Emily’s Quest, L.M. Montgomery’s sixteenth book, was published in September 1927 by McClelland & Stewart and Frederick A. Stokes Company.
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Contents
About Emily’s Quest Dedication Chapters Editions of Emily’s Quest Adaptations of Emily’s Quest Reviews of Emily’s Quest
About Emily’s Quest
Emily’s Quest is the third of three books to feature Montgomery’s protagonist Emily Byrd Starr, preceded by Emily of New Moon (1923) and Emily Climbs (1925). Although she began work on this novel shortly after completing Emily Climbs, Montgomery’s creative difficulties with this manuscript prompted her to shelve the project temporarily and to finish The Blue Castle (1926) next. Her subsequent book was Magic for Marigold (1929).
Dedication
To
Stella Campbell Keller
of the tribe of Joseph
Chapters
The book consists of twenty-seven numbered and untitled chapters, each of which contains numbered sections.
Editions of Emily’s Quest
McClelland and Stewart (Toronto) published the first Canadian edition of Emily’s Quest in 1927, with cover art and a full-colour frontispiece illustration by M.L. Kirk. Later McClelland and Stewart editions included a Cavendish Library edition in 1947, a Canadian Favourites edition in 1972, and New Canadian Library editions in 1989 and 2009.
Frederick A. Stokes Company (New York) published the first U.S. edition of Emily’s Quest in 1927. It is identical to the first Canadian edition. Stokes licensed reprint editions to A.L. Burt Company (New York) and Grosset and Dunlap (New York).
Hodder and Stoughton (London) published the first UK edition of Emily’s Quest in 1927. George G. Harrap and Company (London) published a new edition of Emily’s Quest in 1935.
Angus and Robertson (Sydney) published the first Australian edition of Emily’s Quest in 1927, through its Cornstalk Publishing Company imprint. It published subsequent editions of Emily’s Quest throughout the twentieth century.
Adaptations of Emily’s Quest
A television series based on Emily of New Moon and its sequels, starring Martha MacIsaac, Stephen McHattie, and Sheila McCarthy, was filmed in Prince Edward Island and aired between 1998 and 2003.
Reviews of Emily’s Quest
Reviews of Emily’s Quest that have been located so far appeared in periodicals from Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Volume 3 of The L.M. Montgomery Reader includes the full text of thirteen reviews of Emily’s Quest.
“A clean, invigorating contribution to Mrs. Montgomery’s literary family. It abounds in human interest and appeal and will be gratefully received by the many who still like to be refreshed by romances that show such a sympathetic understanding of young people who think and act rightly.”
—San Antonio Jewish Record
“The third Emily book is a worthy successor of the other two. If sequels as a general rule are not as good as their predecessors, our author knows how to write the exceptions. . . . L.M. Montgomery’s happy endings are dictated not so much by the wishes of readers and publishers, as by her philosophy of life.”
—V.B. Rhodenizer, The Canadian Bookman (Toronto)
“A delightful tale of simple, homely, natural, loveable people who help to keep the world sane and sweet.”
—The Evening Post (Wellington, New Zealand)
“In these days of stressed ‘realism’—which, after all, is often not as realistic as it is sordid and crude—a healthy, wholesome story such as this comes as a pleasant stimulant. It is like meeting good, old, tried friends whom you understand and yearn for after wearying yourself with the superficialities of light acquaintances.”
—The Globe (Toronto)
“A delightful piece of character study and well calculated to pass a pleasant evening’s reading.”
—Natal Advertiser (Durban, South Africa)
“Perhaps her best tale of Prince Edward Island. . . . I cannot recall any contemporary novel known to me that has in it so much of the healing and sweet influences of earth and sky.”
—Manitoba Free Press (Winnipeg)