Best Books of 2025 — My Top 10 Favourites

First off I should clarify that this is a list of favourite books that I read in 2025. It is not a list of favourite books published in 2025. Although, there are two books here that do fit that description. 

Secondly, I know what my number one book of the year is, but while I did try to come up with an order for the remaining nine books it felt arbitrary. After a month of trying to rank them, I gave up. In 2024, I couldn’t even come up with a top 10, it was a top 29. I never did publish that post, because by the time I had whittled the list down to 11 books, it was February, and the moment had passed. In 2023, I was only able to get the list down to 32 books! And a top 32 books of the year just sounds mad. What I can tell you with certainty about this list for 2025 is that every book deserves to be here.

Thirdly, I have made a YouTube video to compliment this post. Where I fail at eloquence I believe I make up for in enthusiasm. You can judge for yourself. (Watch the video here.)

And now, here they are, in no particular order, the Top 10 Best Books I Read in 2025.

The Woman in the Hall by G.B. Stern (1939)

We are starting off strong with a chunky book from the British Library Women Writers collection. Lorna Blake, a professional beggar, solicits money from the select rich by calling on them at home and spinning a story that all but ensures she has money in hand by the time she walks out the door. The rush of swindling promises excitement that is lacking in the rest of Lorna’s life. Like a gambler who cannot kick the habit, Lorna goes out again, and again, dragging one or the other of her daughters, Molly and Jay, with her. Molly soon dreads hearing that they are going out “Visiting”, but Jay develops her own complicated fascination with the task.

I thought I saw where this one way going, but it turns out I didn’t have a clue. I enjoyed reading this one slowly. This is such a rich text for unpicking the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters, and between sisters. But there is also a feeling of foreboding as the net tightens around Lorna, which makes this book a bit of a page-turner. Read it fast or slow, I cannot recommend it enough. (Read my full review of The Woman in the Hall here.)

Spring Begins by Katherine Dunning (1934)

I was completely swept away with Katherine Dunning’s novel, The Spring Begins. Her descriptions of setting are gorgeous. The women in this book are so well described, and you cannot help but feel for each of them. And I think she does a fantastic job of capturing the tension, unease, and vulnerability of being a woman, especially—I assume—a woman in domestic service in the 1930s.

Despite the title, this book is set in the heat of summer. The spring referred to is a figurative one alluding to the awakening of three women. Lottie is a young nurse maid who cares for the two Kellaway girls, and is painfully innocent and fearful of the world of men. Maggie, the Kellaways’ scullery maid, is more knowing of men, but perhaps not as experienced with them as Cook seems to think. The oldest of the three women, Hessie, is a spinster and governess to the two Benson girls at the nearby rectory. When her younger sister gets engaged she faces a crisis. 

I loved seeing Lottie’s love for the children she looks after, Maggie’s strong sense of self, but Hettie, turned out to be the real wonder for me. It took me longer to warm up to her, but the journey she must travel in her awakening takes her the furthest. I won’t spoil how her story progresses, but I will say it is not the only aspect of this book that took me by surprise.

I loved this book. It is not plot-y, but how the narrative alternates between these three women’s perspectives kept me glued to the page. (Read my full review of Spring Begins here.)

London Particular by Christianna Brand (1952)

This is my favourite book the British Library have republished in their Crime Classics collection. London Particular is atmospheric, thrilling, smart, twisty, and provides a good dose of humour to boot.

On a typically foggy November night in 1950s London, a couple are trying to find their way to a dying man, after receiving a strange phone call to a doctor’s surgery urging someone to come quick. They arrive at the house to discover the man has been murdered.

When Rosie’s brother becomes a main suspect, she enlists the help of family friend, Inspector Cockrill, to aid the police in their investigations. Cockie is sharp, smart, dependable, and so very likeable.

In the long, white firelit drawing-room the victim bowed and smiled and reeled off his devoirs before the serious work of the evening should begin; within the radius of one fog-bound mile, were these seven people, one of whom was very shortly going to murder him.

This book kept me guessing through to the very last stunning sentence. 

I highly recommend picking this one up if you like character driven mysteries with intricately woven plots that will keep you reading well past your bed time. (Read my full review of London Particular here.)

The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White (1936)

This book is battling it out with London Particular as my favourite book in the British Library Crime Classics collection.

The wheel was still spinning for her.

And since their fates were interlinked it was spinning also for Miss Froy.

Having seen her friends off a couple of days ago, Iris Carr is left to travel home from her European holiday by herself. While waiting at the train station, she collapses in the hot sun. Feeling ill and disoriented, she is bundled into a packed compartment as the train pulls away from the platform. She gets a cold feeling from her fellow travellers, and has the odd impression that they don’t like her. 

Thankfully, a woman, who introduces herself as Miss Froy, befriends Iris and noticing she doesn’t look well, takes her under her wing. Feeling better after a cup of tea, Iris drifts off to sleep.

When Iris awakes Miss Froy is no longer sitting across from her. At first Iris assumes the woman has just stepped out of the compartment, but as time goes on, Iris’s worry builds. Iris questions her fellow passengers about the missing woman, but they all say they don’t know who she is talking about. The suggestion is made that Iris has dreamt the woman up, a side effect of the heatstroke she is recovering from. 

At first, Iris even doubts herself. But the more she thinks of all the details that chatty Miss Froy shared with her, Iris becomes certain that Miss Froy is not simply a figment of her imagination. 

Miss Froy is missing and her fellow passengers must be lying about it. But who would want to harm a middle-aged governess, who herself claims not to have an enemy in the world?

This is a beautifully written book, full of atmosphere, tension, and—a rare thing to find in a mystery thriller—hope.

If the plot sounds at all familiar that’s because this book was adapted for film in 1938 by Alfred Hitchcock under the title The Lady Vanishes. And a very good adaption it is, though much more humorous and lighthearted than the book. (Read my full review The Wheel Spins here.)

The Christmas Egg by Mary Kelly (1958)

I absolutely loved this book. I read it during the festive season and it was exactly what I wanted to be reading. Snowy, Christmassy, and thrilling! 

A Russian princess who many years ago escaped the Russian Revolution for London is found murdered in her flat. It is rumoured she fled Russia with a chest of jewels, which her grandson had seen recently, but there is no sign of the priceless gems at the scene. What follows is a compelling mystery which escalates to the dramatic climax which takes our detective to the Kentish countryside decked out in snow-covered glory.

Just thinking about the final few chapters of this book makes me want to read it again before the winter is over, and write a proper review for it while I’m at it! 

Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper (1965)

This is book one in The Dark is Rising Sequence. My friend, Mary, gifted me this book with a beautiful bookmark she had painted and three tea bags, with the suggestion that I spend a lovely day drinking tea and reading this book. One day in late summer, I did just that. 

Great-Uncle Merry meets siblings, Simon, Jane, and Barney at a train station in Cornwall, the land of King Arthur. And King Arthur just so happens to be Barney’s favourite hero. Then he finds a parchment in his uncle’s attic, an old map that will send them on a quest to find a grail. That would be exciting enough. But little do they know, they are caught in a battle between good and evil which has them lost between two worlds.

Set in summer amongst a seaside village with cliffs that plunge into the wild sea hiding caves and crevices for great adventures and intrigue. Wonderfully tense, exciting, and — the essential ingredient when good and evil are battling it out — hope. 

I loved this book so much that I was daunted by the task of trying to articulate my feelings about it. I can’t think about this book without feeling a longing to sit down with it again. Save this one for a summer day and binge it in one sitting.

Pat of Silver Bush by L.M. Montgomery (1933)

Patricia Gardiner is a young girls who lives with her family on their farm, Silver Bush, on Prince Edward Island, Canada. One day is much the same as the next on the farm, until they are not. From starting school and getting a baby sister, to attending her aunt’s wedding, through to Pat’s own first romance, she grows up and manages the changes as best she can but always comes back to her home, Silver Bush, the one place that doesn’t change. Well, not too much anyway. 

I started this book in the third week of September and only just finished it in December. This is a book that made me feel a lot. I wanted to savour it, but I also found myself not wanting to read too much at once. Big feelings are best felt in small doses, I find. I recognise that my strong feelings for this book might not be shared by others. I identified with Pat to a great extent, and at the risk of sounding a bit silly, this book and her character made me feel seen. 

In the end they found a beauty spot … a deep, still, woodland pool out of which the brook flowed, fed by a diamond trickle of water over the stones of a little hill. Around it grew lichened spruces and whispering maples, with little “cradle hills” under them; and just beyond a breezy slope with a few mossy, grass-grown sticks scattered here and there, and a bluebird perched on the point of a picket. It was all so lovely that it hurt. Why, Pat wondered, did lovely things so often hurt?

I think it’s a special book, even when compared to the many other wonderful books Lucy Maud Montgomery has written. But beyond my admiration for Maud’s ability to capture what it is to grow up as a girl who loves home and feels everything deeply, this is just a great book. It is full of nostalgia and longing for childhood, and I don’t think it is a stretch to suggest that Maud explored her own feelings of longing for Prince Edward Island when she was writing this book. There is no big plot, just small moments in a young girl’s life, appreciating nature, happiness, and heartbreak, and sometimes, all of these things at once.

The Eights by Joanna Miller (2025)

Since I stopped using Goodreads, I started keeping a Books Read list. Next to each title I write a short note to myself. Usually, it’s no more than a sentence, sometimes it’s just a few words. Next to this one I wrote, “what’s next for these women???” I would love a follow up book to this one, not because I didn’t think the ending was satisfying, but because I didn’t want to be without these women in my life. 

Joanna Miller’s debut novel was an absolute treat. I found myself trying to spin out the time I got to spend with the four women in this fabulous book. Even so, the time went by much too quickly.

1920 — Oxford University has for the first time in its 1,000-year history admitted female students as full members of the university. In October, at the start of Michaelmas term, four young women move into Corridor Eight of St. Hugh’s College. Beatrice, Dora, Marianne, and Otto couldn’t be more different, but soon the unlikely quartet become the closest of friends. 

Not everyone is happy about women being allowed in the university and from the first day the foursome find themselves facing that opposition head-on.

Outside of living on the same floor at their college, these four would not likely have been attracted to each other. But the combination of living in close proximity, the common goal of getting an Oxford education, and an incident they experience just after meeting, all create the perfect circumstances to make their friendship not just believable, but feel natural and true.

What first attracted me to this book was the time and place in history in which it is set. I felt thoroughly immersed in the world of this well-researched novel. I marvelled at how many rules were imposed on the women students that were required of their male contemporaries, and the references to Winifred Holtby, Vera Brittain, Agatha Christie, and Thomas Hardy gave me a little thrill.

But what makes this book such an endearing one is the friendship that forms between Beatrice, Dora, Marianne, and Otto. I appreciated that they were never in competition with each other. These women are individually such bright lights, but together they shine even brighter.

I want to thank Kathryn (@_the_book_bug_ on Instagram) for bringing this book to my attention. After reading her review I couldn’t get the book out of my head. A day later, I pre-ordered it. (Read my full review of The Eights here.)

Love Divine by Ysenda Maxtone Graham (2025)

This book begins on a blustery day in early January in the village of Lamley Green. People are just waking up, making hot cuppas, and opening the curtains. But the curtains at 12 Holly Grove remain closed as letters of condolence are pushed through the letterbox.

Lucy Fanthrope, whose husband Nick, respected lawyer and dependable member of the church choir, died unexpectedly on New Year’s Day. The letters are variable in nature, some touching, some funny, in many the writers come across as shockingly self-involved.

We are privy to many perspectives across the wide range of characters who live in this village. Everyone is connected in this small community both to each other and through the parish church, St Luke’s, which is currently without a resident rector and suffering through a long interregnum. 

There’s Carol, who volunteers to do the church coffee service. Vicki and Eliot who are facing the uphill battle of running a B&B. New to the village, Chantelle will stop at nothing to get her daughter into the oversubscribed church school. And then there is my personal favourite, Hugh. Newly retired schoolmaster, who lives with his dog Odo, and has every piece of his clothing on a numbered rotation.

The characters in this book are either facing loss or are going through a phase of transition in their lives. Maxtone Graham does a wonderful job of capturing how as one is facing supreme sadness and loss, life is dotted with moments of beauty and joy. 

I shed more than a couple of tears while reading this book, but I mostly giggled, smiled, smirked, and nodded along to the ridiculous, funny, endearing, relatable bits in this glorious book. I wholeheartedly loved it. Set over the course of year, starting in January, this would be a great book to pick up right now. (Read my full review of Love Divine here.)

If you’ve made it this far, you deserve a metal. Instead, let me tell you about the best book I read in 2025...

Crooked Cross by Sally Carson (1934)

I read Sally Carson’s Crooked Cross back in April, when it was first republished by Persephone Books. Even then I knew it was going to be among my top ten this year, and I was all but certain it would be in the number one slot. It’s just that kind of book.

It is a powerful account of the rise of Nazism in Germany and how it affects one family in a small Bavarian market town in the mountains south of Munich. It begins at Christmas 1932. The Klugers are happy and looking forward to the future with optimism for the first time in years. The younger son has joined the Nazi Party and the elder son who has been unable to find work soon joins up too. The daughter Lexa, is engaged to Moritz Weissmann, a surgeon with a bright future. Moritz and his father, celebrate Christmas with the Klugers and the two families already feel joined. In the new year, Hitler is elected Chancellor, and everything changes. 

Moritz loses his job at the hospital because he is Jewish, and he is unable to find another. With no money coming in, Moritz and his father are forced to move to a one-room flat. Soon Lexa’s brothers, Erich and Helmy, are telling Lexa that surely she must see that she has to give Moritz up because he is a Jew. 

All her muddled ideas and thoughts, her worries and anxieties for Moritz had a reason, a point, an ending now. This was her loyalty; this was where she had to act. This was her moment, the moment for which she must have been waiting.

This book is powerful. It’s moving. It’s devastating. Hard to believe it was published in 1934, just a year after some of the events in the novel take place, and without the hindsight of what was going to happen in Germany. This is not a cosy book, but it is so important. Everyone should read this book. (Read my full review of Crooked Cross here.)

Final thoughts

In general, I read a lot of books that are either out of print or have recently been republished, so I’m not surprised this is evident in this list. But what I was surprised about is that half the books on this list were originally published in the 1930s. And a quarter of the books I read this year were from this decade. The only decade that was close to that were the 2020s, with 22 per cent, and almost half of those books were published in 2025. I have never before tracked the publication years of the books I’ve been reading. I started thinking about it when I heard Simon Thomas from the Tea or Books? podcast talking about his Century of Books challenge. 

Like I said at the start of this post, I read so many wonderful books this year that it was very difficult to narrow the list down to just 10. I am not a decisive person and I hate having to pick favourites, because it is so definite. To state the obvious, once you pick a favourite book or top 10, you are leaving out any number of wonderful books that you may have read over the course of the year. It feels a bit harsh. Frankly, it feels mercenary to me. But I strive to champion the very best books, always, which is why I feel it is necessary to put myself through this decision making torture.

I would love to know if there are any reading stats that you like to track, or have decided to start tracking in 2026. And what was the best book you read in 2025? Or best books? I, of all people, can understand if you cannot pick just one.

Some of the books in this post were sent to me by publishers, but as always, all opinions on these books are my own. Thank you British Library Publishing and Slightly Foxed for being so generous to me in 2025.

***If you got something out of this post, please consider subscribing to my blog. You can find the email sign up on the right hand side at the top of this page (on desktop version only), or click on the link here. You will receive a confirmation email in your inbox (or possibly your junk folder). Once you click to confirm your email address you will receive an email notification whenever a new blog post goes up. And, of course, you can unsubscribe at any time. Feel free to email me if you have any trouble subscribing, or if you just want to chat about books. I would love to hear from you! Whether you subscribe or not, I’m thankful you are here.***

Lucy Maud Montgomery's Prince Edward Island, Part 3: Anne of Green Gables Museum

It was [Pat’s] favourite window, opening outward like the porthole of a ship. She never went up to Judy’s room without stopping to look from it. Dear little fitful breezes came to that window that never came anywhere else and you saw such lovely things out of it. The big grove of white birch on the hill behind it which gave Silver Bush its name and which was full of dear little screech owls that hardly ever screeched but purred and laughed. (Pat of Silver Bush 17)

When I was first planning this trip to Prince Edward Island, one of the things I found most difficult is distinguishing between all of the various Lucy Maud Montgomery related sites. All the names seemed so similar, and I had no point of reference as to what was located where. For the longest time I thought that the Anne of Green Gables Museum must be in the same location as Green Gables Heritage Place. It is not. They are close, though. At the end of this blog series, I will include our itinerary and maybe even the timestamps, so if anyone is planning a trip they can see where things are in relation to each other, and how much time you need to visit all the spots. 

I must apologise that it is taking me longer than I had anticipated to get these blog posts out. They are a bit time consuming to put together, and as I was writing this one I was planning and preparing for our next trip to PEI. We just arrived on the lsland on Sunday night, so this will probably be my last blog post until I return to Ontario in October. I have been thinking of September as my Lucy Maud Montgomery month, as I have been exclusively reading her books and non-fiction surrounding her and her writing, but I quite like the idea of continuing this journey into October. As I discussed in some length in my first post of this series, Maud’s books are very dear to me, and in many ways I don’t think I would be the person I am today if it hadn’t been for her books. It seems fitting then that I continue to share my love for Maud and her books into my birthday month. 

Now, let’s head up Route 20 past the Lake of Shinning Waters to Park Corner. The Anne of Green Gables Museum is a 110-acre property with beautiful scenery, and though seeing the Lake of Shinning Waters with my own eyes was very nice, I must say the traffic on Route 20 did spoil the effect somewhat. Although, the horses we spotted in the pasture and had a bit of a chat with did cushion the blow. How I wished though that “Matthew’s Carriage Rides”, which are offered by the museum, were powered by horse, instead of tractor! Do not be discouraged by my complaints of the moderns world spoiling this rural idyll. There are many reasons to visit this home. 

The home was built in 1872, by Maud’s Aunt Annie and Uncle John Campbell, on the property which was first settled by the Campbell family in 1776. Maud spent a lot of time at the Campbell farm when she was a child. She was known as Aunt Maud to James Campbell and his siblings, though she was their cousin. It was James Campbell’s wife, Ruth, who opened their home to the public in 1972, realising James’s dream after he died to run a museum dedicated to his Aunt Maud. 

One of the things that make this property special is that the Campbell family still live here. Unlike Green Gables Heritage Place, which we will visit in my next blog post, the Anne of Green Gables Museum is still owned and operated by Maud’s relatives. In fact it is the son of James and Ruth, George Campbell who lives there with his family. Copies of Anne of Green Gables (in hardcover and paperback) and The Story Girl are published by Kindred Spirits of PEI, a publishing company run by George Campbell. It is particularly nice to be able to pick up a copy of The Story Girl when you visit the museum because it is home to the real life inspiration for “The Blue Chest of Rachel Ward”. Rachel Ward was Eliza Montgomery, a cousin of Maud’s father, who died in Toronto. She left instructions that her blue chest not be opened until her death. The chest contained her wedding dress and a number of other items in preparation for the wedding that was not to be. Some of the items found inside are also on display in the house, which I have to say gave me a little thrill to see. I would highly recommend reading The Story Girl before you visit the home, so you can have a greater appreciation for the lore around the chest and the disappointed romance of Eliza Montgomery. Here is a passage from the fictionalised account in The Story Girl. 

“Will Montague fell in love with Rachel Ward, and she with him, and it was all arranged that they were to be married from here in the spring. Poor Rachel was so happy that winter; she made all her wedding things with her own hands. Girls did, then, you know, for there was no such thing as a sewing-machine. Well, at last in April the wedding day came, and all the guests were here, and Rachel was dressed in her wedding robes, eating for her bride-groom. And” — the Story Girl laid down her knife and her potato and clasped her wet hands — “Will Montague never came!” (The Story Girl 123)

The reason the bride groom failed to appear at his own wedding was not because he had been killed. As the Story Girl says, “that would have been suitable and romantic” (123). Will Montague had run away for debt and had not so much as sent a note of explanation to his bride-to-be.

“She was broken-hearted of course. When she found out what had happened, she took all her wedding things, and her supply of linen, and some presents that had been given her, and packed them all away in this old blue chest. Then she went away back to Montreal, and took the key with her. She never came back to the Island again — I suppose she couldn't bear to. And she has lived in Montreal ever since and never married. She is an old woman now — nearly seventy-five. And this chest has never been opened since.” (124-25)

At the end of the book, Rachel Ward has died and the chest is opened, much to the excitement of the children, who have been dreaming about what romantic treasures might be inside. But the Story Girl makes an astute observation about expectation verses reality. 

“Of course it was very interesting to see the old chest unpacked,” said the Story Girl, as she stirred the contents of a saucepan vigorously. “But now that it is over I believe I am sorry that it is opened. It isn’t mysterious any longer. We know all about it now, and we can never imagine what things are in it any more.

“It’s better to know than to imagine,” said Felicity.

“Oh, no, it isn’t,” said the Story Girl quickly. “When you know things you have to go by facts. But when you just dream about things there’s nothing to hold you down.” (345)

So much of Maud’s writing is about dreaming, having aspirations, and building castles in the sky, but there is always a bend in the road and things have a way of turning out much different from what her characters’ have imagined for themselves. Something we can all relate to, I expect. In the above photo, you can see some of the items from the real blue chest, which are on display in one of the upstairs bedrooms in the Campbell home. Hopefully, you do not experience the same deflation from expectation to reality that the Story Girl went through.

Heading out of the kitchen in the Campbell home, you enter what I believe is the original part of the house. A narrow hall opens out into an airy space that leads to the staircase and, if I am remembering correctly, the front door to the house is straight ahead. But first let’s turn to the first door on the left where we will find a bright bedroom full of beautiful details. 

Note the bedspread, I would love to make something like it for the foot of our bed. I expect the cloth on the dresser, as well as the mat, is handmade too. 

You will notice Maud’s books scattered throughout the house. It’s always a pleasure to see vintage editions of her books. Prepare yourself for a bit of a thrill when you enter the parlour.

It is in this parlour, in front of the mantle, that Maud was married to Reverend Ewan Macdonald on 5 July 1911. 

This is the same organ that was played at her wedding, and is still played today when weddings are held here. People from all over the world come here to be married. I wish I had known about this before I got married! Although, my husband-to-be might not have been onboard back then. However, I am thrilled to report that he is now an Anne fan himself. Honestly, I wish I had written down some of the comments that he made to me as he was reading Anne of Green Gables for the first time. I am convinced he loved the book even more than I did. Which just goes to show that Maud’s writing can capture the hearts of young and old alike, be they avid readers, or not. 

Apologies for the reflections in many of these photos. I did the best I could with the time I had available. There were other people visiting the home at the same time, so many of these photos were quick snaps I took when the area was clear. 

I could have spent all day gazing into Anne’s Enchanted Bookcase. The bookcase and chair were salvaged from Maud’s Cavendish home before it was demolished. She used to imagine her reflection was another little girl, who she called Katie Maurice. If the name sounds familiar, it is because Maud gave Anne the same imaginary friend.

When I lived with Mrs Thomas she had a bookcase in her sitting-room with glass doors. There weren’t any books in it; Mrs Thomas kept her best china and her preserves there — when she had any preserves to keep. One of the doors was broken. Mr Thomas smashed it one night when he was slightly intoxicated. But the other was whole and I used to pretend that my reflection in it was another little girl who lived in it. I called her Katie Maurice, and we were very intimate. I used to talk to her by the hour, especially on Sunday, and tell her everything. Katie was the comfort and consolation of my life. We used to pretend that the bookcase was enchanted and that if I only knew the spell I could open the door and step right into the room where Katie Maurice lived, instead of into Mrs Thomas’ shelves of preserves and china. And then Katie Maurice would have taken me by the hand and led me out into a wonderful place, all flowers and sunshine and fairies, and we would have lived there happy for ever after. When I went to live with Mrs Hammond it just broke my heart to leave Katie Maurice. She felt it dreadfully, too, I know she did, for she was crying when she kissed me goodbye through the bookcase door. (Anne of Green Gables 83-84)

I have loved Maud’s books since I was little, but outside of her writing, I did not know much about her before taking this trip. Reading this letter, which is mounted on the parlour wall, was a rude awakening for me. In the moment, I almost wished I had not read it. I always imagined Maud living a lovely life, complete with a happy ending, just like her characters. It breaks my heart that this was not the case. I have transcribed the letter below for anyone who has difficulty reading from a photo. (Pro tip: If you click on any of the photos on my blog it will open a better quality version, and from there you have the ability to scroll through all of the photos within a post. It took me ages to discover this feature.)

Oct 8, 1941

Dear Jim,

Thanks for the ten dollars. I am very ill and will never see Park Corner again. Don’t let them stampede you into going to war. You are more needed at home. Park Corner would go forever if you went. Mr. MacDonald’s nerves are very bad. Chester’s wife has left him and gone home to her father. Partially his fault and partly hers. He has broken our hearts this past 10 years and ___ I tried to hide it and seen ___ to happen. For he has a brilliant brain but will not work. My heart is broken and it is that has broken me. I have to have a nurse and can’t afford it. I am not and never the rich woman I was supposed to be. Fame is not riches. You must not go to war. Tell them you are the only son at home and your mother would not live to see you come back. I can hardly write—my nerves are so terrible. Stuart is interne in hospital but I suppose they will take him too. I think my mind is going. 

Aunt Maud

Rest from worry is what I need and I cannot get that anywhere. I am alone. 

The transcribed letter in the photo notes “Author died the following Spring of 1942”.

Before we head up the stairs to the second floor, here are a few photos from the walls of the first floor hall. The first is of Lover’s Lane in 1920. For anyone not familiar, Lover’s Lane is a trail in Avonlea, near Green Gables, and is introduced in Anne of Green Gables.

The second photo is of Maud’s Grandfather MacNeil’s home. Maud lived here as a little girl. What makes this photo so special is that this building can no longer be visited. You can visit the site of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Cavendish Home, but that is all it is, the site only. The house was torn down in 1920 to detract tourists from coming to the abandoned home. 

The third photo is of Maud’s maternal grandparents, who she lived with in the MacNeil house pictured previously. 

One of the upstairs bedrooms is where Maud stayed when she came to visit. Unfortunately, I didn’t make note of which of the bedrooms was Maud’s, but I do believe it is this first one. The letter from King George V upon her appointment as an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) in 1935, sits framed on the bed. The letter is signed by Edward VIII.  This is also the bedroom where you will find the items from inside Eliza Montgomery’s blue chest.

Stella Campbell’s room is next. Inside is a stunning display of Maud’s books on a table that I wish was a little closer to the door—so my aging eyes could see them clearly. 

Also on display is a crazy patchwork quilt worked on by Maud between the ages of 12 and 16. The fabric would have been sourced from scraps left over from other sewing projects as well as old garments. I love the idea that garments from Maud’s family and friends went into the making of this quilt. I wish we saw more of this thrifty repurposing of garments now. 

Next are some views of the upstairs hallway. 

I will see if I can get some better photos of these display cabinets on my next trip.

Especially of this next one, which is a great shot of my face in the door’s reflection, but fails in showing the china from Maud’s Aunt Emily’s collection. There is a reference to Emily of New Moon here, I just know it. Unfortunately, it’s been so long since I’ve read the books that I cannot provide it here.

This cabinet has some foreign editions across the top and a collection of first edition books signed by Maud and given to members of the Campbell family. We were a little rushed for time at this point and I did not get nearly enough time looking at the letters and other bits on display. I will at least try to get some photos of these things next time, so I can examine them at my leisure, and share them, too!

We move on to the last bedroom upstairs. Well, the last open bedroom. Upstairs and downstairs there were some rooms that were closed off, as the Campbell family still lives in this home. A few things I love about this room are the cute owl quilt, which I must discover the story about, the Anne of Green Gables pillow on the rocking chair by the door, that says “Celebrating 100 years”, and the beautiful mat by the door. Oh, and all of the furniture in this room, but especially the little bassinet, which looks like something out of a fairytale. 

Off the kitchen downstairs is a gift shop. Here’s a photo of the cute wallpaper border on the walls in there. There is also a whole other building, which I did not photograph, that has a huge gift shop, a sit down area where you can order a beverage, and toilets.

Now for the exterior. This is the view from the back of the kitchen, where you exit after you have finished touring the home.

As you leave the house, walk straight ahead and perhaps you will see some horses in the fields. I took way too much time chatting to these beauties as they kindly posed for photos and videos.

They loved the Secret Field better than all the other fields. It seemed somehow to belong to them as if they had been the first to discover it; it was so different from the poor, bleak, little stony field behind the barn that nobody loved … nobody but Pat. She loved it because it was a Silver Bush field. That was enough for Pat. (Pat of Silver Bush 18)

Once you tear yourself away from the horses, you can continue down the hill to The Lake of Shining Waters. If you are looking for this location on a map it is called “Campbell’s Pond”, but in the fictional town of Avonlea, everyone other than Anne refers to this body of water as plain old Barry’s Pond.

The Anne of Green Gables Museum is chock full of literary references to Maud’s books. This is a home she loved and spent a lot of time in as a child. This location, more than any of the others I visited on this trip, made me wish I had all of Maud’s books fresh in my mind. This trip I’m hoping to read Pat of Silver Bush and reread Emily of New Moon to better appreciate the Campbell’s beautiful property and home. 

There was the evening star in a pale silvery field of sky just over the tall fir tree that shot up in the very centre of the silver bush. The first star always gave her a thrill. Wouldn’t it be lovely if she could fly up to that dark swaying fir-top between the evening star and the darkness? (Pat of Silver Bush 26)

Additional information:

Address

Anne of Green Gables Museum

4542 Route 20

Park Corner, PE

C0B 1M0

Museum and Gift Shop (902) 886-2884

Office (M-F 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.) Toll-free (800) 665-2663 

info@annemuseum.com

annemuseum.com

Hours

July 1 - August 31 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

September 1 - Sept 30 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

October 1 - October 15 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Other useful information

Free parking

Air conditioning (I think!)

Washrooms

$9.00 per adult

$3.00 per child 6-16 years

Free for children 5 years and under

Matthew’s Carriage Rides

Start at $175 per carriage

For details, and to book, visit their website.

***If you got something out of this post, please consider subscribing to my blog. You can find the email sign up on the right hand side at the top of this page (on desktop version only), or click on the link here. You will receive a confirmation email in your inbox (or possibly your junk folder). Once you click to confirm your email address you will receive an email notification whenever a new blog post goes up. And, of course, you can unsubscribe at any time. Feel free to email me if you have any trouble subscribing, or if you just want to chat about books. I would love to hear from you! Whether you subscribe or not, I’m thankful you are here.***

This blog post contains affiliate links for Blackwell’s. As a Blackwell’s Affiliate, I may receive a small commission, at no additional cost to you, if you decide to make a purchase through one of the links on my website. I recommend Blackwell’s because I use them myself. This helps support me in sharing—what I hope is—valuable content. Thank you for your support!