Review: L.M. Montgomery’s Short Stories 1904-1922

In the interest of transparency, I’m currently on – possibly – my last ever L.M. Montgomery books, namely the Pat of Silver Bush series. All I have left after this is, to the best of my knowledge, the Christmas short story collection, and there’s a good chance it contains stuff I’ve already read.

I first started reading L.M. Montgomery’s books when one of my best friends recommended Anne of Green Gables back in 2020/2021. I quickly went through everything she’s ever written. I’ve adored her lifelike characters, the optimism in her stories, and the many descriptions of gardens and landscapes.

So when I found the short story collections on Amazon, namely Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories 1904, 1905-1906, 1907-1908, and 1909-1922, I was very excited.

Here are a few things to consider for Montgomery fans, like myself: you can definitely see how she became better and better at her craft across the years. This is most evident when you read the very early stories and compare them with her famous novels. Born in 1874, Montgomery would’ve been 30 when she published her first short stories. For reference, Anne of Green Gables was first published in 1908. It doesn’t seem like much, but in those four years (and perhaps with the help of a great editor?) her work flourished.

I found myself really enjoying her signature descriptions, her magical imagery, as it developed over the years.

For example, here is a quote from one of her 1904 stories: ‘They reached the little grey house by way of a sloping, grassy lane. Everything about it was very neat and trim. In front a white-washed paling shut in the garden which, sheltered as it was by the house, was ablaze with poppies and hollyhocks and geraniums. A path, bordered by big white clam shells, led through it to the front door, whose steps were slabs of smooth red sandstone from the beach.’

Compare this with this one, from Pat of Silver Bush, which was written in 1933: ‘Winter that year, at least in its early months, was a mild affair, and Pat and Jingle, or Pat and Sid, as the case might be, but seldom the three together, roamed far afield at will, exploring new haunts and re-loving old ones, running through winter birches that wore stars in their hair on early falling dusks, coming in from their frosty rambles with cheeks like “liddle rid apples,” to be fed and cossetted and sometimes scolded by Judy.’

There is a similarity in style, but the descriptors have gotten so much more fine-tuned and soft. I’m not judging by the way – L.M. Montgomery is my literary hero, and I wouldn’t dare criticise a single one of her written gifts to the world.

Anyway, all that to say the short stories are well-worth dipping into, though some inexplicably overlap. I’m not 100% sure who compiled these, but it’s not been done altogether perfectly. Still, they’re free or nearly free depending on how you buy them, and they’re L.M. Montgomery. Enjoy!