L.M. Montgomery Research Group

Magic Island: The Fictions of L.M. Montgomery (2008)

Elizabeth Waterston

Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press, 2008

Synopsis

L.M. Montgomery grew up in Prince Edward Island, a real place of “politics and potatoes.” But it’s her fictional world, a richly textured imaginative landscape, that has captivated a world of readers since 1908, when Anne of Green Gables became the first of Montgomery’s long string of bestsellers.

In this wide ranging and highly readable book, Elizabeth Waterston uses the term “magic” to suggest that peculiar, indefinable combination of attributes that unpredictably results in creative genius. Montgomery’s intelligence, her drive, and her sense of humour are essential components of this success. Waterston also features what Montgomery called her “dream life,” a “strange inner life of fancy which had always existed side by side with my outer life.” This special ability to look beyond the veil, to access vibrant inner vistas, produced deceptively layered fictions out of a life that saw not just its share of both fame and ill-fortune, but also what Waterston calls “dark passions.”

Designed as a companion to Mary Rubio’s new biography of Montgomery, The Gift of Wings, this is the first book to reinterpret Montgomery’s writing in light of important new information about her life.

List of Illustrations (vi)

Introduction (1-8)

Anne of Green Gables (9-18)

Anne of Avonlea (19-29)

Kilmeny of the Orchard (30-38)

The Story Girl (39-48)

Chronicles of Avonlea (49-58)

The Golden Road (59-65)

Anne of the Island (66-75)

Anne’s House of Dreams (76-84)

Rainbow Valley (85-93)

Further Chronicles of Avonlea (94-102)