Across the Miles: Tales of Correspondence is the seventh of eight collections of L.M. Montgomery’s rediscovered short stories edited and introduced by Rea Wilmshurst. It contains twenty short stories that were originally published in periodicals between 1901 and 1915, as well as an afterword, “Finding L.M. Montgomery’s Short Stories,” by Rea Wilmshurst. The book was preceded by Akin to Anne: Tales of Other Orphans (1988), Along the Shore: Tales by the Sea (1989), Among the Shadows: Tales from the Darker Side (1990), After Many Days: Tales of Time Passed (1991), Against the Odds: Tales of Achievement (1993), and At the Altar: Matrimonial Tales (1994), and followed by Christmas with Anne and Other Holiday Stories (1995). It was published as a jacketed hardcover by McClelland and Stewart in 1995, with a mass-market paperback appearing in September 1996.
From the Back Cover
The twenty stories in Across the Miles take us back to a time when the art of letter-writing still flourished, and people—especially those in small towns and villages, where so many of Montgomery’s stories are set—depended on the mail to hear news of family and friends and the world at large.
Many of the stories in this collection turn on the sending or receiving of a letter, yet the concerns of the correspondents and the outcome of their stories are ingeniously varied. Mistaken identity, secret confessions of love, fanciful revelations—all play a part in these delightful tales. Throughout, the wit and wisdom of L.M. Montgomery shine through.
Across the Miles is the seventh collection of rediscovered Montgomery stories, joining Akin to Anne, Along the Shore, Among the Shadows, After Many Days, Against the Odds, and At the Altar.
Contents
Introduction / Rea Wilmshurst (vii–xiv)
A Correspondence and a Climax (1–16)
Cyrilla’s Inspiration (17–24)
Miss Sally’s Letter (25–38)
The Understanding of Sister Sara (39–50)
Aunt Caroline’s Silk Dress (51–62)
The Old Fellow’s Letter (63–71)
The Promissory Note (73–84)
Anna’s Love Letters (85–97)
At Five O’Clock in the Morning (99–112)
The Letters (113–28)
A Fortunate Mistake (129–36)
The Growing Up of Cornelia (137–53)
Aunt Susanna’s Birthday Celebration (155–62)
Miss Madeline’s Proposal (163–71)
The Girl and the Photograph (173–84)
The Jest that Failed (185–92)
A Millionaire’s Proposal (193–211)
Our Runaway Kite (213–20)
The Schoolmaster’s Letters (221–35)
The Revolt of Mary Isabel (237–54)
Afterword: Finding L.M. Montgomery’s Short Stories / Rea Wilmshurst (255–60)
Editorial Note (261–62)
Acknowledgements (263)
Other Books by L.M. Montgomery (265–66)
Metadata
Editor: Rea Wilmshurst
Paratexts: Introduction, Afterword, and Editorial Note by Rea Wilmshurst
Publisher: McClelland and Stewart
Date: 1995
Format: Jacketed hardcover
Pagination: xiv + 266 pp.
ISBN: 978-0771061974