Description
Book SynopsisL.M. Montgomery's
Anne of Green Gables is one of the best-known and most enduringly popular novels of the twentieth century. First published in 1908, it has never been out of print, and it continues, nearly a century after its first appearance, to appeal to new readers in many locations around the world.
Anne of Green Gables is the story of how a little girl, adopted from an orphan asylum by a brother and sister seeking a boy to help them on their Prince Edward Island farm, grows to responsible young adulthood and, as she grows, brings light and life to her adoptive home. Although it is, as Montgomery described it in her journal, a "simple little tale," it has nonetheless generated not only an international readership but, more recently, an increasing critical interest that focuses on the text's engagement with social and political issues, its relation to Montgomery's life and her other writing, and its circulation as a popular cultural commodity in Canada and elsewhere.
This Broadview Edition is based on the first edition of
Anne of Green Gables. It includes a critical introduction and a fascinating selection of contemporary documents, including contemporary reviews of the novel, other writings by L.M. Montgomery (stories, writings on gender and on writing), and excerpts from the "Pansy" books by Isabella Macdonald Alden.
Trade Review“This is an exciting edition of Canada’s most enduring literary classic, Anne of Green Gables. Cogent and compelling, Devereux’s introduction sets the stage for a fresh look at the novel with an impressive array of relevant texts by L.M. Montgomery and her contemporaries. Montgomery’s ‘The Way to Make a Book’ is a true discovery.” — Irene Gammel, Ryerson University
“Devereux’s editing is judicious, fully informed by current scholarship, and the supplementary materials—dealing with Montgomery’s views of gender and the writing life, early versions of the novel’s episodes, and inspirations for Anne—will be fascinating to students and general readers alike.” — Lorraine York, McMaster University
Table of ContentsPreface
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction
Lucy Maud Montgomery: A Brief Chronology
A Note on the Text
Anne of Green Gables
Appendix A: Selected Montgomery Stories before Anne
- “Our Uncle Wheeler” (1898)
- “A New-Fashioned Flavoring” (1898)
- “Patty’s Mistake” (1902)
- “The Cake that Prissy Made” (1903)
Appendix B: Montgomery on Writing: “The Way to Make a Book” (1915)
Appendix C: Montgomery on Gender
- “The Thirty Sweet Girl Graduates of Dalhousie University” (1896)
- “Famous Author and Simple Mother” (1925)
Appendix D: The “Pansy” Novels of Isabella Macdonald Alden
- From The Man of the House (1883)
- From Links in Rebecca’s Life (1878)
- From Ruth Erskine’s Crosses (1879)
Appendix E: Selected Reviews
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The New York Times Saturday Review of Books (18 July 1908)
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Montreal Daily Herald (21 July 1908)
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The Globe (15 August 1908)
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Outlook (22 August 1908)
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Canadian Magazine (November 1908)
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The Bookman (March–August 1909)
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Spectator (13 March 1909)
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The Mail and Empire (6 December 1913)
Select Bibliography
