The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery, I: 1889–1910 by Mary Rubio, Elizabeth Waterston (review)

REVIEWS 437 arrestingin Selkirk'swillingness to manipulatethe livesof other men, a characteristic of manyradicals, doingsowithsolittleknowledge of thecontext intowhichhetransported them.Readers of theSelkirksaga willlookforward to its further development, and particularlyto Professor Bumsted's final summation of his career. SYDNEY AND OLIVE CHECKLAND Cambridge University TheSelected Journalsof L.M. Montgomery, •: •r889-•r9•ro.MARYRUBIOand ELIZABETH WATERSTON. Toronto:OxfordUniversity Press •985.Pp.xxiv,4•4, illus.$•4.95 WhenL.M. Montgomery waswritingher novels and poetry,shealsokepta journalwhose dark passages contrasted sharplywiththeenthusiasm for life characteristic of herfictionalheroines. The contours of Montgomery's private life havebeendrawnin earlierpublications but,until recently,herjournals wereclosed tothepublic.Shortlybeforehisdeathin 198•, Montgomery's son deposited hismother's journalsin the GuelphUniversityarchives and gave theirexclusive access to Mary Rubio.In collaboration with ElizabethWaterston ,Rubiohasedited thejournals for publication.The editorsare to be commended formakingthepublished version ascomplete asit isbutscholars will haveto waituntil 199•, whenthejournalsare openedto the public,to judge the appropriateness of the omissions. Sincethe originaljournals apparentlyhave been destroyed- we are left only with Montgomery's 'illustrated' transcriptions producedin later life - we will neverknowthe extenttowhichshe'doctored' theoriginaldocuments. Journalsoften make tediousreading,but Montgomery'sgreat literary talentandhereyetoposterity guaranteed thatherlife storywouldmakeeven moreabsorbing readingthanherfiction.In thisfirstvolume,whichchronicles Montgomery's life between theagesof fourteenandthirty-six,thereaderis treatedto a detailedanatomyof a sensitive youngwomangrowingup in late nineteenth-century PrinceEdwardIsland.It isa bildungsroman of exceptional power.The journals are alsorich in socialhistory.The pressures in late nineteenth-century rural Canadato upwardand geographic mobility,the idiosyncrasies of families,and the small-mindedness of communities are all eloquently captured byMontgomery's pen.YoungMaudwasnomoreimmune thanwas young WilliamLyonMackenzie King(whowas bornwithinsixweeks of Montgomery) to soulsearching andtemptations of theflesh,nor washer response to theexpandinghorizons of industrialsociety markedlydifferent from his.Like King, Montgomerycreatedher ownopportunities. Shehad access to theliterarycurrentsof the worldthanksto the school system, the postalservice, and her ownwell-honedambition.Shebegansubmitting her poetry to newspapers at the age of twelve. It is tempting to say that Montgomery's lifewouldhavebeeneasier hadshebeena man,butsheoffers 438 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW ampleevidence ofmalepeerswhogrewgreybeforetheirtimeandwereforced to compromise their goals.Many ambitious men of her generation- again King comesto mind - felt the necessity of choosing betweena careerand marriage, assheclearlydid, andsomeyoungmenevenfeltobligedto forego career opportunities totakecareofagingrelatives. Whatmakes Montgomery's situationsotypicallyfemale is the lack of encouragement shereceivedto develop hertalents. Onlyanabsent fatherandalong-suffering journal,bothof whosepersonalities shefashionedwith her ownwilful imagination, inspired hercreativity. 'If I hadjust one friend,whose opinionI valued- to saytome "Youareright.Youhaveit in youtoachieve something if yougettheproper intellectual training.Goahead!" whatacomfort itwouldbe!'she wrotepriorto enrolling atDalhousie University in •895.Fewmenwereforcedtotravelsuch a lonesome road.YetMontgomery, withthehelpofliterarycompanions such as Olive Schreiner,and by dint of her exceptional ambitionand her early accommodation withloneliness, succeeded asa writer.LongbeforeVirginia WooIfexpressed suchsentiments, Montgomery announced 'Woetothepoor mortalwhohas notevenonesmall roomtocallherown.'Sheisagoodexample ofWooIFs dictumthatwomentakeupliterarycareers because paperischeap, buthercareerwas onlyfirmlyfixedbythefinancial rewards thatshereceived. By•9o3shewasmaking$5ooayearwithherpen,morethantwicethesalary thatsheearnedasateacherontheIslandor duringherbriefstintasaneditor fortheHalifaxDailyEcho. Shedidindeedspend overadecade takingcareof hergrandmother in Cavendish but,her grandmother's eccentricities notwithstanding ,theseyearsgaveher the solitudeand her much-beloved Island setting thatsheneededtodoherbestwriting.Whenshediddecide,aftermuch soulsearching, tomarry,it wasbecause shewanteda home,companionship, andchildren,and,for thelast,timewasrunningshort. L.M. Montgomery wasnotthefirstwomantochronicle thedifficultchoices thatwomenmustmakein the'modern'world.Shehas,however, capturedthe conflicts associated withbeingatalented andambitious woman betterthanany writerofhergeneration withthepossible exception ofEmilyCarr.In thesame waythatAnneofGreen Gables hasbecome a classic statement of the spiritof young womanhood, Montgomery's journalswillserve asaclassic case study of thehighcost of nurturingthatspirit.TheSelected Journals ofL.M. Montgomery deserve theenthusiastic anddevotedreadership thattheywillalmost certainly receive. S•,RC•,R•.T CO•D AcadiaUniversity Memoirs: TheMakingofa Peacemonger. c•.oR•. •,•r•gg, withSonjaSinclair. Toronto:University of TorontoPress•985. Pp.xx, •65. $•9.95 In many respectsGeorge Ignatieff and his collaboratorhave written a predictable bookcontaining few surprises for students of Canadianforeign ...