The Blythes Are Quoted
| The Blythes Are Quoted | |
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| Author(s) | Lucy Maud Montgomery |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
| Series | Anne of Green Gables |
| Genre(s) | Canadian literature |
| Publisher | Viking Canada |
| Publication date | 2009 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 524 pp. |
| ISBN | 978-0-670-06391-8 |
| OCLC Number | 427676496 |
The Blythes Are Quoted is a book completed by L.M. Montgomery near the end of her life as the ninth book in her beloved Anne of Green Gables series. It consists of an experimental blend of short stories, poems, and vignettes, and is divided into two halves: one preceding the events of the Great War of 1914-1918 (World War I) and one relating life after the War (until the beginning of the Second World War of 1939-1945). The short stories, most of which were published in periodicals throughout the 1930s, focus on unrelated characters, but Montgomery rewrote these to include mentions and appearances of Anne and her family. The poems, most of which were likewise published under Montgomery's name, are now attributed to Anne and to Anne's son Walter, who dies as a soldier in the Great War. The novel returns to the characters and setting that are known to readers all around the world, but there is a noticeable shift in tone and topic, given that the book frequently deals with such matters as adultery, illegitimacy, misogyny, revenge, murder, despair, bitterness, hatred, and death. While these elements are not immediately associated with Montgomery's writing, scholars have uncovered the ways in which they are frequently woven into her earlier work.
An abridged version of the book was published in 1974 as The Road to Yesterday, but this version shortened and rearranged the stories and omitted all the vignettes and all but one of the poems. A restored, unabridged edition, edited by Benjamin Lefebvre, was published by Viking Canada in October 2009, with a paperback edition appearing in October 2010.
[edit] Series
After Anne of Green Gables (1908), Montgomery continued the story of Anne in a series of sequels, beginning with Anne of Avonlea (1909, about Anne as a schoolteacher) and Anne of the Island (1915, about Anne's university education). Next, she wrote: Anne's House of Dreams (1917, about her early marriage to Gilbert), Rainbow Valley (1919, about her children as pre-adolescents), and Rilla of Ingleside (1921, about her children as young adults during the Great War of 1914-1918 [World War I]). After a fifteen-year hiatus, Montgomery returned to the characters to fill gaps in the overall saga: Anne of Windy Poplars (1936), about Anne's three years as principal of Summerside High School before her marriage to Gilbert; Anne of Ingleside (1939), about Anne's children as youngsters; and The Blythes Are Quoted, completed close to the end of her life.
[edit] References
- Announcement: The Blythes Are Quoted (L.M. Montgomery Research Group)
- Penguin set to publish "new" L.M. Montgomery title (Quill & Quire)
- Lefebvre, Benjamin. "'That Abominable War!': The Blythes Are Quoted and Thoughts on L.M. Montgomery's Late Style." In Storms and Dissonance: L.M. Montgomery and Conflict, edited by Jean Mitchell. Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2008.
[edit] External links
- The L.M. Montgomery Research Group This scholarly site includes a blog, an extensive bibliography of reference materials, and a complete filmography of all adaptations of Montgomery texts.
- Official website of The Blythes Are Quoted.
- The Blythes Are Quoted at Benjamin Lefebvre's website.
- Official Facebook page.
