Green Gables: Lucy Maud Montgomery's Favourite Places

Elisabeth Anne MacDonald-Murray is an assistant professor of English at
the University of Western Ontario.

As Deirdre Kessler observes in this tribute to the birthplace of both
L.M. Montgomery and her most famous novel, Anne of Green Gables,
“Montgomery essentially created the Prince Edward Island we now
see.” The landscape of her beloved island played a major role in
Montgomery’s writings and was described in detail in her many stories
and novels despite the fact that she lived most of her adult life in
Ontario, where she moved with her husband, the Rev. Ewan Macdonald.
Montgomery’s readers have long felt that they “knew” the fictional
Avonlea and its environs from the author’s meticulous descriptions,
and millions of fans have made the pilgrimage to the island to see Green
Gables. The remarkable way in which the literary and actual landscapes
have conjoined in contemporary P.E.I. is wonderfully depicted by
Kessler, who offers a tour of the literary pilgrimage sites and provides
an excellent commentary on Montgomery’s many contributions to the
island that she loved.

Kessler, a former co-chair of the L.M. Montgomery Institute at the
University of Prince Edward Island, leads the reader on an extensive
tour of the four major sites of interest: Green Gables, the model for
Anne’s home, Clifton Corner, where Montgomery was born, Cavendish and
the site of Montgomery’s childhood home, and Silver Bush, the home of
Montgomery’s close cousins, the Campbells. All the sites have been
carefully preserved as memorials to Montgomery, and Kessler carefully
documents Montgomery’s association with each one, both factual and
fictional.

Kessler also includes a section on the rural heritage of Prince Edward
Island and the connection of Montgomery’s own family to the land, a
biography of the author, and a discerning discussion of her writing
career. Kessler’s text throughout is highly informative and always
respectful of both the historical heritage and literary associations.
Beautifully illustrated with numerous archival and contemporary
photographs, this book is sure to delight all Montgomery fans.