Gift of Wings

As shown by my recent recommendation of this book in my gift guide suggestions for 2008, I loved the newest biography of Lucy Maud Montgomery, The Gift of Wings -- it was recently released, and this week I was lucky enough to meet the author, Mary Henley Rubio, who spoke at my library! It was a wonderful talk. She was full of extra tidbits in answer to people's questions, and in her slideshow she had images of some of the men in LMM's life; Ewen (of course) but also L.C. Page, her American publisher with whom she was involved in a long court case - and won - as well as Edwin Smith, a friend and dashing kind of fellow, and William Deacon, long time book critic of the Globe & Mail who denigrated her both for her writing and personally.

The book is excellent, as it should be, with 30 years gone into the making. Mary Rubio co-edited all the Montgomery journals (at LMM's son Stuart's own request) and has been involved in LMM scholarship since the 70's, and her expertise is fully evident. This biography is a fully fleshed out tale of the social conditions and interpersonal entanglements that LMM lived among, and it is fascinating. There are things revealed here that are new to scholarship, particularly the controversy over a contested suicide note; was it or wasn't it? All the agonies Maud suffered (family troubles, gossipy maids and nosy neighbours, court cases, depression, the war) while writing lovely, uplifting books are here, and reveal a complicated woman who is hard to pin down. Mary Rubio herself stated that there were difficulties in the writing, as Maud was very good at presenting her life in the manner in which she wished it to be seen. For example, even those very personal diaries were all recopied into fresh books by LMM once she became famous; who knows what she excised? Certainly, the pages containing the beginnings of her relationship with her husband were sliced out of the journals altogether. It reaffirms the status of LMM as an extremely complex, endlessly fascinating woman and writer. If you like author bios, or are a big LMM fan, read this. It is fabulous! I have been waiting for it for quite some time, and am suitably impressed by the result of those years of preparation.



Some more good news from Mary Rubio:


The LM Montgomery Research Centre at the University of Guelph is digitizing many photos and items from their archives, and eventually the diaries as well! There is already quite a lot to look at, including a picture of LMM's house in my hometown of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Neat.

The University of Guelph also recently held a conference on LMM (how I wished I could have been there!) But for those of us who could not attend, they've posted one full lecture online, with a promise of more to follow... Can't wait!

Mary Rubio (left) and me, after the reading

Some other reviews:

Bookshipper (this is a friend of mine who is as LMM crazy as I am, and as she says, this is THE LMM biography)

Pickle Me This (who makes the great point that this book places LMM into her social context)
Nota Bene Books (some quick tips from Nigel Beale)