The Wheel of Things: A Biography of L.M. Montgomery, Author of Anne of Green Gables by Mollie Gillen (review)

512 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW newQuebec andnotrestonobsolete assumptions' (212).The readermustguess the meaningof those words.The authorsalsowarnthat'if English Canadians refuseor fail to recognize the validityof the Qu•b•coispointof view,then the prospects of resolving theQuebec problem arebadlyharmed'(11).Havingwitnessed thebitter disputeoverthe optionaluseof Frenchin conversations betweenFrench-speaking pilotsandFrench-speaking controllers in theprovince of Quebecandhavingseen muchevidence intheEnglish-speaking press of 'fatigue' withtheQuebec question, onecanhardlyaffordtobeoptimistic inthisregard. RICHARD JONES Universitd Laval TheWheel ofThings: ABiography ofL.M.Montgomery, Author ofAnne ofGreen Gables. MoI•I•IF. CII•I•F.•. Toronto,Fitzhenry andWhiteside, 1975.Pp.2oo,illus.$9.95. L.M.Montgomery's centennial, theaftermath ofinternational women's year,anda risinginterestin Canadianchildren'sliteraturecontributedto the timeliness of this latest biography. Evenwithoutthese happyconjunctions ofnational celebration and preoccupation, thelongstanding popularityof Montgomery's workjustifiesacloser lookat the creatorof Anneof GreenGables andEmilyof New Moonaswellasa re-examination oftheworkitself.Recent studies such asthose published intheL.M. Montgomeryissue of Canadian Children's Literature revealthat Montgomerywrote convincingly about thetraumas ofchildhood, womanhood, andtheequally challengingstates of beingawriterandaCanadian. MollieGillen's biography isbasedon the usualscholarship and Montgomery's lengthycorrespondence withEphraimWeberandGeorgeBoydMacMillan. The letters to MacMillan werediscovered byGillenpacked awayin theproverbial attic trunkin thecourse of herdiligentresearch amongMontgomery's connections. Her carefulexamination of westernnewspapers yieldeda lengthychapteron Hugh Montgomery,L.M. Montgomery's father,whichofferssomecluesto Montgomery's preoccupation withabandoned andorphanedchildren. Gillenraises aninteresting question herewhichshemighthavepursued.It seems thatthe loneliness andisolation whichMaud Montgomery attributedto her childhoodandwhichshereflected inhernovels werenotperceived bythecontemporaries whodescribed herasagregarious childwithahostof friends.Thisisperhaps oneof thebiographer's essential problems: to determinehowfar he cantrusthissubject. Montgomery, herself,scorned biographies probably because sheknewhowlittlethe public recordwouldreveal ofhercarefully guarded private self.Andonewonders if evenprivaterecordssuchaslettersandjournalscanbecreditedwithoutserious reservation. An agileimagination suchasMontgomery's wasperhaps moregiven thanmostto shaping anddramatizing pastandpresentevents in the process of creating acohesive personality. Still,it ispossible thatMontgomery's journalsarethebestrecordof herlife,and whileGillenreferstotheirexistence, itisnotclearthatshehadaccess tothemduring thepreparation of thisbiography. BarbaraMoonwas,I believe, thefirsttousethese REVIEWS 513 journalsin writingacBctelevision documentary on Montgomerywhichwasairedat aboutthesametimeGillen'sbookwasreleased. Because I havenotseenthejournals, it isdifficultfor me to makeajudgment, but I suspect that withoutthat important sourceof information,the resolutionof the privateand publicL.M. Montgomery cannottakeplace. The title,TheWheel ofThings, istakenfrom Kipling's Kimandrefersto thedaily routinethatpreoccupies andessentially destroys thosewhofail tofind thesecret of freedom.L.M. Montgomerywasoneof the casualties. Her biographerdescribes a womanwho inwardly rebelledagainstthe demandsof a strict upbringingand marriedlifetoamelancholic Presbyterian minister, butwhowaschainedtothewheel ofthings bythesense ofdutyandsocial responsibility whichthatupbringinginstilled. The mostinterestingchaptersdeal with that fatal and insolubleconflictwhichis importantbecause it iscentralnot onlyto Montgomery's life but alsoto Canadian literatureand culture.Mollie Gillen hintsat the complexityof thisconflictbut is somewhat contradictory, or at leastuncertainin her conclusions. In all fairness she mighthavelackedthe informationnecessary to makeconclusive statements about L.M. Montgomeryor speculative statements aboutCanadianculture,but I wishshe had dared. The biographywantsthatcriticaledgeone mighthavehopedfor andtendsto lapseintoeulogyin astylereminiscent of Montgomeryherself.Still,itisasthorough aspossible withoutmorediscussion of thejournals,andcontains a full bibliography andanexcellent index.Mostimportant,TheWheel ofThings isathought-provoking study ofacomplex woman, theperception ofwhose lifeandworkhasbeentoolong obscured bythelegendof L.M. Montgomery. ANN S. COWAN Van½o•tver Gringos fromtheFar North:Essays in theHistory ofCanadian-Latin American Relations, ß866-•968.j.c.M.OCELSB¾. Toronto,Macmillan, •976.Pp.xiv,346,maps. $•7.95. Professor Ogelsby haswrittenahighlysignificant bookwhichplugsarealgap.Asthe only up-to-datebook and mostcompletepieceof literature on Canadian-Latin Americanrelations, it couldwellbecome requiredreadingfor courses in Canadian diplomatic history,Inter-Americanrelations, andCanadian-American relations. The bookisa delighttoreadandtheproductof far-rangingresearch. Frequently humorous,the author comparesCanadian politicianswho have toured Latin Americatomigratorybirdswhoflysouth between OctoberandMay'onlytoreturnto thenorthto geton withmoreimportantbusiness' (•o). He reportsa World War II discovery thatPeru'srealreasonfor wantingtoestablish a diplomatic postin Ottawa wasthat it 'had a surplusof diplomatsasa resultof the closingof legationsand embassies in countriesoccupiedby the Nazis,and Ottawa lookedlike a suitable relocation from someatleast'(•o). Havingexploredthe PublicArchives of Canada, ecclesiastical archivesin Canada,asmanybusiness collections asthe corporations wouldallow,and someLatin-Americanlibraries,he surveys activities of Canadian ...