Lucy Maud Montgomery's Prince Edward Island, Part 1: Finding My Way to Anne

Anne of Green Gables was one of my most precious books when I was a child. I read it and reread it, crying at that part. (If you know, you know. And if you don’t, I’m not saying a word.) It was given to me in a goodie bag at a slumber party with a box set that included Anne of Avonlea and Anne of the Island, books two and three in the Anne of Green Gables series. I went on to read the other books in the series too, and was very thankful that my parents agreed to buy them for me. For the most part, I used the libraries near us. With a library at my school and the public library within walking distance, I took advantage of reading for free. But I don’t remember finding any Lucy Maud Montgomery books in the library until I got to high school, where they had a lot of titles I had not seen before. There I found Akin to Anne, a collection of stories about orphans like Anne. Among the Shadows, ghost stories that I read in the school library, for fear that my mother wouldn’t approve. I also found the Emily of New Moon trilogy (Emily of New Moon, Emily Climbs, Emily’s Quest) on those shelves. I remember loving those books, and when I was in grade 10 the CBC aired a TV adaptation that I loved watching. Although, I was careful not to broadcast that I was watching Emily of New Moon to anyone at school, a family friendly show that had an early evening Sunday night time slot. Everyone else was watching the new shows Dawson’s Creek and Felicity, and maybe even Beverly Hills, 90210 at the time. Not that I wasn’t watching those shows, as well. But I always felt a little out of place in high school and just wanted to fit in, or at least fly under the radar and get through the day without incident.

Part of what made Maud’s books so special to little Caro, is that they were set in Canada. (And yes, I’ve decided to be on a first name basis with this writer, because we have known each other for over 30 years.) Before Maud, I had not come across a novel that was set in Canada. While Prince Edward Island was far enough away from where we lived to feel like a fantasy land, the descriptions of the island sounded a lot like my home. It was a landscape I knew, even if the roads were tinted red there and the landscape sprinkled in fairy dust. I could get lost in my imagination with Anne, and found somehow too. Anne made me feel less alone. She made me realise that I wasn’t the only one who lived an internal life. Who told stories. Who loved to read. And who dreamed. 

I loved to read before Maud’s books came into my life, but she was the first author whose books I actively sought out and would ask my parents to buy any time I came across a title I didn’t have. Happily, they often obliged. Although, they weren’t interested in getting me the Emily books after I let it slip that they had them at my school library. And I somehow still do not have this series in my collection. I must remedy that at some point, because I would like to reread them.

Besides Anne and Emily, the character I really connected with was Valancy from The Blue Castle. This book is geared towards a slightly older audience. It’s not quite a book for adults, but not a children’s book either. I think today it would be marketed for young adults, but that doesn’t seem quite right either. This book is about a young woman who does not fit in with her large family. She is 29 years old and well on her way to becoming the family spinster, and general dogsbody. She is unhappy with her life, until one day when she finds out from her doctor that she has heart condition and could die at any time. Finding out she is going to die is what helps Valancy really live for the first time in her life. She lights the place on fire, moves to the woods, has a famous artist ask to paint her, and falls in love. It’s a life affirming book with a lot of big, complicated emotions, and it is just so good. Set in Muskoka, an area of Ontario that I was familiar with from family camping trips, this was another book that I could find myself in. It was just too romantic for words and I have no idea how many times I reread this in my youth. My copy looks almost as tired as my childhood copy of Anne of Green Gables, so I would say, a lot!

Last September, I visited Prince Edward Island for the first time. I would say it was a childhood dream of mine to visit the Island, but that is not quite true. Prince Edward Island was a place I could escape to in my mind, not somewhere one travelled to by more traditional means. So finally being there in the flesh, this place that with the help of Maud, I had created in my mind, was a lot to process. I planned to write a number of blog posts and post content on Instagram at the time, but when I got there… I don’t know. I just wanted to enjoy it. To be there without distraction. When I came home I posted a few photos, on Instagram, but I just felt so overwhelmed by the experience that I felt like I needed time to process it. I had really been there, treading the same paths as Maud, seeing the same views, breathing the same air, and I just wanted to hold it close, for it to be all mine, a little longer.

It’s almost a year later, and soon I will be on the Island again. We enjoyed our time so much that we are going back. This time we will be meeting my friend, Gina (@babsbelovedbooks) and her husband there, which is what I had dreamed of on our last trip. I wanted so much for all of my fellow fans of Maud to be there and experience this magical place too. I had a wonderful time visiting all of the Maud related haunts, but besides that, the Island is such a calming place. It’s a small place, so everything is fairly accessible, and there is a closeness that you can feel too, like nothing really bad could happen there. It sounds silly, and it might be because I had the holiday rose tinted sunnies on, but there is something undramatically beautiful about driving through that landscape of rolling hills. And when you turn off the paved road onto the country road, it really is red. So maybe it is the Island’s soil infusing the place with a rosy glow. 

In the lead up to my trip I’ll be going through my photos from last September. Each week, I’ll be taking you along to all the places I went, the views I saw, and I’ll be sure to let you know all of the places I got emotional, as well as a few things to do if you are travelling with a kindred spirit who is not yet a Maud fan. Hopefully, I will inspire you to take your own trip to this lovely gem of a place off the East Coast of Canada, Prince Edward Island.

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Ending with the photo that has been on desktop for the past year. It brings me joy every time I sit down to work. It may sound cheesy. I’m going to say it anyway. It’s a reminder to not just dream big. But to dream bigger. And then laugh when someone leaves a discarded takeaway coffee right in the middle of your dream (photo).