Maud: The Life of L. M. Montgomery, Maud: The Life of L.M. Montgomery, the Creator of the World of Anne of Green Gables
By Harry Bruce
New York: Seal Bantam Books, 1992. Toronto: Seal Books, 1994.
Maud: The Life of L. M. Montgomery is a chapter-book format biography on Montgomery. The publisher’s description reads: “this biography explores the passionate nature and irrepressible imagination of the author of the famous Anne of Green Gables books,” and fhe book opens with Montgomery in the throes of her passionate love affair and unhappy engagement. The book focuses on the great contrast between Montgomery’s lonely and tumultuous real life, and the wish-fulfillment she wrote into her novels.
The author is both sympathetic and critical of Montgomery. He compares and contrasts her life and personality with Anne. The book is an engaging read, full of drama. However, I sometimes felt that the author was striving too hard to paint a picture of what Maud’s life and emotions were, that they come across as exaggerated or contrived.
