More than one hundred stories by L.M. Montgomery have been reprinted in collections of short stories published after her death.
In chronological order: The Road to Yesterday (1974) | The Doctor’s Sweetheart and Other Stories (1979) | 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) | At the Altar: Matrimonial Tales (1994) | Across the Miles: Tales of Correspondence (1995) | Christmas with Anne and Other Holiday Stories (1995) | After Many Years: Twenty-One “Long-Lost” Stories (2017) | Christmas with L.M. Montgomery (2021) | Around the Hearth: Tales of Home and Family (2022)
Related pages: Collections of Poems | Collections of Non-Fiction | The Blythes Are Quoted (2009) | Twice upon a Time: Selected Stories, 1898–1939 (2022)
The Road to Yesterday (1974)
The Road to Yesterday is a collection of rediscovered short stories first published as a jacketed hardcover by McGraw-Hill Ryerson in 1974. The basis of this collection is a typescript by L.M. Montgomery entitled “The Blythes Are Quoted” that was found in her surviving papers by her son, Dr. E. Stuart Macdonald. The typescript consisted of a mix of short stories, poems, and vignettes, but an in-house editor at McGraw-Hill Ryerson eliminated all the vignettes and all but one of the poems and shortened most of the short stories. It was published in paperback by Seal Books in December 1993. A restored and unabridged edition of The Blythes Are Quoted, edited by Benjamin Lefebvre, was published by Viking Canada in October 2009.
Citation: Montgomery, L.M. The Road to Yesterday. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1974.
Synopsis (1974 edition)
All who have read and loved Anne of Green Gables will be delighted to return to its setting with this recently discovered collection of fourteen stories by L.M. Montgomery. Anne, whom we’ve met in so many of the author’s previous books, is married and has grown-up children of her own. But she still recalls the strange and funny tales and bits of gossip she heard as a child.
These stories have their heart in Lucy Maud Montgomery’s love for the drama and comedy of life in the villages and country houses surrounding the Blythe family home in Avonlea. Some are tender romances, others accounts of vengeance; some have a touch of the gothic, others are sprinkled with humour; some of the settings are familiar, others are places we’ve never walked before. But all of these stories, and the memories from which the author pieces them together, add to our picture of L.M. Montgomery’s greatest source of inspiration—the people of The Island.
Lucy Maud Montgomery’s name has long been associated with the finest junior fiction. Anne of Green Gables, first published in 1908, persists to this day as one of the world’s best-selling books and has become a classic in literature. It has been translated into several foreign languages, produced as a film, and presented on stages around the world. It is this sensitive and charming portrayal of the life of an orphan girl growing up that Mark Twain once described as “the sweetest creation of child life yet written.” And it is the same warmth, understanding and love that Lucy Maud Montgomery shows in The Road to Yesterday.
Synopsis (1993 edition)
For Anne and Gilbert Blythe, life in a small village is never dull because of all the entertaining gossip, and what strange and funny tales they hear: about the mischievous twins whose dearest wish comes true when they meet up with a bored and haunted millionaire; or clever Penelope Craig, who considers herself an expert on children—until she adopts a boy of her own; or Timothy Randebush, a man so eager to keep his brother out of the clutches of a dangerous woman that he spirits her away—only to fall prey to her charms himself. Filled with unexpected surprises, laughter, and tears, here are fourteen of the Blythes’ favorite tales.
Contents
Publisher’s Foreword (n.pag.)
Canadian Twilight (n.pag.)
An Afternoon with Mr. Jenkins (1–10)
Retribution (11–22)
The Twins Pretend (23–40)
Fancy’s Fool (41–57)
A Dream Come True (59–79)
Penelope Struts Her Theories (81–107)
The Reconciliation (109–14)
The Cheated Child (115–44)
Fool’s Errand (145–53)
The Pot and the Kettle (155–79)
Here Comes the Bride (181–204)
Brother Beware (205–17)
The Road to Yesterday (219–30)
A Commonplace Woman (231–52)
Reviews (16)
Winnipeg Free Press, 16 March 1974, 21 (Janet Saunders, “Once More to Her Island”).
In Review: Canadian Books for Children 8, no. 2 (Spring 1974): 43 (Shirley Lewis).
Globe and Mail (Toronto), 23 March 1974, 33 (Anne Montagnes, “So Feeble. Why Do It Now?”).
The Calgary Herald Magazine, 29 March 1974, 14 (“Discoveries from the Past”).
Lethbridge (AB) Herald, 30 March 1974, 5 (Joanne Bowrey).
London (ON) Free Press, 20 April 1974, 61 (Louise Wyatt, “Disservice to Creator of Anne of Green Gables”).
Maclean’s (Toronto), June 1974, 94 (George Woodcock, “Bittersweets for the Short Story Buffs”).
The Canadian Author and Bookman 49, no. 4 (Summer 1974): 26 (Helen FitzPatrick).
Quill and Quire (Toronto), July 1974, 19 (Adele Ashby).
Whig-Standard (Kingston, ON), 16 September 1974, 7 (Eleanor Swainson, “A Disappointing Group of Stories”).
Publishers Weekly (New York), 7 October 1974, 62.
Kirkus Reviews (New York), 15 October 1974, 1112.
Booklist (Chicago), 15 November 1974, 321.
The New Yorker, 2 December 1974, 191–92.
The Dalhousie Review 54, no. 4 (Winter 1974–1975): 783–84 (Rae Macdonald).
Canadian Literature 63 (Winter 1975): 89–92 (F.M. Frazer, “Scarcely an End”). Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism, Volume 51, edited by Laurie Di Mauro (Detroit: Gale Research, 1994), 180–82.
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The Doctor’s Sweetheart and Other Stories (1979)
This collection of short fiction, selected and introduced by Catherine McLay, contains fourteen short stories that were originally published in periodicals between 1899 and 1935. It was published as a jacketed hardcover by McGraw-Hill Ryerson in 1979, followed by a mass-market paperback by Seal Books in December 1993.
Citation: Montgomery, L.M. The Doctor’s Sweetheart and Other Stories. Selected by Catherine McLay. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1979.
Synopsis
Although probably most famous for her novels, including the charming and beloved Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery also wrote hundreds of stories, many of which have never been republished since they originally appeared in the popular magazines of her day.
The Doctor’s Sweetheart and Other Stories is a collection of fourteen delightful examples of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s previously uncollected stories. Many are love stories: tales of reconciliation, of unexpected romance, and sometimes of humorous trickery that results in a match not “made in heaven,” but amusingly down-to-earth. The stories cover a long span of the career of this author, and they have been written with the same charm, delicacy, wit, and perception that readers down the years have come to expect from L.M. Montgomery.
Catherine McLay of the University of Calgary spent countless hours unearthing the stories brought together here for the first time. Her effort is well rewarded by the pleasure to be reaped from meeting the characters who live on these pages—from little Jims, who meets a kindly lady in “The Garden of Spices,” to Doctor John whose sweetheart returns at last.
Includes an introduction by the compiler as well as a biography of L.M. Montgomery and suggestions for further reading.
Contents
Preface (6–7)
Introduction (8–25)
Books and Articles on L.M. Montgomery (26)
Biography: L.M. Montgomery (Mrs. Ewen Macdonald) (27–31)
Kismet (33–37)
Emily’s Husband (38–47)
The Girl and the Wild Race (48–57)
The Promise of Lucy Ellen (58–66)
The Parting of the Ways (67–71)
The Doctor’s Sweetheart (72–80)
By Grace of Julius Caesar (81–89)
Akin to Love (90–104)
The Finished Story (105–13)
My Lady Jane (114–23)
Abel and his Great Adventure (124–39)
The Garden of Spices (140–59)
The Bride is Waiting (160–74)
I Know a Secret (175–90)
Reviews (4)
Books in Canada (Toronto), May 1979, 22 (Mary Ainslie Smith, “New Tales for the Maud Squad”).
Gazette (Montreal), 5 May 1979, 37 (Valerie Ward, “Green Fables”).
Quill and Quire (Toronto), July 1979, 48–49 (Mary Rubio).
Canadian Book Review Annual 1979, edited by Dean Tudor, Nancy Tudor, and Kathy Vanderlinden (Toronto: PMA Books, 1980), 169 (Patricia Morley).
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Akin to Anne: Tales of Other Orphans (1988)
Akin to Anne: Tales of Other Orphans is the first of eight collections of L.M. Montgomery’s rediscovered short stories edited and introduced by Rea Wilmshurst. Contains nineteen short stories that were originally published in periodicals between 1900 and 1933, the book was published as a jacketed hardcover by McClelland and Stewart in May 1988, with a mass-market paperback appearing in March 1989, followed by a U.S. paperback edition by Bantam Books in May 1990.
Citation: Montgomery, L.M. Akin to Anne: Tales of Other Orphans. Edited by Rea Wilmshurst. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1988.
Synopsis
Canada’s L.M. Montgomery is beloved by readers from Japan to Poland as the creator of the irresistible Anne of Green Gables. In this exciting collection of rediscovered tales—none of which has been available since its original publication—L.M. Montgomery has brought to life a multitude of characters who share not only Anne’s initial loneliness and vulnerability but also her spunkiness and charm. Their stories are told in Montgomery’s own inimitable, heart-warming style.
This important new collection reclaims at last a long-last part of our rich literary heritage. Never before have these charming and poignant tales of orphans been assembled within one cover. Admirers of Montgomery will treasure this anthology; it reflects her personal experience of loneliness and lovelessness, and her bittersweet memories of adversity overcome.
Motherless herself, and her father on the distant prairies, Lucy Maud Montgomery sympathized with orphans and children brought up by unloving relatives, and made them characters in many of her stories and novels; the best known, of course, is Anne. In these tales, death and remarriage, with consequent loss of contact between half-sisters and brothers, lead to many “lost-and-found” relatives.
Of the nineteen stories in this collection, only seven are about children. There are school girls alone in the world, middle-aged men and women with no one to care for, and older men and women whose lives are empty of love and family. In keeping with her longing for a happier life for herself, Montgomery finds warm and loving homes for all her lonely characters.
Contents
Introduction / Rea Wilmshurst (6–12)
Charlotte’s Quest (13–31)
Marcella’s Reward (33–44)
An Invitation Given on Impulse (45–53)
Freda’s Adopted Grave (55–62)
Ted’s Afternoon Off (63–71)
The Girl Who Drove the Cows (73–82)
Why Not Ask Miss Price? (83–91)
Jane Lavinia (93–103)
The Running Away of Chester (105–42)
Millicent’s Double (143–53)
Penelope’s Party Waist (155–64)
The Little Black Doll (165–75)
The Fraser Scholarship (177–85)
Her Own People (187–97)
Miss Sally’s Company (199–210)
The Story of an Invitation (211–17)
The Softening of Miss Cynthia (219–28)
Margaret’s Patient (229–36)
Charlotte’s Ladies (237–50)
Editorial Note (251–52)
Acknowledgements (253)
Other Books by L.M. Montgomery (255–56)
Reviews (13)
Canadian Children’s Literature / Littérature canadienne pour la jeunesse 52 (1988): 67–68 (Bonnie Ryan-Fisher, “The Magic of Believing”). https://ccl-lcj.ca/index.php/ccl-lcj/article/view/2322. Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism, Volume 51, edited by Laurie Di Mauro (Detroit: Gale, 1994), 212.
Quill and Quire (Toronto), April 1988, 12 (Adele Ashby, “Spin-Offs Capitalize on Green Gables Popularity”).
Globe and Mail (Toronto), 23 April 1988, C17 (Helen Porter, “An Abundance of Happy Endings”).
Toronto Star, 11 June 1988, M8 (Hugh D. McKellar, “Dreams Come True in These ‘Orphan’ Tales”).
Ottawa Citizen, 18 June 1988, C2 (Patricia Morley, “Orphans Akin to Anne of Green Gables”).
Whig-Standard (Kingston, ON), 18 June 1988, Magazine section, 23 (Maureen Garvie, “All of Anne’s Relations”).
Chronicle-Herald (Halifax), 25 June 1988, 4W (Janet Mitchell, “Characters Only Distant Kin to Anne”).
Gazette (Montreal), 9 July 1988, K9 (Eileen Manion, “L.M. Montgomery Had Orphans Other Than Anne”).
Winnipeg Free Press, 6 August 1988, 49 (Joan Thomas, “Maudlin Montgomery”).
The Island Magazine 24 (Fall–Winter 1988): 44–45 (Leslie MacLean). https://islandarchives.ca/islandora/object/vre:islemag-batch2-322.
Ottawa Citizen, 10 June 1989, C4 (Elizabeth Wright, “Akin to Orphan Anne”).
Canadian Literature 122–23 (Autumn–Winter 1989): 165–66 (Elizabeth R. Epperly, “Love Story”).
Canadian Book Review Annual 1989, edited by Joyce M. Wilson (Toronto: Simon and Pierre, 1990), 323 (Brian Burch).
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Along the Shore: Tales by the Sea (1989)
Along the Shore: Tales by the Sea is the second of eight collections of L.M. Montgomery’s rediscovered short stories edited by Rea Wilmshurst. Containing sixteen short stories that were originally published in periodicals between 1897 and 1930, the book was published as a jacketed hardcover by McClelland and Stewart in May 1989, with a mass-market paperback appearing in February 1990 and a U.S. paperback edition by Bantam Books in July 1990.
Citation: Montgomery, L.M. Along the Shore: Tales by the Sea. Edited by Rea Wilmshurst. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1989.
From the Back Cover
Along the Shore: Tales by the Sea is the second charming collection of L.M. Montgomery’s rediscovered stories to be reprinted from Rea Wilmshurst’s collection. A companion to Akin to Anne: Tales of Other Orphans, this book offers a wide-ranging selection of Montgomery’s tales that exemplify her story-telling art. Linked by the presence of the sea, these sixteen tales are eloquent statements of Montgomery’s love for the “wonderful purple shores and sweeps of shimmering blue water” of her native Prince Edward Island; children’s adventures, poignant romances, humorous and tragic stories combine to form a memorable volume.
Montgomery spent half her life away from her beloved Island, but when she died her body was returned to the Cavendish cemetery, to lie within sight and sound of the sea she loved so well. These stories live as vivid reminders of that love.
From the Dust Jacket
When L.M. Montgomery married Reverend Ewan Macdonald in 1911 and moved to Ontario from Prince Edward Island, she left behind the part of her life that furnished material for her immense body of work. Her letters to her Scottish pen-friend, G.B. MacMillan, demonstrate the love she had for her home province and her longing for the sea. After one of her visits to the Island, she wrote: “I shall never forget my first glimpse of the sea again. . . . I was not prepared for the flood of emotion that swept over me.”
The sea is the backdrop to this beguiling collection of stories by Canada’s most beloved author. The creator of Anne of Green Gables and Emily of New Moon wrote literally hundreds of stories—many of which had been “lost” since their original publication. Editor Rea Wilmshurst unearthed many of these rare, delightful tales in Prince Edward Island, and has compiled them in a unique series, never before available to the reading public. Along the Shore, the second volume in the series, collects sixteen of Montgomery’s finest stories, each set by the sea that she so dearly loved. The book is a welcome companion to Akin to Anne, the first volume in this enchanting series.
Contents
Introduction / Rea Wilmshurst (7–13)
The Magical Bond of the Sea (15–32)
The Life-Book of Uncle Jesse (33–47)
Mackereling out in the Gulf (49–64)
Fair Exchange and No Robbery (65–76)
Natty of Blue Point (77–86)
The Light on the Big Dipper (87–97)
An Adventure on Island Rock (99–107)
How Don Was Saved (109–19)
A Soul That Was Not at Home (121–37)
Four Winds (139–88)
A Sandshore Wooing (189–203)
The Unhappiness of Miss Farquhar (205–18)
A Strayed Allegiance (219–40)
The Waking of Helen (241–53)
Young Si (255–74)
A House Divided against Itself (275–95)
Editorial Note (297–98)
Acknowledgements (299)
Other Books by L.M. Montgomery (301–2)
Reviews (9)
Edmonton Journal, 13 May 1989, B7 (Lynne Van Luven, “World’s Bookworms Read On, Undaunted”).
Globe and Mail (Toronto), 1 July 1989, C17 (Marilyn Powell, “Before Anne’s Pigtails, There Were Soggy Tales”).
The Atlantic Provinces Book Review 16, no. 3 (September–October 1989): 12 (Dorothy Perkyns, “Tales by L.M. Montgomery”).
CM: A Reviewing Journal of Canadian Materials for Young People (Ottawa), September 1989 (Katherine Wallis). https://www.cmreviews.ca/cm/cmarchive/vol17no5/alongtheshore.html.
The Atlantic Advocate (Fredericton), December 1989, 60–61 (Michael O. Nowlan).
Canadian Children’s Literature / Littérature canadienne pour la jeunesse 57–58 (1990): 120–22 (Susan Inman, “Stories of Today and Yesteryear”). https://ccl-lcj.ca/index.php/ccl-lcj/article/view/2475.
Calgary Herald, 13 January 1990, E7 (Cecelia Frey, “Collection Rescues Works from Oblivion”).
Canadian Book Review Annual 1990, edited by Joyce M. Wilson (Toronto: Simon and Pierre, 1991), 198 (Jami van Haaften).
Canadian Literature 128 (Spring 1991): 155–57 (Cecelia Frey, “Ambition”).
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Among the Shadows: Tales from the Darker Side (1990)
Among the Shadows: Tales from the Darker Side is the third of eight collections of L.M. Montgomery’s rediscovered short stories edited and introduced by Rea Wilmshurst. Contains nineteen short stories that were originally published in periodicals between 1897 and 1935, the book was published as a jacketed hardcover by McClelland and Stewart in April 1990, with a mass-market paperback appearing in June 1992 and a U.S. paperback edition by Bantam Books in May 1991.
Citation: Montgomery, L.M. Among the Shadows: Tales from the Darker Side. Edited by Rea Wilmshurst. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1990.
Synopsis
Among the Shadows: Tales from the Darker Side contains characters and themes that will be a revelation to readers who have encountered only L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables. Those who have read all her works, however, will recognize the darker thread that has been woven through her other novels and stories. The third volume of rediscovered stories to be printed from Rea Wilmshurst’s collection, Among the Shadows offers nineteen tales: most involve drunkards, petty thieves, embezzlers, murderers, and adulterers; five have a supernatural aspect. But no matter how unusual their type, the characters are endowed with Montgomery’s compassion; poetic justice prevails; and her sense of humour is still in evidence.
Akin to Anne and Along the Shore, the first two volumes in this series, were welcomed by L.M. Montgomery’s fans, eager to relish fresh stories from her pen. Readers will be delighted with the depth and sensitivity revealed by Montgomery in this new collection.
Contents
Introduction / Rea Wilmshurst (7–15)
The Closed Door (17–30)
Davenport’s Story (31–37)
The Deacon’s Painkiller (39–53)
Detected by the Camera (55–64)
From Out the Silence (65–77)
The Girl at the Gate (79–85)
The House Party at Smoky Island (87–100)
The Man on the Train (101–12)
The Martyrdom of Estella (113–28)
Min (129–45)
Miriam’s Lover (147–55)
Miss Calista’s Peppermint Bottle (157–66)
The Old Chest at Wyther Grange (167–80)
The Red Room (181–98)
A Redeeming Sacrifice (199–206)
The Redemption of John Churchill (207–16)
Some Fools and a Saint (217–63)
The Tryst of the White Lady (265–84)
White Magic (285–303)
Editorial Note (305–6)
Acknowledgements (307)
Other Books by L.M. Montgomery (309–10)
Reviews (10)
Globe and Mail (Toronto), 11 August 1990, C12 (Marilyn Powell, “Save It for the Archives; Enough ‘Floatsam and Jetsam’ Already”).
Ottawa Citizen, 25 August 1990, J8 (Patricia Morley, “Dark Green Gables”).
CM: A Reviewing Journal of Canadian Materials for Young People (Ottawa), September 1990, 226–27 (Dave Jenkinson). https://www.cmreviews.ca/cm/cmarchive/vol18no5/amongshadows.html.
Calgary Herald, 8 September 1990, E7 (Kate Zimmerman, “Montgomery’s Humor Survives”).
Vancouver Sun, 6 October 1990, D18 (Linda Rogers, “Women of Substance with the Intellect to Beat Ordinariness”).
The Atlantic Provinces Book Review 17, no. 4 (November–December 1990): 14 (Peter de Niverville, “The Other Side of Lucy Maud Montgomery”).
Canadian Book Review Annual 1990, edited by Joyce M. Wilson (Toronto: Simon and Pierre, 1991), 198 (Christy Conte).
Canadian Children’s Literature / Littérature canadienne pour la jeunesse 62 (1991): 73–74 (Elizabeth Rollins Epperly, “Montgomery on the Dark Side”). https://ccl-lcj.ca/index.php/ccl-lcj/article/view/2607.
The Atlantic Advocate (Fredericton), February 1991, 45 (Michael O. Nowlan).
Star-Phoenix (Saskatoon), 23 February 1991, C10 (Jenni Mortin, “Montgomery Reveals Her Darker Side”).
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After Many Days: Tales of Time Passed (1991)
After Many Days: Tales of Time Passed is the fourth of eight collections of L.M. Montgomery’s rediscovered short stories edited and introduced by Rea Wilmshurst. Containing eighteen short stories that were originally published in periodicals between 1901 and 1935, the book was published as a jacketed hardcover by McClelland and Stewart in April 1991, with a mass-market paperback appearing in April 1992 and a U.S. paperback edition by Bantam Books in 1992.
Citation: Montgomery, L.M. After Many Days: Tales of Time Passed. Edited by Rea Wilmshurst. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1991.
Synopsis
“A life may go on without ripple or disturbance for so many years that it may seem to have settled into a lasting calm; then a sudden wind of passion may sweep over it and leave behind a wake of tempestuous waters.”
This sentence from “The Setness of Theodosia” is the keynote to After Many Days: Tales of Time Passed, the fourth collection of L.M. Montgomery stories to be published from those rediscovered by Rea Wilmshurst. The “wind of passion” sweeps through the lives of Montgomery’s characters in many different guises in these tales. It may come when a lover or family black sheep returns home. It may come as the chance to wreak a revenge plotted over decades. It may come as confession welling from a guilty soul. But the endings here are all happy, because the characters in these stories demonstrate the virtues that Montgomery believed in: patience, trust, forbearance, and love; they deserve their rewards.
L.M. Montgomery’s many avid readers have been delighted with the first three volumes in this series: Akin to Anne, Along the Shore, and Among the Shadows. They will be no less delighted with this new collection.
Contents
Introduction / Rea Wilmshurst (9–20)
After Many Days (21–30)
The Bride Roses (31–42)
The Romance of Jedediah (43–59)
Elizabeth’s Child (61–75)
In the Old Valley (77–88)
The Prodigal Brother (89–98)
Robert Turner’s Revenge (99–110)
For a Dream’s Sake (111–18)
The Price (119–47)
A Golden Wedding (149–57)
Mrs. March’s Revenge (159–69)
An Unpremeditated Ceremony (171–83)
Missy’s Room (185–97)
The Story of Uncle Dick (199–210)
The Romance of Aunt Beatrice (211–22)
The Setness of Theodosia (223–37)
Between the Hill and the Valley (239–52)
The Man Who Forgot (253–79)
Editorial Note (281–82)
Acknowledgements (283)
Other Books by L.M. Montgomery (285–86)
Reviews (2)
Ottawa Citizen, 2 May 1992, 17 (Patricia Morley).
Toronto Star, 18 July 1992, G14 (Arlene Perly Rae).
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Against the Odds: Tales of Achievement (1993)
Against the Odds: Tales of Achievement is the fifth of eight collections of L.M. Montgomery’s rediscovered short stories edited and introduced by Rea Wilmshurst. Containing eighteen short stories that were originally published in periodicals between 1896 and 1935, the book was published as a jacketed hardcover by McClelland and Stewart in May 1993, with a mass-market paperback appearing in May 1994 and a U.S. paperback edition by Bantam Books in December 1994.
Citation: Montgomery, L.M. Against the Odds: Tales of Achievement. Edited by Rea Wilmshurst. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1993.
Synopsis
In Against the Odds: Tales of Achievement, Montgomery has once again created for us believable characters who live in a world she knew well and depicted lovingly and accurately, the small villages and towns of eastern and western Canada. Though her characters are distant from us in time, their problems are very similar to those we have today, and their methods of solving them not very different. Just as Montgomery’s characters have to explore all feasible methods of reaching their goals, so young people today have to be inventive and intelligent, quick to notice a need they can fill. Just as her “disadvantaged” characters have to do battle to prove their worth in the face of prejudice and distrust, so do we all today have to learn to deal with set opinions and unswerving, even if erroneous, beliefs. Old-fashioned Montgomery may be, but out of fashion, never.
Against the Odds: Tales of Achievement is the fifth volume of L.M. Montgomery’s rediscovered stories to be published by McClelland & Stewart. Akin to Anne: Tales of Other Orphans, Along the Shore: Tales by the Sea, Among the Shadows: Tales of the Darker Side, and After Many Days: Tales of Time Passed preceded this collection.
Contents
Introduction / Rea Wilmshurst (7–13)
A Patent Medicine Testimonial (15–25)
The Fillmore Elderberries (27–36)
Dorinda’s Desperate Deed (37–46)
The Genesis of the Doughnut Club (47–56)
Bessie’s Doll (57–68)
At the Bay Shore Farm (69–80)
In Spite of Myself (81–94)
Why Mr. Cropper Changed His Mind (95–103)
How We Went to the Wedding (105–36)
Ned’s Stroke of Business (137–43)
Their Girl Josie (145–57)
The Blue North Room (159–68)
Where There Is a Will There Is a Way (169–76)
Lilian’s Business Venture (177–84)
A Question of Acquaintance (185–201)
A Case of Trespass (203–15)
A Substitute Journalist (217–27)
The Strike at Putney (229–40)
Editorial Note (241–42)
Acknowledgements (243)
Other Books by L.M. Montgomery (245–46)
Reviews (9)
Chronicle-Herald (Halifax), 9 July 1993, B3 (Susan Hughes, “Collection Uplifting with Tales of Courage”).
Ottawa Citizen, 9 July 1993, B7 (Joan Weller, “Anne Shirley Continues to Captivate”).
Leader-Post (Saskatoon), 17 July 1993, D5 (Dora Hakl).
Whig-Standard (Kingston, ON), 28 August 1993, Companion section, 16 (Francesca Esford. “Goodness Overwhelming.”).
CM: A Reviewing Journal of Canadian Materials for Young People (Ottawa), October 1993, 191 (Caroline Thomson).
Calgary Herald, 2 October 1993, F6 (Kate Zimmerman, “Upbeat Montgomery Still Inspires”).
Canadian Book Review Annual 1993, edited by Joyce M. Wilson (Toronto: CBRA, 1994), n.pag. (Lorraine Douglas).
Edmonton Journal, 31 July 1994, D6 (Nora Abercrombie, “Montgomery Collection a Real Tonic”).
Canadian Children’s Literature / Littérature canadienne pour la jeunesse 81 (Spring 1996): 62–63 (Marie Campbell, “Against the Odds”). https://ccl-lcj.ca/index.php/ccl-lcj/article/view/4314. Children’s Literature Review, Volume 91, edited by Scot Peacock (Detroit: Gale, 2004), 194–95.
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At the Altar: Matrimonial Tales (1994)
At the Altar: Matrimonial Tales is the sixth of eight collections of L.M. Montgomery’s rediscovered short stories edited and introduced by Rea Wilmshurst. Contains eighteen short stories that were originally published in periodicals between 1899 and 1935, as well as Wilmshurst’s afterword, “Finding L.M. Montgomery’s Short Stories,” the book was published as a jacketed hardcover by McClelland and Stewart in April 1994, with a mass-market paperback appearing in May 1995 and a U.S. paperback edition by Bantam Books in June 1995.
Citation: Montgomery, L.M. At the Altar: Matrimonial Tales. Edited by Rea Wilmshurst. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1994.
Synopsis
In these stories Montgomery’s characters find that on the way to the altar hindrances arise in the form of stern parents, awkward circumstances, misunderstandings (and one very determined cat). But the obstacles to the course of true love are removed by a wonderful assortment of means: Montgomery brings maiden aunts to the rescue; two pairs of twins play major roles; a marauding pig is an unusual cupid; the lovers themselves come up with striking solutions.
Whether you live on a farm and marry the boy (or girl) next door, whether you are rich or poor, whether you move to exotic climes or simply across the village, whether you are young and trembling and romantic or old and staid and prosaic, in Montgomery’s hands your happiness as a bride (or groom) seems assured.
At the Altar: Matrimonial Tales is the sixth volume of L.M. Montgomery’s rediscovered stories to be published by McClelland and Stewart. Akin to Anne, Along the Shore, Among the Shadows, After Many Days, and Against the Odds preceded this collection.
Contents
Introduction / Rea Wilmshurst (vii–xvii)
Aunt Philippa and the Men (1–16)
A Dinner of Herbs (17–30)
Jessamine (31–39)
The Penningtons’ Girl (41–52)
The Gossip of Valley View (53–63)
The Pursuit of the Ideal (65–72)
By the Rule of Contrary (73–79)
Nan (81–90)
The Wooing of Bessy (91–103)
Miss Cordelia’s Accommodation (105–14)
The Twins and a Wedding (115–25)
Them Notorious Pigs (127–36)
The Dissipation of Miss Ponsonby (137–49)
An Unconventional Confidence (151–60)
The Way of the Winning of Anne (161–72)
The Touch of Fate (173–85)
What Aunt Marcella Would Have Called It (187–96)
When Jack and Jill Took a Hand (197–214)
Afterword: Finding L.M. Montgomery’s Short Stories / Rea Wilmshurst (215–21)
Editorial Note (223–24)
Acknowledgements (225)
Other Books by L.M. Montgomery (227–28)
Reviews (7)
Ottawa Citizen, 28 March 1994, B8 (Janice Kennedy, “Kids Books Offer Shelter for Rainy Days”).
Gazette (Montreal), 16 April 1994, I4 (Wendy Thatcher, “Lucy Maud’s Altar Ego”).
Winnipeg Free Press, 17 July 1994, D10 (Susie Strachan, “Stories for Montgomery Fans”).
CM: A Reviewing Journal of Canadian Materials for Young People (Ottawa), September 1994, 139 (Darleen R. Golke). https://www.cmreviews.ca/cm/cmarchive/vol22no4/alter.html.
Canadian Book Review Annual 1994, edited by Joyce M. Wilson (Toronto: CBRA, 1995), 493 (Elizabeth St Jacques).
University of Toronto Quarterly 65, no. 1 (Winter 1995–1996): 243–45 (Elizabeth R. Epperly).
Canadian Children’s Literature / Littérature canadienne pour la jeunesse 87 (Fall 1997): 78–79 (Sylvia Bryce, “The Subtle Subversions of L.M. Montgomery”). https://ccl-lcj.ca/index.php/ccl-lcj/article/view/3383. Children’s Literature Review, Volume 91, edited by Scot Peacock (Detroit: Gale, 2004), 143–44.
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Across the Miles: Tales of Correspondence (1995)
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. Containing twenty short stories that were originally published in periodicals between 1901 and 1915, as well as Wilmshurst’s afterword, entitled “Finding L.M. Montgomery’s Short Stories,” the book was published as a jacketed hardcover by McClelland and Stewart in 1995, with a mass-market paperback appearing in September 1996 and a U.S. paperback edition by Bantam Books in 1997.
Citation: Montgomery, L.M. Across the Miles: Tales of Correspondence. Edited by Rea Wilmshurst. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1995.
Synopsis
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)
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Christmas with Anne and Other Holiday Stories (1995)
Christmas with Anne and Other Holiday Stories is the last of eight collections of L.M. Montgomery’s rediscovered short stories edited and introduced by Rea Wilmshurst. Containing excerpts from Montgomery’s novels Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Windy Poplars as well as fourteen short stories that were originally published in periodicals between 1899 and 1910, the book was published as a jacketed hardcover by McClelland and Stewart in October 1995, with a trade paperback appearing in August 2002. In the United States, this book was published by Delacorte Press in 1996, followed by a paperback edition by Bantam Books in October 2001.
Citation: Montgomery, L.M. Christmas with Anne and Other Holiday Stories. Edited by Rea Wilmshurst. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1995.
Synopsis
Sixteen stories from Canada’s best-loved author, Lucy Maud Montgomery.
Christmas and New Year’s is a season of celebration and reflection, of taking stock of the months gone by and looking forward to the year to come. Above all it is an occasion to remember the values and concerns of a past that seems increasingly distant—except when that world is brought to life once more in the stories of L.M. Montgomery.
The Anne stories in this collection—from Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Windy Poplars—are old favourites, but joining them are tales that are new to this generation of Montgomery fans. Written around the turn of the century, they have never before been published in book form.
In L.M. Montgomery’s day, as now, Christmas and New Year’s was a time for family reunions, old traditions, eagerly awaited gifts, and plenty of good food. But these stories emphasize the place of simple human kindness in this holiday, and celebrate Montgomery’s favourite and enduring virtues of self-reliance and plain dealing.
In many of these tales, Montgomery looks at the darker side of the holiday season, when the plight of the poor or lonely meets a bitter contrast in the gaiety and comfort of neighbours. It is this combination of shadow and sunshine, of sadness and happiness, that gives Montgomery’s writing its power to wring both tears and smiles from us and turns her readers into devoted fans who read her stories and novels over and over again.
Contents
Introduction (vii–x)
Matthew Insists on Puffed Sleeves (1–16)
Christmas at Red Butte (17–29)
The End of the Young Family Feud (31–43)
Aunt Cyrilla’s Christmas Basket (45–59)
The Osbornes’ Christmas (61–67)
The Unforgotten One (69–78)
Clorinda’s Gifts (79–87)
Katherine Brooke Comes to Green Gables (89–121)
A Christmas Mistake (123–35)
The Christmas Surprise at Enderly Road (137–45)
The Falsoms’ Christmas Dinner (147–59)
A Christmas Inspiration (161–70)
The Josephs’ Christmas (171–80)
Uncle Richard’s New Year’s Dinner (181–87)
Ida’s New Year Cake (189–98)
Bertie’s New Year (199–211)
Editorial Note (212–13)
Other Books by L.M. Montgomery (213–14)
Reviews (11)
CM: Canadian Review of Materials (Winnipeg), 17 November 1995 (A. Edwardsson). https://www.cmreviews.ca/cm/vol2/no5/anne.html.
Edmonton Journal, 24 December 1995, F4.
Canadian Book Review Annual 1995, edited by Joyce M. Wilson (Toronto: CBRA, 1996), 514 (E. Jane Philipps).
Booklist (Chicago), 1 September 1996, 134 (Carolyn Phelan).
Kirkus Reviews (New York), 15 September 1996, 1411. Children’s Literature Review, Volume 91, edited by Scot Peacock (Detroit: Gale, 2004), 194.
Publishers Weekly (New York), 30 September 1996, 93. Children’s Literature Review, Volume 91, edited by Scot Peacock (Detroit: Gale, 2004), 194.
School Library Journal (New York), October 1996, 38 (Jane Marino). Children’s Literature Review, Volume 91, edited by Scot Peacock (Detroit: Gale, 2004), 194–95.
Books in Canada (Toronto), December 1996, 33–34 (Diana Halfpenny).
The Horn Book Guide 8, no. 1 (Spring 1997): 71 (Carolyn Shute). Children’s Literature Review, Volume 91, edited by Scot Peacock (Detroit: Gale, 2004), 195.
Canadian Children’s Literature / Littérature canadienne pour la jeunesse 87 (Fall 1997): 78–79 (Sylvia Bryce, “The Subtle Subversions of L.M. Montgomery”). https://ccl-lcj.ca/index.php/ccl-lcj/article/view/3383. Children’s Literature Review, Volume 91, edited by Scot Peacock (Detroit: Gale, 2004), 143–44.
Times-Colonist (Victoria, BC), 22 December 2002, D10 (Liz Pogue, “Two Holiday Offerings for Young Avonlea Fans”).
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After Many Years: Twenty-One “Long-Lost” Stories (2017)
After Many Years: Twenty-One “Long-Lost” Stories is a collection of rediscovered short stories by L.M. Montgomery that was edited by Carolyn Strom Collins and Christy Woster and that features a preface and notes by Collins and Woster as well as a foreword by Kate Macdonald Butler. It consists of twenty-one stories by L.M. Montgomery that were originally published in North American periodicals between 1900 and 1939 and that were discovered by collectors only recently. Published by Nimbus Publishing as a trade paperback in June 2017, the book is dedicated to the memory of co-editor Christy Woster, who died in April 2016.
Citation: Montgomery, L.M. After Many Years: Twenty-One “Long-Lost” Stories. Selected and edited by Carolyn Strom Collins and Christy Woster. Halifax: Nimbus Publishing, 2017.
Synopsis
Although best known for creating the spirited Anne Shirley, L.M. Montgomery had a thriving writing career that included many novels and more than five hundred poems and stories.
This collection brings together rare pieces originally published between 1900 and 1939 that haven’t been in print since their initial periodicals. Collins and Woster have carefully curated a mixture of newly discovered stories that showcase all the charm you expect from L.M. Montgomery. With scholarly notes for each piece, this book offers readers a rare glimpse into how Montgomery’s writing developed over the years.
Contents
Preface / Carolyn Strom Collins and Christy Woster (vii–xii)
Foreword / Kate Macdonald Butler (xiii–xiv)
The Chivers Light (1900/1924) (1–7)
Elvie’s Necklace (1906) (9–14)
What Happened at Brixley’s (1906) (15–20)
Janie’s Bouquet (1907) (21–25)
Jean’s Birthday Party (1907) (27–30)
Maggie’s Kitten (1907) (31–38)
The Old Homestead (1907) (39–44)
The Pineapple Apron (1908) (45–51)
How Bobby Got to the Picnic (1909) (53–59)
Peter of the Lane (1909) (61–76)
For the Good of Anthony (1910) (77–87)
Our Neighbours at the Tansy Patch (1918) (89–106)
The Matchmaker (1919) (107–24)
The Bloom of May (1921) (125–32)
Hill o’ the Winds (1923) (133–97)
Jim’s House (1926) (199–23)
The Mirror (1931) (225–37)
Tomorrow Comes (1934) (239–56)
The Use of Her Legs (1936) (257–73)
Janet’s Rebellion (1938) (275–81)
More Blessed to Give (1939) (283–90)
Resources (291–92)
Editor Biographies (293–94)
Acknowledgements (295–96)
Reviews (2)
Resource Links (Punch Cove, NL), October 2017, 42–43 (Leslie Vermeer).
CM: Canadian Review of Materials (Winnipeg), 27 October 2017 (Ruth Latta). https://www.cmreviews.ca/cm/vol24/no8/aftermanyyears.html.
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Christmas with L.M. Montgomery (2021)
Christmas with L.M. Montgomery is a collection of short stories by L.M. Montgomery that was published as a paperback by Sterling Publishing in September 2021 alongside similar collections of work by Louisa May Alcott, Charles Dickens, and O. Henry. The three stories in the collection—“A Christmas Inspiration,” “A Christmas Mistake,” and “Christmas at Red Butte”—were previously collected in Christmas with Anne and Other Holiday Stories (1995), edited and introduced by Rea Wilmshurst.
Citation: Montgomery, L.M. Christmas with L.M. Montgomery. New York: Sterling, 2021.
Synopsis
The caring and compassion that underscore the festivities of the Christmas holidays are on full display in these three tales by beloved writer L.M. Montgomery.
Though her characters are plainspoken and ordinary—roomers at a boarding house, a pair of estranged former friends, brother and sister twins and their orphaned cousin—all show the true spirit of Christmas in the simple acts through which they cheer others: a kind remembrance of one who has been forgotten, a shared holiday meal, a selfless gesture of gift-giving.
Written more than a century ago, these stories are timeless in their expression of the tidings of the holiday season.
Contents
A Christmas Inspiration (1–15)
A Christmas Mistake (17–34)
Christmas at Red Butte (35–52)
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Around the Hearth: Tales of Home and Family (2022)
Around the Hearth: Tales of Home and Family is a posthumous collection of short stories by L.M. Montgomery that was edited by Joanne Lebold (formerly Joanne Wood), from a selection that Rea Wilmshurst had made before her death in 1996. It consists of seventeen stories that were originally published in periodicals between 1895 and 1935. The book was published as a trade paperback by Nimbus Publishing in June 2022.
Citation: Montgomery, L.M. Around the Hearth: Tales of Home and Family. Edited by Joanne Lebold. Originally selected by Rea Wilmshurst. Halifax: Nimbus Publishing, 2022.
Synopsis
Although best known for creating the spirited Anne Shirley, L.M. Montgomery had a thriving writing career that included hundreds of short stories and poems. Around the Hearth is a continuation of the Montgomery short story collections edited by Rea Wilmshurst in the late 1980s and the early 1990s, including stories such as “A Baking of Gingersnaps” (1895)—the first story Montgomery ever published. As with Anne, who found a warm and welcoming home and family at Green Gables, these stories focus on homes and families, and the happiness and love people receive from them.
Over many years of careful research and meticulous compiling of resources, Joanne Lebold has curated a collection of short fiction that showcases all the warmth and charisma Montgomery’s fans have come to cherish, and offers a rare glimpse into some of the beloved author’s lesser-known works. Includes seventeen short stories originally published between 1895 and 1935.
Contents
Introduction / Joanne Lebold (1–8)
A Baking of Gingersnaps (9–21)
The Burton Girls’ Patch Party (22–29)
Dora’s Gingerbread (30–42)
As to Mary Ethel’s Apology (43–49)
The Goose Feud (50–58)
A Double Surprise (59–70)
Patchwork (71–76)
Spotty (77–82)
A Homesick Heart (83–91)
The Visit of Geoffrey’s Wife (92–97)
The Springhill Picnic (98–105)
Why Faith Spoke First (106–10)
The Punishment of the Twins (111–25)
Miss Curtis Comes (126–32)
Josephine’s Husband (133–41)
By Way of the Brick Oven (142–95)
Editorial Note (196–97)
Acknowledgements (198)
Other Books by L.M. Montgomery (199–200)
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Published on 27 February 2024; last updated on 24 March 2024. Please contact the site owner with additions, corrections, questions, and suggestions.