Montgomery had two imaginary friends growing up, who lived in a 'fairy room' behind a bookcase in her grandparents' sitting room. So I wanted to write a story about it.'²ġ4. The Blue Castle is set in Ontario, specifically Muskoka: 'Muskoka is the only place I've ever been in that it could be my Island's rival in my heart. Nineteen of Montgomery's 20 novels are set in P.E.I. Why was Mother so still? And why was Father crying? I reached down and laid my baby hand against Mother's cheek.'¹ġ3. Montgomery once wrote that her earliest memory was seeing her mother in her coffin: 'I did not feel any sorrow, for I knew nothing of what it all meant.

Montgomery's mother died of tuberculosis when she was nearly two, and her father would later move to Saskatchewan and remarry.ġ2. The photo was published in the magazine Everywoman's World. It also features two rare photos, one which appears to have been the inspiration for Rilla, the other for Rilla's fiance.Ībout the Author: Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874–1942) was the author of many best-selling novels, including Anne of Green Gables.Pictured above is Montgomery's home in Cavendish, P.E.I. Written as a companion to the new previously unpublished full edition of Montgomery’s wartime journals, this new edition will add to our knowledge of Montgomery as well as Canada’s role in the war. New notes based on the latest research about Canada in World War I show that Montgomery’s analysis of war was surprisingly accurate.

Rilla matures during the war years, learning to endure hard work and loneliness, and the death of her beloved brother Walter (Walter is widely accepted to be a fictional version of John McCrae, the Canadian soldier who composed “In Flanders Fields”). Here, characters follow the international conflict closely and share the experience of fear, dread, and loss. Two years after the war ended, she used this material to write Rilla of Ingleside – a novel about endurance and sacrifice on the Canadian home front. Instead, she carefully and quietly recorded war news in her journals. But there were few people with whom she could discuss the terrible events of the time. Montgomery would work hard throughout the war years, contributing to the war effort as well as helping her husband in his role as minister. Montgomery lamented the absence of close companions with whom to discuss the war in her new life as a minister’s wife in the rural community of Leaskdale, Ontario. If all felt as I do over it the work of the country would certainly suffer.” In her journal entry for January 1, 1915, L.M. “There is absolutely no one around here who seems to realize the war. A new annotated edition recounting the experiences of Anne's daughter Rilla Blythe during the First World War …

Rilla of ingleside lucy maud montgomery