Jane of Lantern Hill by L.M. Montgomery

 

Title:  Jane of Lantern Hill

Author:  L.M. Montgomery

Narrated by:  Lauren Saunders

Publisher: Dreamscape Media, LLC

Length: Approximately 8 hours and 1 minutes

Source: Purchased from Audible

Have you reread any childhood favorite books lately?  I haven’t read Jane of Lantern Hill by L.M. Montgomery since my teen years, and it was a job to read it again this month as part of the What the Dickens Book Club.

Jane Stuart lives with her grandmother, aunt, and mother in a sad and cold mansion in Toronto.  She discovers that her father is alive, and he wants her to visit him for the summer in Prince Edward Island.  Her world opens and is alive in PEI.  Why did her parents separate?  Will Jane find a way to live a happy life?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I loved how Jane figured out how to cook, clean, and garden on her own and enjoyed doing it.  She enjoyed the small things of life and was a sensible girl.

·       This was a hopeful story that is written for younger audiences (tween and teen).

·       I loved the mystery of the parents’ (Andrew and Robin) relationship both as a kid and reading it again now as an adult.

·       Jane ages from eleven to thirteen in this book.

·       Grandma is a true villain in this book.  How lonely and sad Jane was growing up in her cold home.  I wonder if this character was based on anyone that L.M. Montgomery knew?

·       As I’ve come to expect from L.M. Montgonery the novel had beautiful descriptions of nature, the ocean, Prince Edward Island, the house.  I loved that the lantern hill house was “alive” and had “magic.”

·       It was also interesting reading the difference between Toronto (cold, dreary, etc.) and Prince Edward Island where everyone is loving.

·       This was a coming-of-age novel as Jane really grows up on the island.

·       The cats and dogs in the novel were delightful.

·       This novel was published in 1937 and was set in the 1930s, later than the Anne books.  It was interesting that cars and airplanes are mentioned.  Jane’s dad is a WWI veteran.

·       This story seems scandalous for the times that it was written with the parents being separated and talk of divorce.  Grandma and her aunt made me angry with their meddling in Jane’s parents’ marriage.  The ending is the dream of every divorced child in the vein of The Parent Trap.

·       The ending was good, but abrupt.

·       This is a stand-alone novel and was one of the first L.M. Montgomery books I read because of the movie.  I just recently rewatched the movie after I finished the book.  It strays a lot from the book but was still enjoyable.

·       I enjoyed listening to this book on audiobook and the narrator had a pleasant voice.

Overall, Jane of Lantern Hill by L.M. Montgomery is an inspiring and charming comfort read.

After Anne by Logan Steiner (Bibliolifestyle Book Tour)

 

Thank you, Partner @bibliolifestyle @williammorrowbooks for a review copy of After Anne by Logan Steiner.  This book was published on May 30^th.

Have you read or watched Anne of Green Gables?  What are your thoughts?

After Anne starts with L.M. Montgomery, Maud, as a spinster in her 30’s living with her Grandmother and just starting on her writing of Anne of Green Gables.  She loves spending time with her beloved cousin and best friend, Frede.  When a new minister comes to town, Ewan Macdonald, Maud wonders whether she has finally found her soul mate.  After a glorious birthday weekend with Frede and Ewan, Maud marries Ewan and together they build a life.  Sadly, their lives slip into despair over time.  How can a woman who wrote such beautiful novels have such a sad life?

I liked how this novel was put together.  It opens on the day that L.M. Montgomery is discovered to have committed suicide.  Was it an accident or intentional?  The book then flashes back to show her life.  The birthday weekend of 1907 is prominent, and the narrative keeps slipping back to that time frame when everything looked bright and wonderful for Maud.  Anne of Green Gables was about to be published, she was about to be married, and she had her best friend and cousin, Frede.  Maud had a lot of trials and tribulations as her husband slipped into madness, she lost those that she loved, and she had a troubled relationship with one of her sons.  She started to self-medicate to make it through her days which led to her ultimate demise.

I didn’t know much about her life, and I found this was an interesting biographical fictional novel.  It made me sad to learn that L.M. Montgomery had such a sad life, but I was happy that she was able to use the best parts of it for inspiration in her works.  This book has led me to want to read her journals and biographies of her life.  I may have read all of the fiction that she wrote, but I have not delved into her personal life at all until now.  I was particularly fascinated by how the war and the flu epidemic of 1918 affected her life and her writing of one of my favorite novels, Rilla of Ingleside.

I found the character of Maud to be likeable and sympathetic. I enjoyed learning more of her story and looked forward to the bright points such as her 1907 birthday party.  The pacing of the story was a bit slow, but I overall enjoyed the novel.

The Belle of Belgrave Square by Mimi Matthews (Austenprose PR Book Tour and Giveaway!)

 

What is your favorite fairy tale?    My two favorite fairy tales growing up were Beauty and the Beast and The Twelve Dancing Princesses.  I loved fairy tales and reading all of the different versions of them.  I still love them.

I was excited to review The Belle of Belgrave Square and discover it was a Beauty and the Beast story.  I loved, loved, loved The Siren of Sussex and I felt the same way about The Belle of Belgrave Square.  Although this is a series, these are standalone novels.  The characters were first introduced in The Siren of Sussex, but The Belle of Belgrave Square is its own independent story.

Julia Wychwood is a sheltered heiress who has never left London.  Her parents are always on their sickbed and her only escape is through reading novels or riding her horse, Cossex.  When Captain Jasper Blunt starts to take notice in her, Julia is not sure what to do.  He is hailed as a hero from the Crimea, but the tales of his treatment of his soldiers is horrifying.  Since his return, the stories of his haunted estate and illegitimate children do not paint a better picture.  As Julia gets to know him thought, she believes maybe he has changed.  After her parents take bloodletting too far on her, she realizes she needs to make a change.  Would marrying Captain Blunt be just the change she needs?  What secrets is he hiding?

I felt like this was a perfect book for the fall.  It had perfect Gothic vibes.  Matthews had wonderful notes at the end to fill in the history of the Victorian times discussed in the novel.  I also loved that she said it was also based not only on Beauty and the Beast, but also The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery which is another one of my favorite novels.  After I read that, I connected the dots and saw how much it was inspired by The Blue Castle.  I was able to figure out the twists in The Belle of Belgrave Square ahead of time, but that probably was because it was inspired by some of my favorite works.  I enjoyed it just the same.  My favorite scene was Jasper showing Julia his library for the first time.  Now that is love!

I liked the inner look into Julia and Jasper as well.  For Julia she had to deal with anxiety, especially at social events that she was required to attend.  She was constantly working on ways to deal with her anxiety.  Jasper is dealing with both the internal and external scars from being a soldier in the Crimea as well as a traumatic childhood.  I love how they both had to build trust with each other and understanding through the novel.

This book has a very low level of spice at the end.  It is a marriage of convenience trope – which I love.

I can’t wait for the next book, The Lily of Ludgate Hill, which is previewed at the end of this book!

Review Copy from Berkley Romance and Netgalley as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour.  Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

QUICK FACTS

·       Title: The Belle of Belgrave Square

·       Series: Belles of London (Book 2)

·       Author: Mimi Matthews

·       Genre: Historical Romance, Historical Fiction

·       Publisher: ‎Berkley Romance (October 11, 2022)

·       Length: (432) pages

·       Format: Trade paperback, eBook, & audiobook 

·       ISBN: 978-0593337158

·       Tour Dates: October 3 - 23, 2022

 

BOOK DESCRIPTION

A BookBub Best Romance of 2022

A London heiress rides out to the wilds of the English countryside to honor a marriage of convenience with a mysterious and reclusive stranger.

Tall, dark, and dour, the notorious Captain Jasper Blunt was once hailed a military hero, but tales abound of his bastard children and his haunted estate in Yorkshire. What he requires now is a rich wife to ornament his isolated ruin, and he has his sights set on the enchanting Julia Wychwood.
 
For Julia, an incurable romantic cursed with a crippling social anxiety, navigating a London ballroom is absolute torture. The only time Julia feels any degree of confidence is when she’s on her horse. Unfortunately, a young lady can’t spend the whole of her life in the saddle, so Julia makes an impetuous decision to take her future by the reins—she proposes to Captain Blunt.
 
In exchange for her dowry and her hand, Jasper must promise to grant her freedom to do as she pleases. To ride—and to read—as much as she likes without masculine interference. He readily agrees to her conditions, with one provision of his own: Julia is forbidden from going into the tower rooms of his estate and snooping around his affairs. But the more she learns of the beastly former hero, the more intrigued she becomes…

 

ADVANCE PRAISE

“A grand cross-class romance, a twisty mystery, and emotional internal struggles combine to excellent effect…fans and new readers alike will root for this well-earned love story.”— Publishers Weekly (starred review)

 
“[C]ombines deception, risk, and a resourceful heroine to create an intoxicating, suspenseful romance. Highly recommended.”— Library Journal (starred review)

 
“If you’re a fan of Beauty and the Beast, this regency romance will rapidly become a new favorite of yours. Wallflower meets an infamous war hero in this fascinating and intriguing love story.”— BuzzFeed

 
“Mimi Matthews never disappoints, with richly drawn characters and couples whose individual shortcomings become strengths, when paired together. In this Beauty and the Beast retelling, we get to root for two underdogs who get to rewrite their own stories.”— Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wish You Were Here

 
“The Belle of Belgrave Square is such tremendous, good fun: a heroine with a big horse, an even bigger novel-reading habit, and a hidden anxiety; a hero with a crumbling estate, a trio of wary children, and a literary secret—what's not to love? Mimi Matthews paints Victorian England with vivid humor, and her Belles of London is set to go on for at least a few more much-anticipated installments. Julian Fellowes fans will rejoice!”— Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Diamond Eye

PURCHASE LINKS

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOK DEPOSITORY | BOOKSHOP | GOODREADS

 

AUTHOR BIO

USA Today bestselling author Mimi Matthews writes both historical nonfiction and award-winning proper Victorian romances. Her novels have received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Booklist, and Kirkus, and her articles have been featured on the Victorian Web, the Journal of Victorian Culture, and in syndication at BUST Magazine. In her other life, Mimi is an attorney. She resides in California with her family, which includes a retired Andalusian dressage horse, a Sheltie, and two Siamese cats.

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | PINTEREST | BOOKBUB | GOODREADS

 

VICTORIAN READING ROOM

Join Mimi at her Victorian Reading Room Facebook Group for exclusive access as she shares her love of writing, historical romance, Victorian fashion, brooding heroes, independent heroines, and of course, her beloved pets

READ AN EXCLSUIVE INTERVIEW WITH MIMI MATTHEWS

Discover intriguing insights into The Belle of Belgrave Square and Mimi’s writing life in this exclusive interview at austenprose.com.

 GIVEAWAY

Mimi has generously offered a fabulous giveaway that book tour participants can add to their post and on social media. Here are the details:

Giveaway period: October 3 – October 30

Terms & Conditions:

Giveaway hosted by Mimi Matthews. No Purchase Necessary. Entrants must be 18 years or older. Open to US residents only. All information will remain confidential and will not be sold or otherwise used, except to notify the winner and to facilitate postage of the book to the winner. Void where prohibited.

Giveaway Details:

1 winner (selected at random by Rafflecopter) receives a paperback copy of The Belle of Belgrave Square, signed and annotated by the author with personal comments, underlining of her favorite lines, and other highlights by Mimi Matthews.

Giveaway is open from 12:01 am Pacific time 10/03/22 until 11:59pm Pacific time on 10/30/22.

 The winner will be announced on Mimi's blog on 10/31/22.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Story Girl by L.M. Montgomery

 

Title:  The Story Girl

Author: L.M. Montgomery

Narrated by:  Grace Conlin

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing

Length: Approximately 8 hours and 59 minutes

Source: Checked out from the Kewaunee Public Library through Overdrive.  Thank-you!

 What type of books do you read to relax?  Work had been pretty stressful lately, so I thought it was time to harken back to the books that help me to relax; childhood favorites such as L.M. Montgomery.  I read all of her books when I was a teenager.  Reading them again now as an adult brings me back to simpler times and happy memories. 

 In The Story Girl, Beverley (Bev) and Felix King are two brothers who come to live with their Uncle Alex and Aunt Janet on Prince Edward Island while their father travels for work.  Their father has told them many stories about the family farm, and they are delighted to finally see the farm and family members for themselves.  They spend their time with their group of friends; their cousins Dan, Felicity, Cecily and Sara, hired boy Peter Craig, neighbor Sara Ray.  Sara Stanley is known for her ability to tell grand stories and is also known as “the story girl.”  The book tells the adventures of the friends and also the stories that Sara tells.  It is an interesting mix of stories and I enjoyed it.  It’s a fun book to listen to as an audiobook.  Grace Conlin was a good narrator.

 I found the stories to be charming.  They made me think of my own childhood playing with my cousins and friends on the family farm.  I even had a few similar times in the 1980s when we thought the world was going to end and also the discovery of an old trunk of my great-grandfathers. 

 I thought it was strange how Felicity was always looking down on Peter as the “hired hand.”  It was odd to me that being poor, Peter now just worked as a hired hand and didn’t go to school.  He was allowed to play with the kids after work.  It’s interesting.  Also interesting is that I read that L.M. Montgomery based the character of Peter on Herman Leard, the great love of her life.  Her family looked down on Herman and didn’t think he was good enough for her or high enough class.

 There is a lot of talk about Methodists and Presbyterians in the novel and Peter’s confusion about the difference between the two.  I thought it was amusing that they seem to be the only two churches in the area.

 I loved the show Avonlea in the 90s.  We didn’t have the Disney channel, but my grandparents would tape it for me.  This is one of the books that the show was based on.  There are many of the same characters, but also many changes.  I really need to rewatch this series!

 L.M. Montgomery also writes fantastic cats into her fiction.  In The Story Girl, we meet Pat the cat.  He is a large and in charge type of cat until he mysteriously falls ill.  The kids are sure he has been cursed by a woman who visited that many believe is a witch.  Do you have any favorite authors that write great animal characters?

 Favorite Quotes:

“Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.”

 “It is always safe to dream of spring. For it is sure to come; and if it be not just as we have pictured it, it will be infinitely sweeter.”

 “I do like a road, because you can be always wondering what is at the end of it.”

 “Only a few, who remain children at heart, can ever find that fair, lost path again; and blessed are they above mortals. They, and only they, can bring us tidings from that dear country where we once sojourned and from which we must evermore be exiles. The world calls them its singers and poets and artists and story-tellers; but they are just people who have never forgotten the way to fairyland.”

 Overall, The Story Girl is a delightful mix of stories that brings back the happiness of childhood.

Anne of Manhattan by Brina Starler

 

Are you a fan of Anne of Green Gables?  I LOVE Anne of Green Gables.  I read all of L.M. Montgomery’s books as a tween/teen and have enjoyed rereading them as an adult.  I was so excited to hear that there was a modern take on Anne’s story.

Anne grew up in Avonlea Long Island with loving foster parents, Marilla and Matthew.  She currently lives in Manhattan with her best friend Diana. She works at a bookstore and is working her way through her last year of grad school.  She is shocked when her old nemesis Gilbert Blythe shows up from California and is attending the same grad school as her.  What happened their last night together after high school?  Why do they have a rivalry?  Will Anne and Gil be able to find their happily ever after?

I felt that Brina Starler had a great love for Anne of Green Gables and the characters that are involved in the original series.  She gave them all an update to modern times but stayed true to their characters.  She also added in minor characters from the original series in the perfect places. 

The story was told in the present with flash backs to tell the story of Anne’s growing up at Green Gables and relationship with Gilbert.  If you’ve ever wondered about the more passionate side of their relationship, you will wonder no more after this book.  It has some rather steamy sex scenes.  I’m more of a closed-door romance type of person myself.

Favorite Quote:

“If there was one thing Anne Shirley would stand firm against all arguments, it was that a person could never have too many books.” – Great first line!

Overall, Anne of Manhattan was a fun update of one of my favorite books.

Book Source:  Review Copy from William Morrow.  Thank-you!

Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery

Title: Rilla of Ingleside

Author: L.M. Montgomery

Read by:  Emily Durante

Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc.

Length: Approximately 10 hours and 20 minutes

Source: Downloaded through Overdrive from the Kewaunee Public Library

Rilla of Ingleside is the eighth novel of the Anne of Green Gables series.  It is also my favorite besides the first novel, Anne of Green Gables.  I really feel that L.M. Montgomery started and ended this series with a bang.  Just as a warning, I am going to discuss major plot points and deaths in this novel – spoiler alert!

Rilla is the youngest of Gilbert and Anne’s children.  She is fifteen years old, and unlike her five older siblings, she doesn’t seem to have a purpose or drive to her life.  She decides to take a year off before “college” (Queens – which I think is equivalent to high school now).  World War I starts at this time and her oldest brother Jem signs up right away. She has a flirtation with Kenneth Ford, and she promises not to kiss any other man while he is gone during the war.  Does that mean she is engaged?  Rilla’s favorite brother Walter is given a white feather (means coward) when he doesn’t join up right away due to health problems.  He doesn’t want to go to war but goes anyway after being pressured by society into doing so.  And then he tragically dies.  As a teenager reading this book, it was my first look at WWI and Walter’s death shattered me.  I’m still sad about it as a forty-two year old adult.  Rilla’s romance with Ken was also romantic, but my favorite storyline of all is when Rilla adopts and raises a “war baby” whose mother has died, and his father is overseas fighting.  Raising the baby really helps Rilla to grow up and realize what is important in life.

Rilla of Ingleside is different than the rest of the novels in the series as it is set firmly during World War I and talks about real life historical events.  The other novels are vague with timelines and don’t discuss politics or real-life events.  I was interested to find out that this was the first novel written by a Canadian about the civilian war experience.  It is also the only Canadian novel written from a woman’s perspective about WWI by a contemporary.  I have also read Willa Cather’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel on WWI, One of Our Own.  I prefer Rilla of Ingleside.  I think having read through the entire series, seeing the changes it makes on the characters and their world makes more of an impact on the reader.

I also like how this novel was told through Rilla’s point of view and that we got to see Anne and Gilbert as parents.  If you look back at my review of Rainbow Valley, I was not happy that the point of view and story shifted to the Meredith children rather than the Blythes.

The book still has plenty of Montgomery’s traditional humor, mostly at housekeeper Susan’s expense.  I love the scene where Kenneth Ford has come to talk to Rilla and Susan decides to help Rilla entertain by telling embarrassing stories about them both when they were children.  Or when Whiskers on the Moon proposes to her and she chases him out of the house.  I still laugh thinking about it.

Montgomery also writes great animals.  This book had Dog Monday, a great faithful dog that waits four years at the railroad station for his boy Jem to return.  And he somehow knows when Walter is killed and lets out a great howl through the night. I love this quote about Dog Monday, “He knew that not all dogs could be handsome or eloquent or victorious, but that every dog could love.” There is also a cat Dr.-Jekyll-and-Mr.-Hyde who had an everchanging personality.

Montgomery also does an excellent job of discussing grief in this novel.  The novel is dedicated to Frederica Campbell Macfarlane, L.M. Montgomery’s best friend who died during the 1918-19 flu pandemic.  The pandemic is not discussed in this novel, but grief through the loss of loved ones is discussed.  I thought the discussions were frank and truthful.  I also thought it was interesting how people would judge Rilla for not grieving “enough” for her brother.  Who gives people the right to judge?  What is the right amount of grief?  Another character is harassed for grieving “too much” for her fiancé.  It was interested to ponder.

This was a great audiobook and Emily Durante was a great narrator.

Overall, Rilla of Ingleside is one of L.M. Montgomery’s finest novels.  I feel like she really finished the Anne series up in a grand fashion.  I only wish this book would have been made into a movie at some point.  I’m still waiting for everyone to stop making fifty versions of Anne of Green Gables and to actually film the entire book series.  What do you think?