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Kilmeny of the Orchard (Seal Books, 1987)

Kilmeny of the Orchard } { Kilmeny of the Orchard: Editions } { Seal Books } { Editions: 1980–1989 }

Author

L.M. Montgomery

Title

Kilmeny of the Orchard

Language

English

Country

Canada

Publisher Location

Toronto

Publisher

Seal Books, an imprint of McClelland-Bantam

Publication Date

1987

Format (physical medium, format, dimensions/trim, pagination)

Print, mass-market paperback, 6 7/8” x 4 1/8”, viii + 136 pp.

Cover Artist

Unidentified; Ben Stahl (6th printing, 1993 onward)

Front Cover Tag

The poignant story of a young teacher who must overcome impossible obstacles to win the girl he loves.

Back Cover Synopsis

Love Comes to Lindsay

To the small village of Lindsay on Prince Edward Island comes Eric Marshall, a twenty-four-year-old substitute schoolteacher. Dark and handsome, the son of a wealthy merchant, Eric has a bright future in the family business and has taken the two-month teaching post only as a favor to a friend.

Then fate, which has been more than generous to Eric, throws in his path a beautiful, mysterious girl named Kilmeny Gordon. With jet-black hair and the face of a Renaissance Madonna, Kilmeny immediately captures the young man’s heart. But she is mute, cannot speak, and Eric is concerned for and bewitched by this shy, sensitive, blue-eyed girl.

For the first time in his life, Eric must work hard for something he wants badly. And there is nothing he wants more than for Kilmeny to return his love.

Contents

(i) [Four paragraphs of compressed and slightly altered extracts from chapter 5, “A Phantom of Delight,” below the title “Kilmeny”]

Under the white lilac tree was an old, sagging wooden bench; and on this bench a girl sat playing a violin. Her eyes were on the faraway horizon and she did not see Eric. For a few moments he stood there and looked at her. The picture she made photographed itself on his vision to the finest detail, never to be blotted from his book of remembrance.

He had, in his twenty-four years of life, met hundreds of pretty women. But he knew at once, beyond all possibility of doubt, that he had never seen or imagined anything so exquisite as this girl of the orchard.

Presently she looked away from the sunset and her lovely eyes fell on Eric, standing motionless before her in the shadow of the apple tree. The sudden change that swept over her was startling. She sprang to her feet, the music breaking in mid-strain and the bow slipping from her hand to the grass. Every hint of colour left her face and she trembled like a wind-stirred June lily.

Without a sound she fled across the orchard, through a gap in the northern fence and along a lane bordering the fir wood beyond. Before Eric could recover his wits she had vanished from his sight …

(ii) [Author’s Books]

Seal Books by Lucy Maud Montgomery ¶ Ask your bookseller for the books you have missed

The Story Girl ¶ The Golden Road ¶ Kilmeny of the Orchard [book titles in all caps]

The Anne of Green Gables Series ¶ Anne of Green Gables ¶ Anne of Avonlea ¶ Anne of the Island ¶ Anne of Windy Poplars ¶ Anne’s House of Dreams ¶ Anne of Ingleside ¶ Rainbow Valley ¶ Rilla of Ingleside [book titles in all caps]

The Emily Books ¶ Emily of New Moon ¶ Emily Climbs ¶ Emily’s Quest [book titles in all caps]

(iii) [Title Page]

KILMENY ¶ Of the ¶ ORCHARD

L.M. MONTGOMERY

[Seal logo] ¶ Seal Books ¶ McClelland-Bantam, Inc. ¶ Toronto

(iv) [Copyright Page]

This low-priced Seal Book has been completely reset in a typeface designed for easy reading, and was printed from new plates. It contains the complete text of the original hard-cover edition. Not one word has been omitted.

Kilmeny of the Orchard
A Seal Book / published by arrangement with the author’s estate

Printing History
First Canadian edition / September 1944
Seal edition / August 1987

All rights reserved.
Copyright 1910 by L.C. Page & Company (Incorporated)
Cover art copyright © 1987 by Bantam Books, Inc.

[Boilerplate language about rights, trademarks, and publisher’s address follows, along with the ISBN.]

Printed in Canada

Cover Printed in U.S.A.

(v) [Dedication]

(vi) [Epigraph]

(vii) Contents

(viii) [Blank]

(1–134) Chapters 1–20

(n.pag.) About the Author

L. M. Montgomery’s fascinating accounts of the lives and romances of Anne, Emily, and other well-loved characters have achieved longlasting popularity the world over. Born in 1874 in Prince Edward Island, Canada, Lucy Maud showed an early flair for storytelling. She soon began to have her writing published in papers and magazines, and when she died in Toronto in 1942 she had written more than twenty novels and a large number of short stories. Most of her books are set in Prince Edward Island, which she loved very much and wrote of most beautifully. Anne of Green Gables, her most popular work, has been translated into thirty-six languages, made into a film twice, and has had continuing success as a stage play. Lucy Maud Montgomery’s early home in Cavendish, P.E.I., where she is buried, is a much-visited historic site.

(n.pag.) Lucy Maud Montgomery ¶ Creator of Canada’s ¶ Most Beloved Heroine

Lucy Maud Montgomery’s fascinating accounts of the lives and dreams of Anne, Emily, and other well-loved characters have achieved longlasting popularity the world over. Devoted fans can now find their favorite stories available in paperback.

[A list of twenty-two books, including ISBN suffixes and suggested retail prices]

These Seal Books are available at all good bookstores throughout Canada.

[Seal logo] SEAL BOOKS ¶ McClelland-Bantam, Inc. ¶ Toronto ¶ The Mark of Canadian Bestsellers

Notes

Epigraph and dedication are both included. The information included here is from the third printing (undated). The fifth printing (also undated) is identical to what is listed here, except for the following changes: a list entitled “The beloved world of L.M. Montgomery” and including her twenty-two books along with “Anne of Green Gables Diary” and “Anne of Green Gables Cookbook” on the inside front cover; and the list of Montgomery’s books on page ii is now called “Books by L. M. Montgomery you’ll want to read” and includes the supplementary Diary and Cookbook titles as well as books that have been reprinted more recently by Seal Books (The Blue Castle, Jane of Lantern Hill, Magic for Marigold, Mistress Pat, Pat of Silver Bush, The Story of Girl [sic], and A Tangled Web).

The sixth printing (likely 1993) features a new cover by Ben Stahl, a longer list of Montgomery books on the inside front cover, a blank page ii, a reformatted copyright page (which announces that Seal Books is now an imprint of Random House of Canada Limited rather than McClelland-Bantam, Inc., and assigns the copyright to the cover image to Ben Stahl), a new biographical note for Montgomery at the end of the book, a blank page where the ad for all Montgomery titles from Seal Books at the end of the book, and a slightly condensed plot summary on the back cover. In spite of these differences, this printing retains the same ISBN as earlier printings.

The text of the “About the Author” section appeared with only minor differences in the Canadian Favourites editions of Montgomery’s later books, which had been published by McClelland and Stewart between 1972 and 1977.

Printing History

6 printings by 1993

Related Editions

Kilmeny of the Orchard (Bantam Books, 1989): Identical text and cover art.

ISBN

0-7704-2181-4



Published on 29 December 2021; last updated on 1 January 2022. Please contact the site owner with additions, corrections, questions, and suggestions.