#jane of lantern hill book club

[gogandmagog]

"To the memory of 'Lucky’, the charming and affectionate comrade of fourteen years."

— the Jane of Lantern Hill dedication, Lucy Maud Montgomery

Dear Jane of Lantern Hill book club,

I’m in no way prematurely reading ahead of schedule but today as I was locating my physical copy of Lantern Hill, I thought I might take a peek at any forewords, and instead found this very sweet little dedication to one of Maud’s ‘favourite’ cats, called Lucky! Anyone who had looked through Maud’s scrapbooks (also see: above photo) will also remember ‘Lucky’ by his formal name ‘Good Luck.’ And anyway, I thought okay… surely we can talk about Lucky, before we leap tomorrow!

Off to a great start if we have a little pal like Lucky to see us off!

Here’s a little more Good Luck content (plus one extra bonus cat that seemed relevant!), and see all the Lantern Hill book clubbers tomorrow! xx

From the Life and Work of L.M. Montgomery:

1937; Montgomery’s beloved cat, Lucky, dies, and she writes a lengthy journal entry about him and dedicates Jane of Lantern Hill (complete the same year, 1937) to him. Montgomery was passionately fond of cats all her life.

TOP: One of Maud’s (numerous!!!) snapshots of Lucky.

BOTTOM: Her last scrapbook entry is also from 1937. It is a clipping of a Glaswegian, whisky-drinking film-star cat "Matthew of Greengables," that Montgomery had seen in a silent film. The caption says, "The cats had their day in Glasgow yesterday when a Cat Show was held in the City Hall. Here is Mrs. Sargent Stowe with 'Mathew of Greengables.' This pretty puss is a film star, having appeared in 'Abdul Hamid.'"

ABOVE: The Lucy Maud Montgomery Heritage Society shared this granite rock painting of “Napping Lucky,” by artist Rosemary Scully, which can be found at the Children’s Garden of the Senses, in Norval, Ontario.

“The Children's Garden of the Senses is a Sensory Garden. The Garden is dedicated to the famous Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery and it pays tribute to her writings especially about gardens and landscapes which she describes in a very sensory way.”

Guys. Guys. I am ‘wild with delight’ over this. 🥺🫶🏻 The painting. The garden. I’m going to be warm-in-the-heart over it all evening.

Thanks for everything Good Luck! 🐈‍⬛ What a little soul you must’ve been!

#to you sir lucky! #cheers #a cat is a true good luck charm #cats are everything #jane of lantern hill #jane of lantern hill book club #t minus six hours

[starwarmth]

I’m a little defensive of Robin because everyone is saying what a horrible mother she is, and she isn’t a good mother, but also the way everyone is speaking about the situation gives me a bad taste in my mouth.

Oftentimes folks will say the same things about women in abusive relationships. “Why didn’t she leave” and “I would have been stronger” and “Well if she didn’t want that, she should have x.”

That’s all very well and good, but you have the privilege of clear sight and perhaps even a stronger disposition. Robin genuinely doesn't believe that Andrew wants her, and she genuinely doesn’t believe that he wants Jane. Think about it: Stay with a man who doesn’t want you or your daughter, or stay with a mother who does want you and think you can mitigate any problems she causes. Robin knows that her mother is a known evil; she can handle her. Andrew is different; what if he decides he’s finally done? Then she’s back at her mother’s anyway. Robin is at the mercy of so many people, and she is weak, she knows she is. She was raised to be a pretty thing. Andrew loved her for that once, and then (she feels) grew to despise her. Her mother will never despise her.

Robin thinks that she can handle her mother, can bubble wrap her actions towards Jane with childish little gestures and secret looks. But Jane doesn’t stay a child, she grows. And Robin can’t grow with her, because she isn’t Jane’s mother here. She’s her mother’s daughter.

Robin suffers from an arrested development, but she willingly puts herself there because she believes she’s safest there. She also believes Jane is safest there. And by the time she may realize Jane isn’t the safest there, she’s in too deep to dig herself out of it. She doesn’t know how; she was never taught.

There’s a hopelessness to Robin, because she’s given up on her life and given the control over to her mother. After all, what’s she going to do with it? Last time she made a choice, it ended poorly. He didn’t want her anymore. Robin is a fool and deserves this, and somehow thinks that she can keep Jane safe from her grandmother. But she can’t. And that makes Robin even more hopeless. She’s a pretty bit of lace on a chain, with no hope ever becoming anything more.

#Jane of lantern hill book club

[autumnrose11]

Liveblogging: Jane of Lantern Hill, Chapter 1.

This sounds very much like the beginning of The Blue Castle. Jane's situation seems similar to Valancy's in being continually repressed and "circumscribed", and Gay Street has a lot in common with Deerwood.

Uh oh. Mrs Kennedy sounds quite similar to Mrs Frederick!

Oh, Jane isn't very good at sports. First thing the protagonist and I have in common. Ding ding ding :D

So, Grandmother loves her daughter but detests her granddaughter. And dislikes her daughter loving her child. Wow. What's the poor kid ever done to her?

"You fuss entirely too much about her," grandmother had once said contemptuously, when mother was worried about Jane's sore throat. "She's all I have," said mother. And then grandmother's old white face had flushed. "I am nothing, I suppose," she said. "Oh, mother, you know I didn't mean that," mother had said piteously, fluttering her hands in a way she had which always made Jane think of two little white butterflies. "I meant...I meant...she's my only child..." "And you love that child...his child...better than you love me!" "Not better...only differently," said mother pleadingly.

This really is a terrible relationship to have, where you make people choose between another person and you! "Not better, only differently." People have different relationships, Gran! You'd think as a mother herself, she'd know that.

Grandmother is NOT a nice person at all.

#Jane of Lantern Hill #Jane of Lantern Hill book club #LM Montgomery #books #liveblogging

[mzannthropy]

Maria Weinberg of Canada’s Oaklawn Farm Zoo told Buzzfeed News, ‘I was just going into the lion enclosure to give the lions some pumpkins to play with.” ‘As I was giving the other two lions their pumpkins I look back at Obi and saw he was sitting in the wheelbarrow. Hoping he would stay there long enough [so] I could get the pic, I let him sit there as long as he wanted, and after two or three minutes he jumped out and went and played with the pumpkins.’

Article.

In view of the famous lion chapter of Jane of Lantern Hill, let me share this lion in wheelbarrow with you.

#lantern hill book club #jane of lantern hill #lmmblogging #lions #wheelbarrow #this has been pinned to my wheelbarrows pinboard for ages #i have a wheelbarrows pinboard yes #mypost

[e-louise-bates]

Every time I read Jane of Lantern Hill, I am more convinced that LM Montgomery deliberately structured it as a modern fairy tale. You have the wicked queen/stepmother holding the princess captive (Grandmother Kennedy and Robin). You have the castle where the princess is held captive (60 Gay Street). You have the jealous older sister (Aunt Irene). You have the prince succumbing to the older sister's spell that separates him from his true love (Andrew's blind spot toward Aunt Irene). You have the good fairy/benign nature spirit/witch who is morally neutral (Little Aunt Em). You have the protagonist searching desperately for the means to break the spell keeping the prince and princess apart (Jane's feverish quest after the "lost word" at the end).

And it's fascinating, because rather than Jane being the princess who needs rescuing by a prince, instead it's Jane doing the rescuing (we're told early on in the story that the keystone of Jane's nature is found in the words, "Can I help?"), and both the prince and the princess are rescued by her courage, faithfulness, understanding, and love.

Courage: she overcomes her fear of cows, saying, "How can I blame mother for not standing up to grandmother when I can't stand up to a few cows?" thus symbolically redeeming Robin's cowardice. Faithfulness: when given the choice of how to spend her second summer, Jane chooses to return to Prince Edward Island, thus redeeming Robin's faithlessness. Understanding: thanks to Little Aunt Em's wisdom, Jane is able to hear both sides of the story from her parents, and offers to both of them the understanding that they lack toward each other, thus redeeming both their foolishness. And love: Jane's love for both her parents brings her to the point of death, which causes Andrew to overcome his pride and contact Robin, and Robin to overcome her fear and come to be with them, and so they are both redeemed and rescued.

(This breaks down a little bit because toward the end of the book the narrative--and Jane--veers in sympathy much more toward Andrew, and we never see him breaking free of Aunt Irene, but we also know* LMM was planning a sequel to Jane of Lantern Hill that never got written, and so I wonder if she was planning on having that book be the one where Andrew's eyes are opened to Irene's machinations--or if she felt that it would simply be too unrealistic, even for a fairy tale, to have a spoiled, pampered man be made aware of the flaws of the one who'd always spoiled and pampered him, and so let that slide. Who knows?)

Some day I'd love to do a deep dive into Jane of Lantern Hill to go further into exploring this idea, as well as studying LMM's journals and her notes for the book to see if there's evidence outside the story to back up my theory, but alas, I have no time or resources to do so now. Someday!

*I cannot find my source for that tidbit, I apologize, but I know I read somewhere that LMM had been planning a sequel and that she was going to call it Jane and Jody. Oh for what might have been!

#jane of lantern hill #I proposed this theory to a book club I was doing jane of lantern hill with once #and none of them were convinced #which is another reason I'd like to do a proper scholarly approach to this #but in reading the book it feels like LMM is using very deliberate language choices #and they all convey this fairy tale feel #I also think the fact that Jane has no potential romantic interest introduced in this story is significant #because even though she's the protagonist the romance is for her parents #because they are the prince and princess #and she is the hero

[the-moral-of-the-rose]

A tribute to the cats of Montgomery's books.

Part 1. Anne Shirley (later: Blythe).

Rusty-the cat (the fighter):

"The animal was well past kitten-hood, lank, thin, disreputable looking. Pieces of both ears were lacking, one eye was temporarily out of repair, and one jowl ludicrously swollen. As for color, if a once black cat had been well and thoroughly singed the result would have resembled the hue of this waif’s thin, draggled, unsightly fur." (Anne of The Island).

"But, like Kipling’s cat, he “walked by himself.” His paw was against every cat, and every cat’s paw against him. One by one he vanquished the aristocratic felines of Spofford Avenue. As for human beings, he loved Anne and Anne alone. Nobody else even dared stroke him. An angry spit and something that sounded much like very improper language greeted any one who did.

“The airs that cat puts on are perfectly intolerable,” declared Stella." (Anne of The Island).

(He does get better looking though! He's said to become "plum and sleek" and his eyes heal!).

A fighter,

Independent,

Daring,

A survivor of an attempt of "chlorophorm murder".

Joseph-the-cat (a big fat softie that could fight if needed):

"Joseph, as the disgusted Stella said, looked like a walking rag-bag. It was impossible to say what his ground color was. His legs were white with black spots on them. His back was gray with a huge patch of yellow on one side and a black patch on the other. His tail was yellow with a gray tip. One ear was black and one yellow. A black patch over one eye gave him a fearfully rakish look. In reality he was meek and inoffensive, of a sociable disposition. In one respect, if in no other, Joseph was like a lily of the field. He toiled not neither did he spin or catch mice. Yet Solomon in all his glory slept not on softer cushions, or feasted more fully on fat things." (Anne of The Island).

"But Joseph rashly sat up and yawned. Rusty, burning to avenge his disgrace, swooped down upon him. Joseph, pacific by nature, could fight upon occasion and fight well. The result was a series of drawn battles. Every day Rusty and Joseph fought at sight. Anne took Rusty’s part and detested Joseph. Stella was in despair. But Aunt Jamesina only laughed." (Anne of The Island).

Joseph-with-a-coat-of-many-colors,

soft bean,

non-offensive,

sweet,

meek and gentle,

could fight if needed.

Sarah-the-cat (dignified queen):

"Sarah-cat gravely sat herself down before the fire and proceeded to wash her face. She was a large, sleek, gray-and-white cat, with an enormous dignity which was not at all impaired by any consciousness of her plebian origin. She had been given to Aunt Jamesina by her washerwoman.

“Her name was Sarah, so my husband always called puss the Sarah-cat,” explained Aunt Jamesina. “She is eight years old, and a remarkable mouser. Don’t worry, Stella. The Sarah-cat never fights and Joseph rarely.” (Anne of The Island).

"Rusty lowered his head, uttered a fearful shriek of hatred and defiance, and launched himself at the Sarah-cat.

The stately animal had stopped washing her face and was looking at him curiously. She met his onslaught with one contemptuous sweep of her capable paw. Rusty went rolling helplessly over on the rug; he picked himself up dazedly. What sort of a cat was this who had boxed his ears? He looked dubiously at the Sarah-cat. Would he or would he not? The Sarah-cat deliberately turned her back on him and resumed her toilet operations. Rusty decided that he would not. He never did. From that time on the Sarah-cat ruled the roost. Rusty never again interfered with her." (Anne of The Island).

Dignified,

Queenly,

Aloof,

A remarkable mouser,

Proud,

Ruler of the Patty's Place.

Such a queen.

Shrimp (best-family-cat):

"He seems to have recovered nicely from it," said Anne, stroking the glossy black-and-white curves of a contented pussy with huge jowls, purring on a chair in the firelight. [...] As for the Shrimp, Gilbert had called him that a year ago when Nan had brought the miserable, scrawny kitten home from the village where some boys had been torturing it, and the name clung, though it was very inappropriate now." (Anne of Ingleside).

Loves people,

good with children,

likes sleeping curled up with a member of his human family,

forgiving,

patient,

a little ray of sunshine.

Pussywillow (a little lady of the night sky):

"The Shrimp basked in the glow and Nan's kitten, Pussywillow, which always suggested some dainty exquisite little lady in black and silver, climbed everybody's legs impartially. "Two cats, and mouse tracks everywhere in the pantry," was Susan's disapproving parenthesis." (Anne of Ingleside).

Pretty,

Black and silver like a night sky,

Purring,

Dainty,

Sweet.

Jack Frost (a girl in hiding):

"Four years previously Rilla Blythe had had a treasured darling of a kitten, white as snow, with a saucy black tip to its tail, which she called Jack Frost. Susan disliked Jack Frost, though she could not or would not give any valid reason therefor.

"Take my word for it, Mrs. Dr. dear," she was wont to say ominously, "that cat will come to no good."

"But why do you think so?" Mrs. Blythe would ask.

"I do not think—I know," was all the answer Susan would vouchsafe.

With the rest of the Ingleside folk Jack Frost was a favourite; he was so very clean and well groomed, and never allowed a spot or stain to be seen on his beautiful white suit; he had endearing ways of purring and snuggling; he was scrupulously honest.

And then a domestic tragedy took place at Ingleside. Jack Frost had kittens!" (Rilla of Ingleside).

White and beautiful,

Clean and well-groomed,

Endearing,

Lovely,

Snuggler and purrer,

Mother of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,

"Diabolical" cat according to Susan.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (a cat suffering from bipolar disorder):

"In his Dr. Jekyll mood the cat was a drowsy, affectionate, domestic, cushion-loving puss, who liked petting [...] When the Mr. Hyde mood came upon him—which it invariably did before rain, or wind—he was a wild thing with changed eyes. The transformation always came suddenly. He would spring fiercely from a reverie with a savage snarl and bite at any restraining or caressing hand. His fur seemed to grow darker and his eyes gleamed with a diabolical light. There was really an unearthly beauty about him." (Rilla of Ingleside).

Orange and handsome,

Either sweet, purring, soft and cute, either dangerous and scary,

Possesed (?),

Some kind of mental illness (?),

A kitten of Jack Snow,

Called Goldie in his kittenhood,

Renamed by Walter.

Part 2. Emily Starr.

Mike the First (the fluffiest softie) and Saucy Sal (a badass girl):

"Mike had such a cute way of sitting up on his haunches and catching the bits in his paws, and Saucy Sal had her trick of touching Emily’s ankle with an almost human touch when her turn was too long in coming. Emily loved them both, but Mike was her favourite. He was a handsome, dark-grey cat with huge owl-like eyes, and he was so soft and fat and fluffy. Sal was always thin; no amount of feeding put any flesh on her bones. Emily liked her, but never cared to cuddle or stroke her because of her thinness. Yet there was a sort of weird beauty about her that appealed to Emily. She was grey-and-white—very white and very sleek, with a long, pointed face, very long ears and very green eyes. She was a redoubtable fighter, and strange cats were vanquished in one round. The fearless little spitfire would even attack dogs and rout them utterly." (Emily of New Moon).

Mike: soft, cute, fluffy, darling, handsome, purring, fat, cuddly.

Saucy Sal: a badass, fighter, brave, daring, sleek, green-eyed, gorgeous.

Smoke (the Aristo-cat):

"Smoke was a big Maltese and an aristocrat from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail. There was no doubt whatever that he belonged to the cat caste of Vere de Vere. He had emerald eyes and a coat of plush. The only white thing about him was an adorable dicky." (Emily of New Moon).

Aristocrat,

Dignified,

Member of cat caste of Vere de Vere,

Eyes like jewels,

Dignified,

Beautiful.

Buttercup (a tiny cat-cherub):

"Buttercup was a chubby, yellow, delightful creature hardly out of kittenhood." (Emily of New Moon).

Delightful,

yellow ball of fluff,

cute,

small bean,

adorable.

Mike the Second (a cute furry grey demon of the night):

"Emily’s furry kitten, Mike II, frisked and scampered about like a small, charming demon of the night; the fire glowed with beautiful redness and allure through the gloom; there were nice whispery sounds everywhere. [...] (Emily of New Moon).

A gift from Old Kelly,

Cute, furry,

Charming, plump,

Fluffy,

Rescued by Emily,

A forever kitten,

Gone too soon.

Daffodil - Daff - Daffy (a life-long friend):

“The kitten was a delicate bit of striped greyness that reminded Emily of her dear lost Mikes. And it smelled so nice—of warmth and clean furriness, with whiffs of the clover hay where Saucy Sal had made her mother-nest." (Emily of New Moon).

"Daff," said Emily wearily, "you're the only thing in the world that stays put." (Emily's Quest).

"Don't you wish—or do you!—Daff, that you and I had been born sensible creatures, alive to the superior advantages of Quebec heaters!"(Emily's Quest).

Fluffy,

Grey,

Cute,

Nice,

Adorable,

Emily's friend and companion of her lonely years,

Snored loudly in his sleep during his later years,

Followed Emily everywhere,

My personal favourite.

Part 3. Pat Gardiner

Gentleman Tom (an immortal cat):

"Gentleman Tom sat beside Pat, on the one step from the landing into Judy's room, blinking at her with insolent green eyes, whose very expression would have sent Judy to the stake a few hundred years ago. A big, lanky cat who always looked as if he had a great many secret troubles; continually thin in spite of Judy's partial coddling; a black cat . . . "the blackest black cat I iver did be seeing." For a time he had been nameless. Judy held it wasn't lucky to name a baste that had just "come." Who knew what might be offended? So the black grimalkin was called Judy's Cat, with a capital, until one day Sid referred to it as "Gentleman Tom," and Gentleman Tom he was from that time forth, even Judy surrendering. Pat was fond of all cats, but her fondness for Gentleman Tom was tempered with awe." (Pat of Silver Bush).

Ageless,

Troubled,

Mysterious,

Fascinating,

Full of personality.

Bold-and-Bad (a mad-cat ball of energy):

'"Bold-and-Bad", the kitten of the summer, came flying across the yard to her. Pat picked him up and squeezed some purrs out of him. No matter what dreadful things happened at least there were still cats in the world."

"Even Bold-and-Bad, whom ordinarily nothing could subdue, crouched with an apologetic air under the stove."

"Sure and I will, Patsy darlint. Ye nadn't be fretting over Bold-and-Bad. He's living up to his name ivery minute of the day, slaping on the Poet's bed and getting rolled up in me shate of fly-paper. Sure and ye niver saw a madder cat." (Pat of Silver Bush).

Full of energy,

Mischievious,

Living up to his name,

Bold,

Bad-but-adorable,

Brave,

Unstoppable,

Always young.

Part 4. Valancy Stirling:

Banjo (a devilish philosopher):

"Banjo is a big, enchanting, grey devil-cat. Striped, of course. I don’t care a hang for any cat that hasn’t stripes. I never knew a cat who could swear as genteelly and effectively as Banjo. His only fault is that he snores horribly when he is asleep." (The Blue Castle).

Grey devil cat,

has his own chair,

rules his kingdom of Barney's hut,

a graceful swearer,

dignified,

Good Luck (a wistful philosopher):

"Luck is a dainty little cat. Always looking wistfully at you, as if he wanted to tell you something. Maybe he will pull it off sometime. Once in a thousand years, you know, one cat is allowed to speak. My cats are philosophers—neither of them ever cries over spilt milk." (The Blue Castle).

Dainty,

Wistfull,

Charming,

Enchanting,

Clever,

Interesting.

Part 5. Jane Stuart

Two Peters (little cuties):

"The Snowbeams told Jane their cat had kittens and she could have one. Jane went down to choose. There were four and the poor lean old mother cat was so proud and happy. Jane picked a black one with a pansy face—a really pansy face, so dark and velvety, with round golden eyes. She named it Peter on the spot. Then the Jimmy Johns, not to be outdone, brought over a kitten also. But this kitten was already named Peter and the Ella twin wept frantically over the idea of anybody changing it. So dad suggested calling them First Peter and Second Peter—which Mrs Snowbeam thought was sacrilegious. Second Peter was a dainty thing in black and silver, with a soft white breast. Both Peters slept at the foot of Jane's bed and swarmed over dad the minute he sat down."

"First Peter was sitting on the doorstone when Jane came downstairs, with a big mouse in his mouth, very proud of his prowess as a hunter." (Jane of Lantern Hill).

Cute,

Soft,

Adorable,

Lil hunters.

Silver Penny (small but mighty):

"Ding-dong had brought her a kitten to replace Second Peter...a scrap about as big as its mother's paw but which was destined to be a magnificent cat in black with four white paws. Jane and dad tried out all kinds of names on it before they went to bed and finally agreed on Silver Penny because of the round white spot between its ears." (Jane of Lantern Hill).

Beautiful,

Magnificent,

Adorable.

Part 6. Marigold Lesley

Lucifer and Witch of Endor (a devilish married couple):

"Of course the cats were present at the festivity also. Lucifer and the Witch of Endor. Both of black velvet with great round eyes. Cloud of Spruce was noted for its breed of black cats with topaz-hued eyes. Its kittens were not scattered broadcast but given away with due discrimination. Lucifer was Old Grandmother's favourite. A remote, subtle cat. An inscrutable cat so full of mystery that it fairly oozed out of him. The Witch of Endor became her name but compared to Lucifer she was commonplace." (Magic for Marigold).

Gorgeous,

Soulful,

Fascinating,

Witchy,

Subtle,

Almost human-like,

Clever.

Part 7. Kilmeny of The Orchard.

Timothy-The-Cat (Sir Timothy - the real head of the family):

"They have no living children, but Old Bob has a black cat which is his especial pride and darling. The name of this animal is Timothy and as such he must always be called and referred to. Never, as you value Robert’s good opinion, let him hear you speaking of his pet as ‘the cat,’ or even as ‘Tim.’ You will never be forgiven and he will not consider you a fit person to have charge of the school."

"The other end of the bench was occupied by Timothy, sleek and complacent, with a snowy breast and white paws. After old Robert had taken a mouthful of anything he gave a piece to Timothy, who ate it daintily and purred resonant gratitude." (Kilmeny of The Orchard).

Dignified,

With Royal airs,

Sleek,

Black,

Stunning,

A family member,

A family pride and joy.

I love how every cat has its own little personality!

#lm montgomery #anne of green gables #emily of new moon #the blue castle #blue castle book club #pat of silver bush #magic for marigold #jane of lantern hill #lantern hill book club #kilmeny of the orchard #cats

[thesweetnessofspring]

LMM gets a lot right when it comes to the way a kid's mind works and how events/relationships impact them. We can see that in Jane, who's struggling academically under the stress of the emotional abuse, her parentification, how she tries to sort out if her mother wanted/loved her, dreading spending the summer with her estranged father, feeling the blame of her parents' separation. But also in Phyllis, who lives in a stable home with two parents and is affluent. Phyllis spouts off the grown-up's gossip and excels in school, and the praise she receives fuels her to continue to act as the adults want her to.

I was just thinking today of how people like Shakespeare and Austen get called Geniuses for their writing, and while LMM does certainly get praise, it's usually with a little *for a children's writer addendum. But to be an adult who can look into the soul of a child and write their psychology is also a Genius level literary skill, even if it isn't looked at the same as those who write adult characters.

#lantern hill book club #jane of lantern hill #l.m. montgomery #lm montgomery #jane stuart #phyllis anderson

[redplaidjacket]

This little bit about having an imaginary garden made me smile.

It reminded me of this entry in Maud's journals, where she details all the essentials to an old-fashioned garden.

I had a little fun once and researched all the flowers and plants she mentions.

I wonder what Jane and Jody's garden will look like, and if it will ever be mentioned again.

#lantern hill book club #lucy maud montgomery #jane of lantern hill #first time reader

[batrachised]

we've come to an end of The Blue Castle book club, and now we have a wonderful month of fanworks I'm VERY excited for! (Follow @dustpileofherown for all the good stuff!) Thank you to @daydreamingandprocrastination for an lm montgomery filled month 🥹🥹

Because the book club was such a brilliant idea, I wanted to toss out the idea of (in a couple of months, bc I'm not done with the blue castle yet!! Not trying to jump the gun here) reading another lm montgomery book and was curious which one people would be most interested in for the future. Yes, I've limited it to two but I'm genuinely curious to see which has more interest. So:

#lm montgomery #emily of new moon #blue castle book club #jane of lantern hill

[gogandmagog]

Jane of Lantern Hill, Chapter 2! 

Oh. So this whole family sucks.  

Over and over again I just find myself saying, “Oh, poor Jane!” or “Jane! You poor thing!” But for Chapter 2, let’s lead off with how Jane feels awkward. Is told she’ll “never be pretty” by girls at school. Feels she’s too tall... she feels very plain compared to her mother especially. All these perfectly humbling self-esteem issues that are probably chiefly inflicted by Jane’s harrowing environment, where she’s not celebrated in the least. She’s scarcely even tolerated. I bring this up, because we’re seeing the beginnings of what I believe will fully blossom out into another Montgomery theme, and that’s on: the beautification/enhancement of the outward appearance, based on healthy growth of the inward. Usually said glow-up is sparked by, yes finally receiving a healthy form of love (maternal, paternal, romantic), but also by being handed the freedom to be truly oneself and master of their own choices. We see this happen with Anne, and if I’m not mistaken, it seemed like a theme of the Blue Castle for Valancy too?

[Kind of in the same vein…] Something else that really continues standing out to me is just how emotionally repressive 60 Gay Street itself is. At every turn, Jane is doing something wrong. Here Jane isn’t allowed to show or receive tenderness from even her own mother, because it would anger her banshee of a Grandmother, so instead this poor child wants to sublimate/outlet all her pent-up energy of affection on things like polishing the silver, arranging the flowers or lettuce, lighting the candles et cetera... but even that cannot be accepted, unless it's on the secret-secret-down-low with Mary Price. It seems like the house itself is aligned with Jane’s Grandmother, really, because even it “won’t let” Jane love it, and 60 Gay Street itself acts like just another vehicle of control. Seriously. This poor girl. 

Jane is heart-breakingly resilient. I am very saddened by how “gallantly” she shields her mother (it should be the other way around, I find myself so far struggling to like this woman, despite understanding she’s likely just as incarcerated) when she tells her she essentially doesn’t want to ruin her evening and/or subject her to the same abuse she’s constantly receiving from her Grandmother. POOR JANE. 😤

#o-t-t-a-w-a #honestly f*ck right off #sorry for the expletive #just… awoo these guys are the worst #lantern hill book club #or is it #jane of lantern hill book club

[alwayschasingrainbows]

Lucy Maud Montgomery, writing her female characters as the flowers (Tangled Web Readalong):

"Gay, wearing her youth like a golden rose, was so happy, so radiant, as if lighted by some inner flame."(Tangled Web)

"Ilse in a yellow silk gown the colour of her hair and a golden-brown hat the colour of her eyes, giving you the sensation that a gorgeous golden rose was at large in the garden." (Emily's Quest)

To be sure, Rilla was a slim, white-robed thing, with a flower-like face and starry young eyes aglow with feeling;" (Rilla of Ingleside)

"Anne, as she walked along. In her light dress, with her slender delicacy, she made him think of a white iris." (Anne of Island)

"You look like a pansy yourself, Jane...that red-brown one there with the golden eyes." (Jane of Lantern Hill)

"Roses white enough to lie in your white bosom, my sweet, roses red enough to star that soft dark cloud of your hair." (Emily's Quest).

"And I know you look just as much as ever like a creamy rose with gold in its heart." (Mistress Pat)

"Rich, golden-brown hair, elaborately dressed, with a sparkling bandeau holding its glossy puffs in place; large, brilliant blue eyes and thick silken lashes; face of rose and bare neck of snow, rising above her gown; great pearl bubbles in her ears; the blue-white diamond flame on her long, smooth, waxen finger with its rosy, pointed nail." (Blue Castle).

#lm montgomery #emily of new moon #anne of green gables #the blue castle #aogg #blue castle book club #lantern hill book club #jane of lantern hill #rilla of ingleside #pat of Silver Bush #tangled web #tangled web book club

[no-where-new-hero]

I know Lantern Hill Book Club finished ages ago but I just now (I know it’s ridiculous) read the last two chapters and here are my two cents.

LMM endings continue to be bizarre and rushed but in the way that Emily’s Quest is, by putting all the doubt of the supposed happily ever after on the last page. The light-headed happiness of Robin and Andrew is legitimate just as Emily’s gladness at marrying Teddy is, but LMM lays out her problems nevertheless. Jane still has to be the interlocutor to her parents which is a dreadful place for an only child to be (not to overshare but I’ve been there and it can be Bad), they all still need to live half the year in Toronto which is far too close to 60 Gay and Grandmother for my liking, and there is absolutely no resolution with the elephant in the room of Aunt Irene. Andrew has his vocation and potentially Robin is growing a spine, but have they grown up enough to talk through things like normal adults?

LMM overuses (imo) the romance novel trope of a misunderstanding leading to alienation—again paralleling Emily and Teddy, Robin and Andrew patch up miscommunication but not incompatibility. That would be a lot for a book of this purview, in some ways, since it is supposed to focus on Jane and Jane’s (occasionally erroneous) POV on situations. But like Emily, it echoes into grown-up issues so deeply that the reader’s urge is to have a grown-up resolution, or maybe a little epilogue. I see why her publishers wanted a sequel at that point.

But I ALSO think it’s telling that LMM didn’t want to write one. I wonder if she didn’t really know how to carry the whole world forward in a satisfying way considering Jody’s exit was a trifle slapdash and both the ideas of a happy Robin-Andrew and a conflicted Robin-Andrew feel painful to delve into. The first one would be dull—LMM thrives, as any good novelist does, on conflict—and the second would just carve out the same dynamic as in this book, only more sordid because there would be no eucatastrophe a second time around. The only way I could see a middle ground is if Grandmother and Aunt Irene conveniently died or if there were a significant time jump, but neither solution were the types of things LMM did. Jane has already become old before her time; I really feel like Maud must have had no more coming-of-age arc to complete without the intense self-identification she had with Emily (writing and mental illness) or Pat (house worship and mental illness).

#lmm lockdown #lantern hill book club #jane of lantern hill #immortal poets society

[the-lily-blooms-late]

Local Man Backs Up Woman For the Worst Reason Possible

#lantern hill book club #jane of lantern hill #lm montgomery

[kehlana-wolhamonao3]

My fancasting for Robin Stuart: Lily James. Bonus: as Lady Rose MacClare she's been wearing amazing clothes from a very similar time period :D

#fan casting #jane of lantern hill #lantern hill book club #robin stuart

[the-moral-of-the-rose]

Before Jane Stuart conquered the lion, in Anne Shirley's times there had been:

"my Very Brave Aunt. She lives in Ontario and one day she went out to the barn and saw a dog in the yard. The dog had no business there so she got a stick and whacked him hard and drove him into the barn and shut him up. Pretty soon a man came looking for an inaginary lion’ (Query;—Did Willie mean a menagerie lion?) ‘that had run away from a circus. And it turned out that the dog was a lion and my Very Brave Aunt had druv him into the barn with a stick."

Anne of Avonlea by L. M. Montgomery

Willie White’s Aunt being the prototype of Jane Stuart? Or maybe some ancestor?

Anne Shirley was born on 5th of March 1866 - she was sixteen, going on seventeen during the time Willie wrote this letter as a school assignment (it was around 1882). Jane was born year or two after WWI, around 1919-1920 and the "lion accident" happened when she was around 12 (let's say, in 1932). So, at least 50 years later than the letter describing "A Very Brave Aunt"'s herotic act had been written.

Ok, but now imagine: if Willie's Aunt was about 50 when he wrote the letter (I suppose most "Aunts" of LMM's novels tend to be around this age), she'd be born 100 years before Jane Stuart's. So, great-great grandmother of Jane on Andrew's side, maybe ;)?

@batrachised

#lm montgomery #aogg #anne of green gables #anne of avonlea #jane of lantern hill #lantern hill book club

[thesweetnessofspring]

Your mother married him against my wish and lived to repent it. I forgave her and welcomed her back gladly when she came to her senses. That is all.

Mrs. Stuart seems to be on a bleak path Valancy might have gone down under admittedly very different circumstances (and Valancy with a child would be very different too). Not sure what happened with Jane's parents yet, so I'm curious to see what the backstory is exactly.

#lantern hill book club #jane of lantern hill #l.m. montgomery #the blue castle #blue castle book club