By Sharon Whitley Larsen
"You're in for a treat," our guide, Mike, exclaimed as our tour bus unloaded in the parking lot where we would join a mass of others visitors on this crisp, sunny fall day. "You might want to check out the gift shop first — it gets crowded after the tour!"
I was on a 3.5-hour Royal Caribbean shore excursion on Canada's gorgeous, green and peaceful Prince Edward Island, population 145,000.
"Everyone knows everybody. It's a quaint little spot," Mike said.
We were in rural Cavendish, founded in 1790, population about 270. It has been a popular literary tour destination since the 1908 publication of L.M. Montgomery's best-selling novel "Anne of Green Gables," which is set in her scenic, magical eastern Canadian hometown. (Her name was Lucy Maud, but she preferred Maud.)
The story — which is set at Green Gables (in real life it was Montgomery's cousins' home) — involves a plucky, sharp, creative orphan named Anne who's adopted at age 11 by a 60-year-old bachelor named Matthew and his spinster sister, Marilla. The problem was that they had requested a boy to help them out on their farm and instead got Anne, a talkative, irresistible, freckle-faced redhead with a wildly colorful imagination who arrived at the train station carrying a small, shabby bag holding "all my worldly goods." And the adventures start there.
Of course I had heard of the book (and planned to buy it in the gift shop to read on the ship), which is the first in the series.
"'Anne of Green Gables' is one of the most popular books ever written," said Mike. "It's had great impact; it put us on the map."
To date it has sold more than 50 million copies worldwide and been translated into 20 languages in more than 30 countries. It has also been featured in films, television, plays and musicals — "the longest-running musical in Canadian history — 50 years," Mike said. "It's a beautiful, feel-good story."
According to Mike, each year between 1 and 1.5 million tourists visit PEI, with several hundred thousand visiting Green Gables, mostly in July and August. Testifying to its global appeal, "Anne of Green Gables" is especially popular with the Japanese. It has been part of their school curriculum since its publication there in 1952, and thousands make pilgrimages to this tiny area to see Anne's world for themselves.
And now here I was at Green Gables to learn more about charming Anne (whom Mark Twain described to Montgomery in a fan letter as "the sweetest creation of child life since the immortal Alice"). Prior to touring the house, we browsed items in the small visitors center, including Montgomery's typewriter, which she bought in 1906; her photos; an 1898 scrapbook; newspaper clippings; and handwritten letters. There was also a board for visitors to post notes of their memories of reading the beloved books (interestingly, Montgomery had intended the book for a general audience, not as a children's story).
In a small theater we watched a video about the PEI life of Montgomery, who was born and raised here when Cavendish had a smattering of farmhouses, a general store, school, community hall and two churches.
"We're about to walk back in history," said Mike as we headed outside.
We strolled past the red barn to the cozy two-story farmhouse where excited fans posed for photos in front. Furnished in typical 1880s style, off the downstairs entry is a wallpapered parlor with a settee, armchair, rocker, small pump organ and fireplace. There's also the dining-sitting room and Matthew's small, simple room by the kitchen. Upstairs are Marilla's room and Anne's, which has a single iron-and-brass bed and looks out over the brook, "Haunted Wood" and "Orchard Slope" — with a view of spruce trees. Guides are happy to answer questions.
Afterward we strolled into the woods along "Lover's Lane," which Montgomery loved. It was easy to envision a young girl's childhood fantasies playing out on this farmstead caressed by ocean breezes.
"I belong here, it is in my blood," Montgomery once said.
Montgomery was born on Nov. 30, 1874, in a house at nearby Clifton Corner, one of several relatives' homes open for tours (some family members still reside in the area). Reared in her maternal grandparents' home, as a teen and young adult she helped out in the kitchen home-based post office, chatting and gossiping with neighbors who dropped by to pick up their mail.
During her childhood she was an astute observer of human interaction, foibles, dreams and challenges. And she had a huge appreciation of fashion, nature and the scenic landscape of PEI — the trees, flowers, birds, plants, bubbling brooks, rivers, seashore and farm fields that were all reflected in her books.
Montgomery was also an orphan, in a way. Her mother died when she was not yet 2, and little Maud moved in with her grandparents. (Her father moved to western Canada when Montgomery was 6 and remarried.)
Montgomery had a sparkling, outgoing personality, a good sense of humor and a storytelling gift. She loved to read and write and spent carefree days in the outdoors when she wasn't at the one-room country school earning excellent grades. She was active in the Presbyterian Sunday School and later played the church organ. After high school she attended college and had stints as a popular teacher and newspaper reporter.
Montgomery sold her first short story in 1895, when she was 21, and was paid $5 — launching her career as a freelance writer. Ten years later she penned "Anne of Green Gables," inspired by her idyllic life in Cavendish. It was rejected by five publishers and, discouraged, Montgomery waited a year before sending it out again. A Boston publisher offered her a contract. The book was published in June 1908 and sold some 19,000 copies in the first six months. Two huge fans were British Prime Ministers Stanley Baldwin and Ramsay MacDonald. In 1935 Montgomery was awarded the OBE honor — Order of the British Empire - in Canada.
An ambitious, multitalented visionary and prolific letter-writer, Montgomery wrote 20 novels, more than 500 poems and over 500 short stories, as well as hundreds of letters to fans. She also kept journals, which were published after her death. She was a gifted cook, photographer and gardener, and she loved cats.
She didn't marry until age 36, on July 5, 1911, in the parlor of "Silver Bush" at nearby Park Corner, following the death of her widowed grandmother, for whom she had cared. She and her husband, Ewan Macdonald, a Presbyterian minister, had three children (the middle was stillborn) born when she was 37, 39 and 41. Her writing sales provided them a comfortable lifestyle. Their older son, Chester, became an attorney, their younger son Stuart a successful gymnast and physician. Montgomery died at age 67 in 1942 and is buried in the local cemetery near Green Gables.
"She's certainly our favorite daughter," Mike said.
"To write has always been my central purpose," Montgomery once said. "Were it not for those Cavendish years, I do not think that "Anne of Green Gables" would ever have been written."
And as Anne would say, that would have been most "tragical"!
WHEN YOU GO
The Green Gables House is open May to October and closed December to mid-April. It is open the last two weeks in April by special appointment, and in November, especially for cruise-ship tours.
For more information: www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/pe/greengables/visit.aspx
www.gov.pe.ca/greengables
www.tourismpei.com/index.php3
Sharon Whitley Larsen is a freelance writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com
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