I was fiddling around on Wikipedia, checking for a recommended reading sequence for the Anne of Green Gables books, when I spotted an entry I hadn’t noticed before. The book, The Blythes Are Quoted, is a collection of short stories, poems and vignettes to be published by Penguin in October 2009. Some content was published serially while LM Montgomery was still alive, and parts of the collection were published in one volume during the 1970’s, but considerably abridged.
Adultery, illegitimacy, misogyny, revenge, murder, despair, bitterness, hatred, and death—usually not the first terms associated with L.M. Montgomery. But in The Blythes Are Quoted, completed shortly before her death and never before published in its entirety, Montgomery brought these topics to the forefront in what she intended to be the ninth volume in her bestselling series featuring her beloved heroine Anne. Divided into two sections, one set before and one after the Great War of 1914-1918, The Blythes Are Quoted contains fifteen episodes that include an adult Anne and her family. Binding these short stories, Montgomery inserted sketches featuring Anne and Gilbert Blythe discussing poems by Anne and their middle son, Walter, who dies as a soldier in the war. By blending poetry, prose, and dialogue, Montgomery was experimenting with storytelling methods in ways she had never before attempted. The Blythes Are Quoted marks the final word of a writer whose work that continues to fascinate readers all over the world.
Editor Benjamin Lefebvre, in a post on his blog
The book can be pre-ordered now through Amazon, or watch for it on the shelves of your local library or bookstore!
(Another interesting upcoming title from Penguin popped up while I was at their web site: The Homeschool Liberation League. Looks like it might end up on some folks’ twaddle lists, but I was pleased to see that homeschooling is making it into the popular literature for teens & tweens!)
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Tags: Anne of Green Gables, Anne Shirley Blythe, Benjamin Lefebvre, Canadiana, literature, Lucy Maud Montgomery, poetry, short stories, The Blythes Are Quoted, upcoming publications
