Tuesday, September 9, 2014

“Dear old world", she murmured, "you are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you.” ~ L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables


I have to wonder what Prince Edward Island would be like had Lucy Maud Montgomery not been born.   Much of the popularity of the Cavendish area of the island is owed to her.  I wouldn’t have necessarily understood that if I didn’t have the habit of reading a book set in a place I am planning to visit.  The book I chose for PEI was the classic Anne of Green Gables, written by L.M. Montgomery.   Reading it made me wonder how in the world I missed it in my youth.  I read everything I could get my hands on back in the day.  I still do but my tastes have been refined to deal with the overload of books and the underload of time.

When I mentioned a few blog entries ago that I hadn’t read the book as a kid, I got an interesting comment from Blogger friend, Beth of “E.”Lizard Breath Speaks.  She said, “ok - i have to address something 1st - (not yelling, just totally shocked??!) you have NEVER READ ANNE of green Gable???!! what????!?! are you kidding me. i have read & seen the movies a billion million times. wow, i am laying on the floor. that is so wild. can't wait to hear you thoughts. i know you will love it. such a great story. as a kid i played Diana, i would never pull it off as Anne - i loved the play. it was such fun. ( :”  SO, I am dedicating this post to Beth.  I think she would really love going up to Cavendish and seeing where Anne (with an “e”) roamed around.  And I did love the book, by the way.


If you go, stop in here first.  It's a small museum of Montgomery's life and there are relatives of hers there hanging out who talk about her early life on PEI.


Then they direct you toward the Haunted Wood Trail, which is part of the Green Gables Heritage Place.  This wood is said to have inspired her description of the hollow described in the Green Gables books.  Along the trail are placards that talk about Montgomery’s life and have quotes like this one:

Yes, it rained that day.
The wood opened up onto the area where the Green Gables house sits.  It pretty much matched my imagination, but then my imagination is nothing compared to Anne’s.


This is what Anne’s room might have looked like.


And out in the barn, we actually met Anne who roamed around and greeted people.  This young woman did a nice job staying in character.



I have to say, that I have added the rest of the Anne books to my list of things I have to read one of these days.  But you know how it goes…so many books, so little time.  But if we manage to get back to PEI in the future, it will give me an excuse to pick one up.  Unfortunately, so many places, so little money and so many obligations that keep you stuck in one place.   But a person can hope and dream, can’t one?   Here’s what Anne said about it, “Oh, it's delightful to have ambitions. I'm so glad I have such a lot. And there never seems to be any end to them-- that's the best of it. Just as soon as you attain to one ambition you see another one glittering higher up still. It does make life so interesting.” 


15 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

can't say i've read the book. :)

Unknown said...

We had the book as a series on Canadiain television. It was very popular and well done. Been quite a while since I was there, but I remember it all well. Lovely images and a great write up

Kerri Farley said...

I've never read it either :)

Pamela Gordon said...

Okay. I'm going to admit it. I've never read the book!! I live in the province that has one end of the bridge that gets you to 'Anne's island' and have never read any of the Anne books. I'm ashamed. I have seen the movie and the mini-series which were so excellent and made me feel like I was there. We took our children to PEI about 30 years ago - to Green Gables - but we didn't take them to the play in Charlottetown. Yes, I'm ashamed of that too. Such is life. I'm glad you read the book before your visit. My nieces were there recently (all in their 20's) and spent a bit of time with 'Anne' and had pictures taken. Your photos are beautiful. I also enjoyed your lighthouse series of photos. I really should buy a copy of the book and read it. Right?

Debbie said...

Well, I have not read the book either!! Love, love, love that first image and the little, white picket fence!!

Tina Fariss Barbour said...

I haven't read the books, but I watched the series when it played on PBS many years ago (in the 80s). Loved it so much. I cried and cried in parts of it. I always think of Anne when I hear about PEI.

Ana Mínguez Corella said...

Such a lovely place.. Regards from Spain..

Gail Dixon said...

A former boss of mine tried to get me to read Anne of Green Gables many years ago. I wonder why I haven't still? I guess if ELBreath had given me a tongue lashing like that, I would've read it too. J/K! I do need to download a copy for my reader. Thanks for the reminder!

Brian King said...

I love the green roof on the house!

Add me to the group that hasn't read the book, either, but let's be honest, that's no surprise. I'm pretty sure my man card is still in my wallet. ;-)

Ida said...

I'm not sure I've ever read the book either. Anyway it sounds like a very interesting place to visit and learn about the book too.

Chatty Crone said...

I just loved Anne of Green Gables - it was wonderful - glad to see the photos.

Nicki said...

I think it is so fun that you read up on a location before visiting. Delightful images

Elizabeth Edwards said...

ha. ha!! i loved that. we loved our visit there in 2013 ... such a gorgeous area. i would so love to live there at least once. i totally understand why LMM enjoyed it so. sure happy that you are fixing that Anne fix & making amends to get into your life. i think everyone needs a little ANNE ... she is such a great roll model & so many can learn from her.

thank you for the mention ... so kind of you. i am sorry i missed it ... but happy you told me about it. we were in Canada during that time ... we were in Alberta that trip. it was great. odd how things work out.

big big hugs. ( :

Suzanne McClendon said...

I've never read any of the Anne of Green Gables books, but I believe I have it in the Kindle reader. So, maybe I will get to it some day. :)

I enjoyed your post. I especially enjoyed the photo of the little house that is a museum. I think it looks like a cozy little house that I would enjoy living in.

Have a great day!

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