & Other Poems
    • 1987: The Poetry of Lucy Maud Montgomery

Diaries, letters, miscellaneous

Diaries
  • Mary Rubio, Elizabeth Waterston (Eds.): The Selected Journals of LM Montgomery
  1. 1889-1910; 1985
  2. 1910-1921; 1987
  3. 1921-1929; 1992
  4. 1929-1935; 1998
  5. 1935-1942; 2004
Letters
  • Wilfred Eggleston (Ed.): The Green Gables Letters from LM Montgomery to Ephraim Weber 1905-1909 , 1960
    • Hildi Froese Tiessen, Paul Tiessen (Eds.): After Green Gables: LM Montgomery's Letters to Ephraim Weber 1916–1941, 2005
  • Frances WP Bolger, Elizabeth R. Epperly (Eds.): My Dear Mr. M: Letters to GB MacMillan , 1980
Others
  • Courageous Women . Essay, together with Marian Keith, Mabel Burns McKinley, 1934
  • The Alpine Path: The Story of My Career. Autobiography, 1974. The Alpine Path. German by Olaf R. Spittel. Verlag 28 Eichen, Barnstorf 2020.
  • The LM Montgomery Reader , Ed. Benjamin Lefebvre, University of Toronto Press
  1. A life in print. 2013
  2. A Critical Heritage. 2014
  3. A Legacy in Review. 2015

literature

Biographies

  • Hilda M. Ridley: LM Montgomery - A Biography of the Author of Anne of Green Gables . McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1956
  • Francis WP Bolger: The Years Before "Anne" - The Early Career of Lucy Maud Montgomery, Author of "Anne of Green Gables" . Prince Edward Island Heritage Foundation, 1974
  • Molly McGillen: The Wheel of Things: A Biography of Lucy Maud Montgomery . Goodread Biography, 1983
  • Mary Rubio, Elizabeth Waterston: Writing a life: LM Montgomery . ECW Press, Toronto 1995 ISBN 1-55022-220-1
  • Kevin McCabe, Alexandra Heilbron (Eds.): Lucy Maud Montgomery Album . Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1999
  • Alexandra Heilbron: Remembering Lucy Maud Montgomery . Dundurn Press, 2001
  • Janet Lunn: Maud's House of Dreams. The Life of Lucy Maud Montgomery . Doubleday, 2002

reception

  • Sylvia Du Vernet: Minding the Spirit: Theosophic Thoughts Concerning LM Montgomery , Islington 1989
  • Gabriella Ahmansson: A Life and its Mirrors: A Feminist Reading of the Works of LM Montgomery . University of Uppsala Press 1991
  • Elizabeth Rollins Epperly: The Fragrance of Sweet-Grass: LM Montgomery's Heroines and the Pursuit of Romance , University of Toronto Press, 1993
  • Irene Gammel, Elizabeth Rollins Epperly (Eds.): LM Montgomery and Canadian Culture , University of Toronto Press, 1999
  • Irene Gammel (Ed.): Making Avonlea: LM Montgomery and Popular Culture . University of Toronto Press , 2002
  • Elizabeth Waterston: Magic island: the fictions of LM Montgomery . Oxford University Press , Don Mills 2008 ISBN 978-0-19-543003-5

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Biography on CanText ELibrary ( Memento from October 25, 2007 in the Internet Archive ).
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Chronology: 1908 to 1942 ( Memento from August 4, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ), accessed on February 29, 2012.
  3. ↑ Biography on the homepage of the LM Montgomery Research Center ( Memento of the original of August 3, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed February 29, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.lmmrc.ca
  4. ↑ a b c d e Chronological curriculum vitae (Part 1) on the website of the LM Montgomery Research Center ( Memento of the original from August 3, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed February 29, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.lmmrc.ca
  5. ↑ Clarence Karr: Authors and Audiences: Popular Canadian Fiction in the Early Twentieth Century , McGills-Queen's Press, 2001, here online at books.google , accessed on November 18, 2009.
  6. ^ Faye Hammill: Literary culture and female authorship in Canada 1760-2000 , Rodopi, 2003, ISBN 90-420-0915-2 ; here online at books.google , accessed on November 18, 2009.
  7. ↑ The Research Center reports a fan letter that Baldwin allegedly wrote, the LM Montgomery Resource Page writes that Baldwin and Montgomery had been introduced to each other.
  8. ↑ see English Wikipedia: en: Persons of National Historic Significance , with list
  9. ↑ Aïda Hudson, Susan-Ann Cooper: Windows and words: a look at Canadian children's literature in English , University of Ottawa Press, here online at books.google , accessed on November 20, 2009.
  10. ^ William H. New: Encyclopedia of literature in Canada , University of Toronto Press, here online at books.google , accessed November 20, 2009.
  11. ↑ Website of the Confederationscentre ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed February 29, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.confederationcentre.com
  12. ^ Website of the "Anne and Gilbert" musical , accessed December 19, 2007.
  13. ↑ not listed at the German National Library
  14. ^ First published June - November 1917 in Everywoman's World

Web links

Commons : Lucy Maud Montgomery  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on January 16, 2008 .
personal data
SURNAME Montgomery, Lucy Maud
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Montgomery Mcdonald, Lucy Maud
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian writer
DATE OF BIRTH November 30, 1874
PLACE OF BIRTH Clifton, Prince Edward Island , Canada
DATE OF DEATH April 24, 1942
Place of death Toronto , Canada