Emily of New Moon

        This six weeks I chose to read Emily of New Moon, by L. M. Montgomery. Montgomery also wrote the series, Anne of Green Gables, with the same setting as Emily of New Moon. Emily of New Moon is a novel set in Prince Edward Island, Canada, in the 1890s. It is the first book in a trilogy, and published first in the year 1923. The time setting of the book is during a changing time in world history. Older fashioned women felt young girls should attend primary school, but by no means continue their education beyond that. Emily has an exceptional talent for writing from a young age, but her Aunt Elizabeth thinks Emily's writing unacceptable for a young girl who will not need to earn her own living. Emily does not make any permanent friends until quite far into the book. When first attending school, she is shunned by other girls; when she makes her first friendship with Rhoda Stuart. Soon after, she and Rhoda break apart due to Rhoda's disloyalty. Later, Emily finds friends in Ilse Burnley, the doctor's daughter; Teddy Kent, an artist with unrecognized talent; and Perry Miller, a poor hired boy with a true heart. Throughout the book, Emily's talent as a writer increases. Unusually for a person her age, as she grows older, old writings lose their appeal, and her current ones get better and better. When Emily is nine years old her father dies and leaves her an orphan. After going to live with her two aunts and a cousin at New Moon Farm, she finds she has a purpose in life, writing. Many people discourage her from writing, but she always persists. One theme of the book is change can be a good thing; as women's rights increase, so do Emily's chances of making her dream of being a famous author.
        The story is told through Emily's eyes in third person limited from when she is nine years old to thirteen. Starting from just before her father dies and she is left an orphan, the novel goes chronologically to when she reaches the point in her life when she can speak for herself and has her Aunt Elizabeth's trust. When Emily Byrd Starr was four years old, her mother died of consumption. At nine years of age her father dies of the same thing. After his funeral, Emily is taken in by her mother's two step sisters and cousin; Aunt Laura and Cousin Jimmy are kind; Aunt Elizabeth thinks of Emily as her duty, without warm feelings for her. Soon after arriving at New Moon, she is sent to the local school and makes a friend in Rhoda Stuart, whom in two months pretty much stabs her in the back. Ilse Burnley quickly takes Rhoda's place, and is Emily's best friend for the rest of the book. Two others are Teddy and Perry, whom both have talents and are true friends. Without Aunt Elizabeth quite knowing, Emily progresses her writing talent throughout the book. In the book, Emily has what she considers a near death experience when Lofty John, a not so respectable character, tricks her into thinking she ate an apple poisoned for the rats. Lofty John, a Catholic, is not much respected for his trick on Emily, and in retaliation threatens to cut down a part of greenery bordering New Moon that would ruin its garden and protection from storms. Emily visits the Catholic priest and begs him to ask Lofty John to spare the bush. Father Cassidy adores Emily, fancying her an elf, and the bush is saved. Until the end of the book, there is a mystery concerning Ilse's mother. Emily is extremely worried for her friend because of how Ilse is being brought up. In disbelief she learns that it is thought Ilse's mother abandoned her as a baby and ran away. Months later, Emily is very sick with measles and in her delirium, "sees," what happened to Ilse's mother: she fell into a well in the middle of the night. While Emily is ill, Aunt Elizabeth learns how much she cares for the child. The intended audience is for girls ages 12 to around 15. The general field is young adult fiction; the book fits in by telling the story of girl finding herself after her father's death. The author kept me interested with Emily's friendships and clashes with her family, as well as her need to write. The author's style is to tell the book in order of events with occasional flash-backs, and is effective for the intended audience.
        The book affected me by taking me back to late 1800s Canada to the life of a young girl who is orphaned after her father's death, and is much older than her age in the means of literature and thinking. Unfortunately, Emily's social skills are few at the beginning of the book due to her few companions growing up. I enjoyed reading from Emily's perspective, who has many ups and downs in settling into her new home. The book Emily of New Moon changed my ideas of women's roles in Prince Edward Island, Canada, when it is still a British colony. Because it is set in a time over a hundred years ago, it does not fit in with my personal world view at all. Then, women's rights campaigns were just forming as ideas, where now they are taken almost for granted in most people. Emily of New Moon brought to mind another series by L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables. Both have almost the same basic plot, but Montgomery manages to create two completely different characters with such different twists it isn't repetitive.

The book is well written, not as for a child, which I like because although it isn't challenging I enjoyed reading it. I liked the plot and the way the book was laid out. I would recommend this book and/or this author to people ages 11 and up.

Kate Meyer
11/6/13
RATING: ***** 5/5