The Intimate Life Of L.m. Montgomery

by Gammel, Irene

• ISBN13: 9780802086761
• ISBN10: 0802086764
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-03-21
• Publisher: Univ of Toronto Pr

Summary

Who ultimately is L.M. Montgomery, and why was there such an obsession with secrecy, hiding, and encoding in her life and fiction? Delving into the hidden life of Canada's most enigmatic writer, The Intimate Life of L.M. Montgomery answers these questions. The eleven essays illuminate Montgomery's personal writings and photographic self-portraits and probe the ways in which she actively shaped her life as a work of art. This is the first book to investigate Montgomery's personal writings, which filled thousands of pages in journals and a memoir, correspondence, scrapbooks, and photography.Using theories of autobiography and life writing, the essays probe the author's flair for the dramatic and her exuberance in costuming, while also exploring the personal facts behind some of her fiction, including the beloved Anne of Green Gables. Focussing on topics such as sexuality, depression, marriage, aging, illness, and writing, the essays strip away the layers of art and artifice that disguised Montgomery's most intensely guarded secrets, including details of her affair with Herman Leard, her marriage with Ewen Macdonald, and her friendships with Nora Lefurgey and Isabel Anderson. The book also includes rare photographs taken by Montgomery and others, many of which have not previously appeared in print.One of the highlights of The Intimate Life of L.M. Montgomery is the inclusion of a secret diary that Montgomery wrote with Lefurgey in 1903. This hilarious document is a rare find, for Montgomery's teasing banter presents us with a new voice that is distinct from the sombre tone of her journals. Published here for the first time, more than 100 years after its composition, this diary is virtually unknown to readers and scholars and is a welcome addition to the literature on this important figure.This volume fills in many of the blanks surrounding Montgomery's personal life. Engaging and erudite, it is a boon for scholars and Montgomery fans alike.

Author Biography

Irene Gammel is a professor in the Department of English at the University of Prince Edward Island.

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS	vii
PERMISSIONS	xi
ABBREVIATIONS	xiii
Introduction: Life Writing as Masquerade: The Many Faces of L.M. Montgomery	3	(14)
Irene Gammel
Part 1: Staging the Bad Girl	17	(110)
1 '...where has my yellow garter gone?' The Diary of L.M. Montgomery and Nora Lefurgey	19	(69)
Edited, annotated, and illustrated by Irene Gammel
2 The 'Secret' Diary of Maud Montgomery, Aged 281/4	88	(18)
Jennifer H. Litster
3 Nora, Maud, and Isabel: Summoning Voices in Diaries and Memories	106	(23)
Mary Beth Cavert
Part 2: Confessions and Body Writing	127	(60)
4 'I loved Herman Leard madly': L.M. Montgomery's Confession of Desire	129	(25)
Irene Gammel
5 Veils and Gaps: The Private Worlds of Amy Andrew and L.M. Montgomery, 1910-1914	154	(16)
Mary McDonald-Rissanen
6 '...the refuge of my sick spirit...': L.M. Montgomery and the Shadows of Depression	170	(19)
Janice Fiamengo
Part 3: Writing for an Intimate Audience	187	(52)
7 Visual Drama: Capturing Life in L.M. Montgomery's Scrapbooks	189	(21)
Elizabeth R. Epperly
8 'I hear what you say': Soundings in L.M. Montgomery's Life Writings	210	(12)
Joy Alexander
9 Epistolary Performance: Writing Mr Weber	222	(17)
Paul Tiessen and Hildi Froese Tiessen
Part 4: Where Life Writing Meets Fiction	239	(52)
10 'See my Journal for the full story': Fictions of Truth in Anne of Green Gables and L.M. Montgomery's Journals	241	(17)
Cecily Devereux
11 The Hectic Flush: The Fiction and Reality of Consumption in L.M. Montgomery's Life	258	(15)
Melissa Prycer
12 Untangling the Web: L.M. Montgomery's Later Journals and Fiction, 1929-1939	273	(18)
Mary Rubio and Elizabeth Waterston
WORKS CITED AND CONSULTED	291	(12)
CONTRIBUTORS	303