Jane of Lantern Hill
Montgomery began brainstorming Jane of Lantern Hill in April 1936. Her delight in her new home near the Humber River in west Toronto is reflected in Jane’s joy in finding the perfect house at Lantern Hill and at Lakeside Gardens. [1] Meanwhile, Montgomery was concerned about the threat of her son Chester’s divorce and strove (unsuccessfully) to save his marriage. She began writing the book in August, 1936. She visited Prince Edward Island that autumn. Before her death, Montgomery planned a sequel called Jane and Jody, focusing on Jody’s story.
- Waterston, Elizabeth and Mary Rubio. Writing a Life: L. M. Montgomery. pg. 105
Dedication
Jane of Lantern Hill is dedicated “TO THE MEMORY OF “LUCKY”, THE CHARMING AFFECTIONATE COMRADE OF FOURTEEN YEARS”. “Good Luck”, also nicknamed “Lucky”, is one of Montgomery’s beloved cats. He is known for being particularly affectionate. He came from Gartmore Farm, Cavendish and he died in January 1937.
L. M. Montgomery’s comments
Thursday, May 14, 1936
I finished the dialogue work on Jane today but my heart is not in it.
Saturday, May 30, 1936
Did some spade work on Jane and enjoyed it. It is heavenly to be able to work again.
Saturday, July 4, 1936
I did spade work on Jane of Lantern Hill most of the day. Worked rather long I suppose and in evening had a slight attack of claustrophobia. To banish it I went out for a walk down Riverside and along Bloor. I walked far enough to tire myself physically and so felt better mentally.
Friday Aug 21, 1936
I had a good sleep last night - no waking. I am really sleeping much better of late. This morning I began my new book Jane of Lantern Hill - that is, I began the real writing of it, having got all the “spade work” done - chapters blocked out, characters assembled and named etc. I had my glasses changed yesterday and my eyes and head have been better today than for a long while.
Thursday, Dec. 3, 1936
I had a good sleep and lost myself for five happy hours in Jane today. I was happy while I was writing it - but nevertheless I felt pretty tired when I stopped. Five hours is rather a steady stretch of creative work.
Wednesday, Jan 27, 1937
I have been writing the final chapters of Jane but it has been hard work. I can’t find even forgetfulness in it, much less pleasure. Darling Lucky has been beside me through all the writing of it. There remains only one chapter to be written but I could not do it today.
Monday, Feb 1, 1937
This morning I tried to write the last chapter of Jane but couldn’t do it. will I ever be able to write again?
Wednesday, Feb 3, 1937
This forenoon I managed to write the last chapter of Jane of Lantern Hill, my heart bleeding at every word. The rest of the day I passed in the grip of a terrible obsession.
Monday, May 24, 1937
Proofs of Jane came today, along with designs for the frontispiece, one of which is very charming and made me horribly homesick for the evenings when I, too, sat on green hills and saw a full moon floating like a great pearl over the world before us.
Saturday, August 14, 1937
The English edition of Jane came. The jacket design - a girl in overalls with a dog almost exactly like the Cowan’s “Happy” - which is as it should be, since “Happy” is in the book. But artists are not always so “true to life.”
Friday, Aug 13, 1938
The other letter was from an Englishwoman living in Jerusalem, who wrote to say that she had just read Jane of Lantern Hill and enjoyed it so much.
Somehow, this gave me a “thrill” out of all proportion to its real significance. To think of a book of mine being read in that ancient sacred city, where David and Solomon reigned and the Great Leader walked, gave me a quite indescribable feeling. Which his, no doubt, very absurd and irrational. But it is still a fact.
Original Manuscript
(from a post on the Kindred Spirits mailing list)
The sheaf of MSS for “Jane” was a real hodgepodge–reflecting LMM’s state of mind at the time. (One page was written on the back of a doctor’s note regarding Ewan’s ill health.) Two MSS pages got stuck together and it was never noted until after the book was published. It was the part where Jane goes into a bit of a ramble about what she loves in her PEI home; the missing page listed things she loved that never made it into the book.
Previous Incarnations
“Tomorrow Comes” 1934
This story deals with a little girl “whose mother called her Judy and whose grandmother called her Hester.” She lives with her jealous Grandmother “and her Woman.” One day, she finds a photo of man in a magazine and cuts it out, not knowing that it is of her father.
“The Schoolmaster’s Letter” (Sunday Magazine, June 4, 1905, pp. 7-8, 12-13; Holland’s Magazine, August 1914, 14, 39)
Some of Andrew’s letters to Robin are identical to those by the Schoolmaster to his love, Una, in “The Schoolmaster’s Letters.”
This story can be read in Across the Miles: Tales of Correspondence, edited by Rea Wilmshurst.
