Maud: A Novel Inspired by the Life of L.M. Montgomery by Melanie J. Fishbane | Review

April 25, 2017 / 2 Comments / Review

Maud: A Novel Inspired by the Life of L.M. Montgomery by Melanie J. Fishbane | ReviewMaud

Goodreads
Author: Melanie J. Fishbane
Find the author: Website, Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Instagram
Publisher: Razorbill Canada, Penguin Teen Canada
Publication date: April 25th 2017
Source: Gifted by Indigo Teen (thank you!), Purchased at Chapters Indigo
Format: Hardcover
My rating:
Buy It: Indigo.ca | Amazon.com | The Book Depository | iBooks | Google Books | Audible

For the first time ever, a young novel about the teen years of L.M. Montgomery, the author who brought us ANNE OF GREEN GABLES.
     Fourteen-year-old Lucy Maud Montgomery -- Maud to her friends -- has a dream: to go to college and become a writer, just like her idol, Louisa May Alcott. But living with her grandparents on Prince Edward Island, she worries that this dream will never come true. Her grandfather has strong opinions about a woman's place in the world, and they do not include spending good money on college. Luckily, she has a teacher to believe in her, and good friends to support her, including Nate, the Baptist minister's stepson and the smartest boy in the class. If only he weren't a Baptist; her Presbyterian grandparents would never approve. Then again, Maud isn't sure she wants to settle down with a boy -- her dreams of being a writer are much more important.
     But life changes for Maud when she goes out West to live with her father and his new wife and daughter. Her new home offers her another chance at love, as well as attending school, but tensions increase as Maud discovers her stepmother's plans for her, which threaten Maud's future -- and her happiness forever.

Review: Maud by Melanie J. Fishbane

I’ve already told you all about my wild excitement at Maud, as well as my obsession with all things Anne of Green Gables. So let’s dive right into Maud. =p

My first thoughts when reading MAUD: This reads like Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books! There’s something very simple, direct, and 19th century about the prose in Maud, and it instantly brought me back to all my moments learning about pioneer life as a child.

Here’s the thing, though: this is not an idyllic time. Unlike L.M. Montgomery’s whimsical Anne of Green Gables, teen Lucy Maud Montgomery’s life is filled with frustration over unfulfilled ambition, Presbyterian rules, and people who just don’t understand her. In the latter, it’s a typical teenager’s life, but in the former two, it’s a life that’s really restrictive and not really conducive to a creative mind.anne of green gables book cover

Maud (as L.M. Montgomery was called) starts in 1890, when the titular character is 14. While she has wonderful friends, and a budding romance with a schoolmate, Maud’s home life is dominated by her devout and conservative grandparents.

The novel is split into three books documenting three tumultuous years in Maud’s life where we see her develop as a writer and teen. To tell you more about the other two books would be spoiling, though (can you spoil a story about a historical figure that’s hundreds of years old?). Suffice to say, the years are each filled with frustration and doubt, friendship and love, and always, Maud’s feeling that she doesn’t belong.

Fishbane paints Maud as not just ahead of her schoolmates in academics, but also ahead of her time. Throughout the novel, we see Maud continually get placed in situations where she’s the odd one out. She’s almost an orphan, shuffled around from relative to relative, and whispered about because she’s so dreamy and determined.

But as much as she’s placed in that Othering role, Maud also makes choices that set her apart. Even at 14 (and you can tell, even from earlier than that), she is singularly focused on her dream and destiny of becoming a writer. She absorbs vast quantities of literature, makes hard decisions in favour of her calling, and literally uses writing as her escape. Writing is both cathartic and academic for her.

Maud aka LM Montgomery photo
Source: UPenn Digital Library”

It’s this obsession that pushes Maud to become more than just a wife and mother, as so many of her contemporaries are inclined to do. It makes her desperate for more education, understanding the necessity of absorbing more literature in order to better herself. And it makes her desperate for a way to become self-sufficient in a time when women are supposed to rely on men for everything from the vote to the next glass of milk.

What you see in this book is how not just L.M. Montgomery’s real life, but her ideas for her stories get shaped and changed. It’s not the Anne books that everyone knows, but instead, an understanding of how Maud got to a place where Anne became the thing she wrote.

Reading Maud is like getting to have a really long coffee date with your favorite author when she was a teen – spilling her problems and woes. It’s one part documentation, one part reportage, and one part bittersweet sympathy. You’ll ache and be frustrated for Maud, but you’ll cheer her and when she gets a much-needed win.

Bonuses:

I couldn’t help but use GIFs from the new Anne series on CBC (and Netflix) for this part!

PEI from CBC Anne the seriesMaud of Green Gables: While there isn’t actually a real house named “Green Gables” or town named “Avonlea”, there are definitely parallels between Cavendish, where Maud grew up, and the people she meets. If you’re an Anne or Emily fan, I think you’ll see those parallels pretty easily, and it’s kind of delightful when you do.

anne writing megan follows
The new Anne series hasn’t gotten to any letters yet!

Letters & Notes: I have a thing for books where you get to see correspondence between characters, and this one has some really adorable letter writing.

anne and gilbertHonest But Swoony Romance: I don’t want to give things away, but one of the most amazing things about this book is that there is more than one love interest without getting cliche. And…that’s all I’m going to say about that. Enjoy the swoons, guys!

Realistic Girl Friendships: While Maud celebrates the romance and friendship that are the trademarks of all of LMM’s work, it also recognizes the difficulty of keeping relationships alive and growing. It’s a really honest and bittersweet take on friendship that I appreciated so much.

Anne, Ruby, Diana in Story Club - Anne CBCHistorical Writing: I haven’t read a YA historical that tries to write in the style of the literature of the time, and I think it’s done successfully here. I appreciated that the prose and omniscient narration remained a bit removed from Maud, in the style of the time, but you could actually track Maud’s progression as a teen through the dialogue she uses in each section (she gets a lot more thoughtful, much like Anne, as she grows up!).

The Final Word:

A well-researched novel about the teen life of the iconic Anne of Green Gables author L.M. Montgomery, Maud takes the bones of one of Canada’s most celebrated authors and elevates it into historical fiction that will challenge youth. Readers fond of Anne and Montgomery’s other books will enjoy recognizing characters and moments in Maud’s life that parallel her books, but will also see how much of an escape literature became for Maud.

This isn’t always a happy story, and it’s definitely not one without hardships. What kept me going is Maud’s determination to break out of her situation. This is an unabashedly feminist take on Maud’s life, and on the lives of women in the 1890s. A solid debut.

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MAUD by Melanie J. Fishbane is out in bookstores today! Will you be reading it? Are you an Anne of Green Gables or Emily of New Moon fan? Are you interested in reading about  your favorite authors’ teen lives? Let me know in the comments!

Want to know more about L.M. Montgomery or Anne of Green Gables? Check out this great article by CBC!


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2 responses to “Maud: A Novel Inspired by the Life of L.M. Montgomery by Melanie J. Fishbane | Review

  1. Great review!

    I’ve been super excited about this book but also a little wary because sometimes novels about authors are disappointing. I’m glad you liked it so much! Hopefully I’ll get my hands on a copy soon.

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