The Lucy Maud Montgomery Journals Read Along: Volume IV Introduction

Miss the introductory posts for Volumes I, II, and III? Need the reading schedule for the entire read along?

Volume IV opens in 1929, when Maud is 54 years old. She and her husband Ewan have lived in Norval, Ontario for several years. Her son Chester is about to begin college. Stuart is still in boarding school.

The world (and Maud’s life) are on the cusp of change. The Great Depression affects Maud’s investments, her overall book sales, and Ewan’s modest salary. While she frets over paying for her boys’ schooling, the continual stream of those asking her for financial help grows.

Then there is Isobel, an obsessed fan who declares her love for Maud. Chester’s disastrous first year of college. Ewan’s total mental breakdown. Stress about her own mental state. Misunderstandings and hurt between the Norval congregation and the Macdonald* family. Chester’s secret marriage.

During these years, Maud wrote four books, A TANGLED WEB (my favorite of her stand alones), PAT OF SILVER BUSH, MISTRESS PAT, and ANNE OF WINDY POPLARS. Over the years literary tastes had begun to change. Maud’s books, once read by people of all ages, were now viewed as old-fashioned, sentimental children’s stories.

One of the things that has fascinated me most about Maud’s journals (and journaling in general) is how much of her recorded world was a true reflection of her life. I found this portion of the introduction especially interesting:

[There is a] complex relation between the journals and their creator. She may dramatize events to heighten their effect once she decides to write about them, but she will also resist writing about deeply unpleasant events in her family until there is no chance of a reprieve or reversal.

Her evasions show another emerging conflict in her life, between her need of her journal as a release from anxiety she cannot talk over with her husband, and her growing perception of her journal as a permanent record that will eventually be published, exposing family privacies during her sons’ lifetimes. She does not allow herself to express her worst fears about her family or her own deepest self-doubts in this journal. She tells nothing that she thinks will truly diminish her future reputation. She is always the patient and concerned mother. This volume of the journals appears frank and revealing, but there are subjects she clearly avoids. Consequently these late journals hold new fascination for those interested in the smoke-and-mirrors game of self-representation.

Last month I was amazed to find in my inbox the following email from Mary Rubio, one of the two editors of Maud’s journals:

Hello Caroline,
I enjoyed reading your post — and am glad to know how much people find engagement with L. M. Montgomery’s journals.
Some of my speculations about questions you wonder about can be found in my biography of Montgomery, LUCY MAUD MONTGOMERY: THE GIFT OF WINGS (Random House, 2008).
Mary Henley Rubio

While I haven’t yet read THE GIFT OF WINGS, I have downloaded it and look forward to digging in after the read along is done. Happy reading! Be sure to stop by 30 August for our discussion on Volume IV.

*LMM’s married name

Comments

Faith E. Hough says
August 2, 2013 at 2:05 pm
Yikes…this reminds me that I still don’t HAVE Volume IV. Looks like I’ll be hunting around Amazon this afternoon….
How nice of Ms. Rubio to send you that note. I definitely want to read that biography now!
- Caroline Starr Rose says
  August 2, 2013 at 4:50 pm
  Volume IV was the hardest for me to find, too. My first time through, I read a library copy. I was finally found a paperback copy to add to my collection.
  I’m still thrilled to think Mary Rubio emailed me. It will be a fascinating read after going through the journals this second time.

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