The Golden Road is L.M. Montgomery’s sixth book, first published in September 1913 by Boston publisher L.C. Page and Company. A sequel to The Story Girl, it is also the first novel that Montgomery wrote after her marriage and her move to Leaskdale, Ontario, where her husband was a Presbyterian minister. Perhaps not coincidentally, much of the book focuses on the inevitability of change. It was preceded by Chronicles of Avonlea (1912) and followed by Anne of the Island (1915).
This book formed part of the basis for the popular television series Road to Avonlea (1990–1996), as did The Story Girl, Chronicles of Avonlea, and Further Chronicles of Avonlea.
“Many who have walked the golden road and perhaps left it behind will in reading this story look backward to their youth.”
—Utica Press
Epigraph
“Life was a rose-lipped comrade
With purple flowers dripping from her fingers.”
—The Author.
Dedication
To
the memory of
Aunt Mary Lawson
who told me many of the tales
repeated by the
Story Girl
Contents
Foreword
I. A New Departure
II. A Will, a Way and a Woman
III. The Christmas Harp
IV. New Year Resolutions
V. The First Number of Our Magazine
VI. Great-aunt Eliza’s Visit
VII. We Visit Cousin Mattie’s
VIII. We Visit Peg Bowen
IX. Extracts from the February and March Numbers of Our Magazine
X. Disappearance of Paddy
XI. The Witch’s Wishbone
XII. Flowers o’ May
XIII. A Surprising Announcement
XIV. A Prodigal Returns
XV. The Rape of the Lock
XVI. Aunt Una’s Story
XVII. Aunt Olivia’s Wedding
XVIII. Sara Ray Helps Out
XIX. By Way of the Stars
XX. Extracts from Our Magazine
XXI. Peg Bowen Comes to Church
XXII. The Yankee Storm
XXIII. A Missionary Heroine
XXIV. A Tantalizing Revelation
XXV. The Love Story of the Awkward Man
XXVI. Uncle Blair Comes Home
XXVII. The Old Order Changeth
XXVIII. The Path to Arcady
XXIX. We Lose a Friend
XXX. Prophecies
XXXI. The Last Number of Our Magazine
XXXII. Our Last Evening Together
XXXIII. The Story Girl Goes
Reviews of The Golden Road (43)
Lexington (KY) Herald, 14 September 1913, 4.
The Bookseller, Newsdealer and Stationer (New York), 15 September 1913, 264–65. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 141 (as “[The Power to Charm]”).
Boston Evening Transcript, 20 September 1913, Part 3, 8. Scrapbook of Reviews, 56. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 141–42 (as “[Merry, Bright Young People]”).
Sun (New York), 20 September 1913, 4.
Springfield (MA) Union, 27 September 1913, 3 (“Another ‘Story Girl’ Book”).
Statesman (Boise, ID), 28 September 1913, Second Section, 10.
The Bookseller, Newsdealer and Stationer (New York), 1 October 1913, 320.
Globe (Toronto), 4 October 1913, 16 (M.G.H.). Scrapbook of Reviews, 52–53. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 142–43 (as “[An Arcadian Byway]”).
The Living Age (New York), 4 October 1913, 63–64.
The Outlook (New York), 4 October 1913, 280. Children’s Literature Review, edited by Gerard J. Senick (Detroit: Gale, 1985), 8: 136 (excerpted).
Daily Picayune (New Orleans), 5 October 1913, 5.
Trenton (NJ) Times-Advertiser, 5 October 1913, Part 4, 6 (J. Milnor Dorey).
The Publishers’ Weekly (New York), 11 October 1913, 1246.
Syracuse Herald, 13 October 1913, 9.
Evening Star (Washington, DC), 18 October 1913, Part 2, 9.
The Literary Digest (New York), 18 October 1913, 692. Children’s Literature Review, edited by Gerard J. Senick (Detroit: Gale, 1985), 8: 136 (excerpted).
The Publishers’ Weekly (New York), 18 October 1913, 1330–31 (Doris Webb). The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 143–44 (as “[A Wholesome, Out-of-Door Atmosphere]”).
Boston Herald, 25 October 1913, 6. Scrapbook of Reviews, 54. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 144 (as “[Entertaining Family Chronicles]”).
Baltimore Sun, 26 October 1913, 4.
The Book News Monthly (Philadelphia), November 1913. Scrapbook of Reviews, 63. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 144 (as “[More or Less Delightful]”).
The Canadian Magazine (Toronto), November 1913, 106.
The Bookseller, Newsdealer and Stationer (New York), 15 November 1913, 612.
Mail and Empire (Toronto), 15 November 1913, 24 (J.D.K.). Scrapbook of Reviews, 53. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 144–45 (as “[Excessively Commonplace Young People]”).
Philadelphia Press, 15 November 1913. Scrapbook of Reviews, 59. 59. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 145 (as “[Intelligent and Resourceful Children]”).
Duluth (MN) News Tribune, 16 November 1913, Magazine Section, 2.
The Publishers’ Weekly (New York), 22 November 1913, 119.
The Canadian Courier (Toronto), 29 November 1913, 12 (Marjory MacMurchy, “Canadian Genius in Poetry, Humour and Fiction”). The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 146 (excerpted as “[A Genius for Understanding Youth]”).
Grand Rapids (MI) Press, 5 December 1913, 19. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 146 (as “[Chronicles of a Group]”).
Globe (Toronto), 6 December 1913, 16.
Los Angeles Times, “Childhood Days.” 7 December 1913, Part 6, 7. Scrapbook of Reviews, 62. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 146–47.
Montreal Daily Star, [ca. 1913]. Scrapbook of Reviews, 57. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 151 (as “[At Times Wearisome]”).
Toronto World, [ca. 1913] (F.). Scrapbook of Reviews, 55. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 151–53 (as “[More of a ‘Juvenile’]”).
Register (Adelaide, Australia), “Youthful Memories.” 10 January 1914, 4. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 147.
Omaha (NE) World-Herald, 23 January 1914, 13 (“The ‘Story Girl’ and Her Friends, Again”).
Auckland Star (New Zealand), 7 February 1914, 14.
Saturday Night (Toronto), 14 February 1914, 24–25. Scrapbook of Reviews, 62. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 147–48 (as “[Bog of Shoddy Sentiment]”).
The Scotsman (Edinburgh), 26 February 1914, 2. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 148 (as “[A Merry Party of Young Folks]”).
Times Literary Supplement (London), 26 February 1914, 107. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 149 (as “[Transatlantic Young People]”).
Glasgow Herald, 13 March 1914, 13. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 149 (as “[The Simple Life of American Country Children]”).
The Bookman (London), Spring 1914, 7–8. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 149–50 (as “[A Certain Homely Appeal]”).
London Post, 13 April 1914. Scrapbook of Reviews, 65. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 150 (as “[Apt to Wear Thin]”).
Globe (London), 8 May 1914. Scrapbook of Reviews, 63. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 150–51 (as “[Transatlantic Farm Life]”).
Colorado Springs Gazette, 2 August 1914, 12.
Published on 7 August 2008; last updated on 30 March 2024. Please contact the site owner with additions, corrections, questions, and suggestions.