Lucy Maud Montgomery – The Gift of Wings – Mary Henley Rubio

I’m an enormous L.M Montgomery fan – her books were an escape when I was a child and even now as an adult they’re my guilty pleasure. So I couldn’t resist a biography! I’ve read all of the journals and like many people was shocked to discover that her life was so dark (and depressing).

As Mary Henley Rubio (along with Elizabeth Waterston) edited the journals, I thought she would really know her subject – and she did. She interviewed people (in the 1980s) who remembered Maud, spoke to her children and grand children (and obviously carefully read the journals!).

I was fascinated by this biography – read it in a couple of days – particularly the bit about Herman Leard and about Ewan and Maud’s drug taking (later in life they both became dependent on bromides and barbiturates) and the end of her life.

I don’t want to ruin it for anyone, so I’ll just say if you’re at all interested in the author of Anne of Green Gables, then you should read this book.