House of Dreams: The Life of L. M. Montgomery, by Liz Rosenberg

It's daunting to realize how many books and stories L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery wrote, often under conditions of enormous financial or emotional stress, and how well loved they became. This year's biography of the author, by professor and novelist Liz Rosenberg of Binghamton, New York, concludes with a description of the reach of Montgomery's beloved character Anne of Green Gables:

The popularity of L. M. Montgomery's writing continues unabated. Maud's books have sold millions of copies. Her work lives on in dozens of forms -- some of which she never knew, and could not have even imagined. Her writing has been successfully adapted to the stage, the movies, and for television, and is available in books, CDs, and DVDs. Discussions of her work abound in journals dedicated to her writings, and in online blogs and articles.

Anne's House of Dreams was distributed to Polish soldiers during World War II to lend them courage and hope. ... Prince Edward Island estimates 350,000 come to visit Green Gables each year. Kate Middleton, as the newlywed wife of Prince William, flew to Prince Edward Island on her honeymoon in honor of the books, citing Montgomery as one of her favorite and most influential authors. ... Her works are treasured by children and adults all over the world -- they are particular favorites of Japanese schoolchildren, fellow islanders living half a world away. ... Her single most beloved and famous book, Anne of Green Gables, has sold more than fifty million copies worldwide and been translated into more than twenty languages.

Let that be a noted talking point for those explaining the lasting and global effect of children's books and classics about growing up poor and making the best of things. As Rosenberg demonstrates in HOUSE OF DREAMS (a title that reflects the 1917 "Anne" book, Anne's House of Dreams), one persistent and naive author who puts pen to paper every day can eventually see her stories enter the hearts of astonishingly diverse people.

Rosenberg is a poet and novelist, as well as biographer, and these qualities enable her to narrate Maud's own life of heartbreak with passion, insight, and a sense of pace that feels like a well-spun novel, full of complex characters and twists of plot. Trapped in a dysfunctional family through both poverty and her own sense of loyalty to her grandmother -- a brusque and stern woman who nonetheless made enormous sacrifices so Maud could gain an education and become employed -- this lifelong writer created the personality of an orphaned girl with unfortunate red hair, determined to see and name the beauty of the world around her.

There is certainly a circle of courage in Montgomery's "work and life": The character she gave to Anne connected directly to the better days of her own spirited approach to life. But unlike her protagonist, Maud Montgomery had very few "lucky breaks" in life. Repeatedly "orphaned" in terms of people who should have taken care of her as a child, then disappointed in love and entangled with men whose coping strategies tore her apart, she still maintained her discipline of writing, and fought for publication of her work. At one point one of the most highly paid authors among Canadians, she also saw her work become profitable to an unscrupulous and unpleasant publisher (she did not benefit from the vast earnings of the "Anne" films), barely coped with what was probably bipolar disorder, and gave up her peace of mind as well as her fortune to take care of the (mostly) men who depended on her.

The only time that I was able to "put aside" HOUSE OF DREAMS was when I just had to stop to quickly re-read Anne of Green Gables, to feel again the marvelous joy of Anne's self-propelled discoveries of love and life. Then I plunged back into HOUSE OF DREAMS, unwilling to interrupt it again, even through the massive sorrows of Montgomery's pathway.

Many thanks to Rosenberg for this satisfying addition to women's biography, to the insight that an author's life can provide, and to opening a door for younger readers -- from engaged 12-year-olds on up -- to explore how an author and her work can braid and mingle. The publication of this volume by Candlewick Press, with its esteemed standing in libraries, classrooms, and bookshelves of eager readers, makes that intent especially clear. And the tender line drawings by Vancouver, BC, artist Julie Morstad are a perfect match to the book.

I plan to stay grounded in HOUSE OF DREAMS as I set "pen to paper" for my own next novel. What an inspiration to treasure! I'm on my way.

A Visit to the Library -- by Five of Us! Are You Coming, Too?

Sometimes Vermont is a very, very small state. Vermont authors run into each other often -- at tea or coffee, or online, or at the library or the town clerk's office.

Peacham, Vermont, memoir writer Gary Schoolcraft found the same idea in this that I found at about the same time: Let's get together on purpose.

So, half a dozen of us (changing in number depending who's available when) are jointly providing author events, selling books at yard sales and county fairs, and even marketing online sometimes (Gary has his Green Mountain Books Sales site just warming up).

And this coming week, on Thursday, we'll be at the best library in the state -- well, it's my own town library, so it means a lot to me! -- the lovely Davies Memorial Library in the "White Village" of Lower Waterford, Vermont. (You can learn more about the White Village and other local treasures here: http://waterford-vt-history.blogspot.com.) 

Here's the info -- hope you can join us!

Thursday, September 18th at 6:30 pm -- Local Author Round Table

History.  Mystery. Nature and the environment.  Fiction. Non-fiction. Poetry.  All set in our very own backyard!  Join us on Thursday, September 18th at 6:30 for a Local Author Round Table!

Authors Gary Schoolcraft, Tanya Sousa, Beth Kanell, Jerry Johnson and Alec Hastings will be on hand to discuss their writing- what, why and how they write followed by a discussion between author and reader alike.  Their books will be available at the event- read below for a brief bio of each of our guests.  All are welcome- see you there!

Gary Schoolcraft's book "When Kids Were Allowed to Be Kids" is a best-seller in our area. He describes his collection of remembered adventures as "a humorous look at life in the small Vermont town of Peacham during the late ’50′s and all of the ’60′s as seen through the eyes of a kid that was there." He shares snips from the book at his Facebook page, and has a website, http://www.greenmountainbooksales.com.

Tanya Sousa of Coventry is an award-winning author of environmental and agricultural children's books, novels, stories and essays. She specializes in topics focusing on human interaction with other living things/the environment - her most recent work is the ecological novel, "The Starling God", which has received five-star reviews to date from readers from all walks of life and around the country. Readers' comments and more may be found on the publisher's website page for the book: http://www.forestrypressproducts.com/the-starling-god-by-tanya-sousa/.

Beth Kanell of Waterford writes Northeast Kingdom adventure novels, with a touch of both mystery and history. So far, they've been set in North Danville, St. Johnsbury, and Waterford, and this year she finished a Barnet book and a "teen sleuth" book set in Montpelier. She shares her research and writing life at bethkanell.blogspot.com, and visits schools and libraries to tell tales of the true (and often criminal!) history behind her novels.

Jerry Johnson of Craftsbury is a well-published poet whose wish came true when he wrote "Up the Creek Without a Saddle": His dream was fulfilled when Vermont’s legendary master musicians, Jon Gailmor and Pete Sutherland, took 16 of his book’s 99 poems and set them to music. A beautiful CD of their songs comes with the book for free. It is Jerry’s gift back to Vermont, those who love the Green Mountain State, and people anywhere who love the natural world. Jerry’s books and background can be found at his website, www.vtpoet.com.

Alec Hastings just retired from teaching in Bethel, Vermont. To encourage adventurous reading among his students, especially the boys, he wrote the novel "Otter St Onge and the Bootleggers," which he describes as "a rip-snorting tale of Vermont moonshine smugglers during the Flood of '27." His connections to the area include his father's grandparents, who farmed in McIndoe Falls.

Contact the library at 748-4609 or davieslibraryvt@gmail.com for more information.

Multimedia, Hyperlinks, and a Village Event in Peacham, Vermont

Peacham is considered one of Vermont's most photographed towns -- in part because at least one Vermont Life photographer lives there, and many more have visited. It's not just the hill-and-vale arrangement of church, town center, and farms that's drawn photographers here, but also the strands of local tradition and history. The Peacham Historical Society is constructing new climate-controlled storage space for its archives; the Peacham Library hosts a weekly coffee hour; and the town's small school is neighbor to a professional-level astronomy observatory.

Seven of us "local authors" joined the Peacham Library on July 4, to focus some interest on books. There was a sale of used books inside the library, and outside, under a tent, we seven offered copies of our creations, along with signatures of course. Since business was slow, we also had plenty of opportunity to share aspects of both research and the writing life with each other -- for instance, we listened to Jerry Johnson's poems set to music and performed (on CD) by Jon Gailmore, while archivist Lynn Bonfield described the Gold Rush-era diary that brought her from California to Peacham, children's authors Lynda Graham-Barber and Tanya Sousa compared notes on their paths, Alec Hastings confirmed that he's now writing a teen adventure based on the river logging of the early 1900s, and memoirist Gary Schoolcraft and I planned more author collaborations.

But equally of interest to me, especially as I reflect on overheard conversations that day, is how many media had roles in the day's offerings. Not only were we authors discussing printed books, e-books, and audio books, but we shared Internet research techniques and access. Young reporter Caleigh Cross (a novelist herself) captured images of the famous Peacham tractor parade for the local newspaper's advance website coverage. And visitors pointed to the village store buildings and talked about the films that have used them as backdrops, like Ethan Frome and The Spitfire Grill.

As for me, I was also thinking about Peacham history, "then" and now. I'm particularly pleased with the fresh interest locally in Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868), who lived in Peacham as a child and became an ardent abolitionist and legislator based in Pennsylvania. The recent film Lincoln gave him a memorable face and role, played by Tommy Lee Jones. Just as important to me are the postcards Dave and I recently acquired, one showing an earlier view down "South Main Street" from where we authors stood, and the other of the house labeled here "Thad[deus] Stevens Farm."* These old postcards were the "social media" of their time, half Facebook-ish with their images, half Twitter-esque with the limited space for a message. As I collect these, along with memories of a congenial community event, I feel like a human version of a hyperlink, myself.

Our future is rooted in our past; how lovely to savor the present, and look in both of those directions.

*Note from archivist Lynn Bonfield: "The Stevens house on the hill (seen from the village) was the one he bought for his mother—he never lived there.  He was raised in a house on the Peacham–Barnet border, up the hill from the West Barnet church."