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My Opinions on Book Tropes – Part 2

Alright let’s get right into this!

Grumpy x Sunshine

I think this is a very great trope but I will admit there is a way this is done right and a way it’s done wrong. If it’s used as someone leeching the other’s spirit, or being toxically positive, then that’s when the relationship is unhealthy and I would ‘nope’ out of a book. Also I don’t like seeing the sunshiney character being babied or being patronized, treated like they’re inferior or inadequate because of their optimism.

The way it’s done right is when the grumpy has a tough exterior but a soft and caring and charismatic interior, and the sunshiney one has more value as a character, and is more defined and has more depth than just being a happy-go-lucky character. Of course this is one way it can be done right and I’m sure there are many more, but overall I’d give this trope a 7/10. Maybe an 8.

Enemies to Lovers

There’s a big divide on the internet about Enemies to Lovers versus Friends to Lovers, and I am definitely on the Enemies to Lovers side.

I love the idea of meeting someone new, starting off maybe on the wrong foot, and then figuring out where you stand with each other (pun sort of intended?) and making things up to each other in the end, figuring out everyone’s true selves despite the bad first start, and the drama and tension that comes with Enemies to Lovers is so perfect and intriguing!

This is a 10/10 trope, but there is a problem with it when it condones toxic behaviour, or is controlling, or any other bad behaviour is glorified with the label of “Enemies To Lovers”. Generally, though, awesome trope.

Right Person, Wrong Time

I’ll be completely honest, I haven’t read very many books with this, or really come into contact with this trope much, but I love the idea, but not in the moment, I love when it comes back to haunt the characters later. Say, they bump into their old love when they’re older, in different stages of life, etc.

I recently watched “Almost, Maine”, a play by my local theatre, and it was mostly made of small romantic vignettes, and it was so cute! This one scene that I think featured this trope was when there was this one woman and she was proposed to when she was younger, and then she went out into the world without answering, and then she came back years later to accept the proposal, and then the man she loved was already married to another woman, it was so cute and so sad.

9/10 trope only because of “Almost, Maine”, you guys did amazing and I have a new love for the trope.

Friends to Lovers

As mentioned before, I am on the Enemies to Lovers side of this debate. However, I can appreciate the Friend to Lovers trope, with the pining, and the wondering “where is the line, how do I be careful so as not to ruin the relationship, do they feel the same”, etc.

However since the relationship of friends is already established, it brings it a couple points down. I like when you have to establish the relationship throughout the book.

I’ve read some Friends to Lovers books and they were really good, but it’s not my trope of choice to write or read.

6/10 trope, very good, I get the appeal, but not my vibe.

Slow Burn

Who doesn’t like a slow burn? Gotta be careful that it’s not too slow or it gets boring, there needs to be PROGRESS over the course of the book. I haven’t read a very good slow burn in a long time but I love this trope, and while I don’t write it very much, I think it definitely works to build tension.

8.5/10 trope.

Age Gap

…no. Sorry.

0/10.

Tragic Past

Yes. Very much so yes. Not so much that I love the trauma that these characters endure but I love how it makes me empathise and it’s very effective as a trope. I use it a lot, I read a lot of authors who use this trope, and it’s very much used in fantasy or in sci-fi and it’s beautiful.

9.5/10 trope because I don’t like when people hurt characters. Me as a writer? Sure, I’ll give my characters a tragic past. Me as a reader? Don’t hurt that character or I will come for your bones (this is a joke, for legal reasons).

We’re done! Part 3 to come, I just don’t know when.

Do you agree with my opinions? Disagree? Let me know in the comments!

Subscribe so you can see future posts as they come out!

Life is a story. How will you write yours?

Until next time,

Catherine Khaperska

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My Opinions On Book Tropes – Part 1

If you’ve been on the book-ternet for long enough, you’ll hear ‘tropes’ being discussed a lot. If you don’t know what a trope is, essentially it’s a literary device (such as figure of speech, character dynamic, etc) that’s used so much that it becomes recognizable.

This is a post I’ve been wanting to make for a while because I think it’s going to be both really fun and a tad bit controversial. Let’s begin, shall we?

“I Hate Everyone But You”

Starting off strong! This trope is often featured in fantasy, with the main character’s love interest having a mean disposition and having a hard time getting attached to people, but finally falling for the main character, while at the same time still despising everybody else.

I can see why this is appealing. The main character is now someone even more special, and because this is often tied to moments of vulnerability when the love interest explains why they’re always so mean/rude, the emotional aspect of this is very obvious.

For me, this trope only works if written well. I think there are things that can really bog down this trope and make it not work as much, like for example if the love interest says/does something really bad and the main character forgives way too fast just so that the romance can move forward.

All in all, this trope is a solid 5/10 because it’s exactly half and half. I don’t hate it, but it’s not my favourite, and I’m pretty picky considering this trope.

Academic Rivals

I LOVE this trope. This is the perfect set up for banter, competition, tension (romantic or not), and a story that keeps you on your toes as well as keeping the characters on theirs. Works great with really any genre: sci-fi, fantasy, realistic fiction, dystopia, romance, you name it!

It also more-or-less requires there to be some sort of academia vibes, whether it be in a historical period, a science lab, a library, or anything else of that sort.

I don’t think I can say much more. I love this trope to no end. 10/10.

Forbidden Love

Ah yes, the classic Romeo-and-Juliet situation where they’re in love but there’s something stopping them from being together. This is a beautiful trope. The determination, the tension, the secrecy, the way it makes the reader feel smart because they know something that some of the characters don’t… it’s a beautifully crafted trope that tugs at the heartstrings.

This one also works in almost any genre, which is great!

I love this trope because it brings about slow-burn romance and the burning question throughout that is ‘Will they end up together?’.

This is a beautiful trope, and while it’s not my ultimate favourite, it’s a great one. 8/10.

First Love

I like this trope. It’s the trope where one character is falling in love with someone for the first time, and they have to navigate the feelings and troubles associated with that.

I think the intrigue of it comes with the feelings of getting to experience new feelings that you haven’t before, and explore a new side of yourself, which for a teenager/young adult would be a very interesting topic to read about.

I think it’s a great trope but it doesn’t hold a special place in my heart. I’d give it a 6.5/10.

Miscommunication

I hate this trope with a burning passion.

I know it adds tension. I know it causes conflict. But it seems like the ‘easy way out’, and it can be avoided SO EASILY just by talking about it. Maybe the ‘talking about it’ includes the main character admitting they were eavesdropping, and they don’t want to admit it because it’ll make things worse. But still, at least there won’t be any bottling up of negativity ruining relationships.

Basically the miscommunication trope is just a bunch of easily avoided problems haphazardly thrown in to make conflict that did not need to be there.

0/10.

Love At First Sight

In all honesty, this trope feels unrealistic.

I get having a crush at first sight (‘oh, I just saw this person and I think they’re really cute/hot/beautiful, etc) but I think that true love at first sight doesn’t exist and more often than not does not work out for the long run.

I do love romance, but I prefer a little bit of believability when it comes to relationships, and it doesn’t even matter the genre I’m in.

It’s a good start, but I don’t think it can sustain a whole book.

I’ll give it a 5/10.

Childhood Friends to Lovers

This one is a hit or miss for me. I like reading romance when there’s a stage of ‘getting to know one another’ and if the two characters have been childhood friends, never separated and know everything about each other, then one falls in love with the other, that stage is missing. The feelings and conflict is more about ‘what if they don’t like me and the friendship is ruined’ and for me that doesn’t pack as much of a punch for me.

But for example, if they’ve been friends when they were children, then grew up and went their own way before bumping into each other again… THAT just hits different.

So while this is a 50/50 hit-or-miss trope for me, I’m ranking it pretty high since the V2 of this trope is such a beautiful chef’s-kiss type trope. 7/10.

And there we have it for our Part 1 of my opinions on book tropes! I will have part 2 sometime soon. Thanks for reading, and if you’ve gotten this far, don’t forget to leave a like and comment down below what your opinions are! Do you agree? Disagree?

Do you agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments!

Subscribe so you can see future posts as they come out!

Life is a story. How will you write yours?

Until next time,

Catherine Khaperska

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Rating and Ranking: April and May

Here we go! I’ve been super busy (and chances are I’ll be busy again with exam season coming up) but here are my reads for April and May!

The Poetry of Robert Frost – Robert Frost

I got a huge vintage copy of this at the thrift store and was super excited to get into it! This is my first full poetry book I’ve ever read and I really enjoyed it! When I got to read the poems that I recognized from previous classes or any other place, it was a quick wave of nostalgia that felt good. I also liked that a lot of the poems talked about nature and all its aspects, the good and the bad.

I will rate this a four out of five stars for the nostalgia and simplicity and vibes of it.

The Atlas Six – Olivie Blake (The Atlas, #1)

I really liked this book! I’ve been wanting to read it for quite a while and I’d heard great things about it too. I heard it gave off dark academia vibes and was very immersive, which I have to say it did! But for me, the plot didn’t go as fast as I thought it would and it had just a smidge too much philosophy in it. Don’t get me wrong, philosophical books are great in their own respects, but I felt like I wasn’t expecting it to be as philosophical as it was.

The story is basically about how the top six most powerful mages (or medians, as they’re called) are brought to the Alexandrian Society to study and become caretakers of all the ancient knowledge stored within the Alexandrian Society, recruited and working alongside a mysterious man named Atlas Blakely.

The six initiates are Libby Rhodes and Nico de Varona (physicists that can control the natural elements of the world), Tristan Caine (who can see through illusions and see the world in all its real glory), Parisa Kamali (a telepath), Callum Nova (a manipulative empath), and Reina Mori (a naturalist who can understand the language of plants).

As they form alliances and get used to life in the Alexandrian Society, they learn that at the end of initiation, one of them will end up dead: eliminated by the other five initiates.

The characters are all incredibly well thought out, and I will definitely continue the series with The Atlas Paradox. My personal favourite is Parisa (she’s a powerful and confident woman who doesn’t have to sacrifice any femininity!). I give this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Stone Blind – Natalie Haynes

Everyone knows the Medusa story: that she was a beautiful woman, sexually assaulted by Poseidon in Athena’s temple, and got turned into a monster for it with snakes for hair and a gaze that turns anyone who looks at her to stone. Then she is killed by the hero Perseus, who takes her head and uses it to do a bunch of things (save towns, kill evil people, etc). Out of her stomach comes Chrysaor, a warrior of gold, and Pegasus, the first winged horse.

There are many different interpretations of this myth, but this book takes the myth and sheds new light on it, a different perspective if you will. I really enjoyed this book. Immersive and beautiful, and even if I know the story and most of the Greek myths like the back of my hand, I still followed along with the story without feeling bored in the sense of ‘oh, I know what’s coming next’.

I will give this book a five out of five stars. An absolute masterpiece.

Iron Heart – Nina Varela (Crier’s War, #2)

Ayla and Lady Crier are back and sweeter than ever!

Iron Heart follows them both again as they work together to take down Scyre Kinok and his followers. Apparently, the Scyre has given his Automa followers a new substance called Nightshade (instead of the heartstone that they normally need for survival) but it turns out to be rapidly addictive and can turn even the sweetest and most harmless of Automa into savage killing machines.

Crier runs away from her arranged wedding to the Scyre in order to find Ayla, who is now working with Queen Junn (an enemy ruler to Lady Crier’s father, the sovereign of Rabu) to take down the Scyre and those of his followers addicted to Nightshade, terrorizing and killing any who get in their way.

There are epic battles, soft romantic scenes, pining, friendship, teamwork, and again, lovely world-building without infodumping. I love this series, and I’m sad it’s over but I’m so glad I had the opportunity to read it.

Five out of five. I think that’s obvious by now.

Mirror Girls – Kelly McWilliams

Mirror Girls is a novel set in 1953 at the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement in America. Two sisters, Magnolia and Charlene (who goes by Charlie) are separated at birth after their parents are killed for being of two different races. Magnolia is white-passing and is adopted by a rich white family, the Heathwoods, who live in a small town in the American South called Eureka. Charlie, on the other hand, is much darker-skinned and she is raised by her grandmother in Harlem, New York.

The story starts when Charlie’s Nana has to go back to Eureka so she can die in her hometown. There, Charlie learns of her sister, and around the same time, Magnolia learns of hers. Such brings about a curse on the two of them. Technically the curse started when they were originally separated, but now they’re starting to feel the effects of it. Magnolia’s reflection in the mirror disappears, and she can’t eat anything. She has to choose a side: pass for white her whole life, or live as a Black woman with her sister, and give up the life of luxury she’s been living with the Heathwoods her whole life.

I loved this book. It was very real, and I normally don’t read the acknowledgements section of a book, but something compelled me to do so when I finished this book. Turns out the author did a lot of research before writing this book, and it definitely showed.

I think it’s really important to read books about experiences you might not be familiar with and to learn about our world’s history even if it’s not kind in the slightest, because it can help us understand each other and why things are the way they are in the current world.

I give this book also 5/5 stars, and I truly recommend it to absolutely everyone, whether you’re a fan of historical fiction/fantasy or not.

Alright now to round up our final ratings:

  1. Stone Blind (Natalie Haynes), Iron Heart (Nina Varela), Mirror Girls (Kelly McWilliams) – 5/5 stars!
  2. The Atlas Six (Olivie Blake) – 4.5/5 stars!
  3. The Poetry of Robert Frost (Robert Frost) – 4/5 stars!

Do you agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments!

Subscribe so you can see future posts as they come out!

Life is a story. How will you write yours?

Until next time,

Catherine Khaperska

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To Rio and Beyond: Gymnast Memoirs

It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Exam season took up so much of my time… but nevertheless, I’m back!

I’ve been following the sport of gymnastics for a long time. I started doing the sport when I was seven but didn’t watch it until later. When I was younger I would watch the 2012 Olympic finals recorded on YouTube. As I got older, I learned more and more about the sport. I watched the Rio 2016 Olympics live, and I loved it, getting to know all the names of famous gymnasts, figuring out who my favourites were, having fun listening to floor music, and lots more. 

Now, at 15, I decided to read two memoirs from American gymnasts that took to the international stage and emerged victorious. Today I will be talking about two gymnast’s memoirs: Simone Biles’ Courage To Soar and Lauren “Laurie” Hernandez’ I Got This. 

Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, A Life in Balance (Simone Biles)

Anyone in gymnastics has heard of Simone. She is truly the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time), with so many difficult eponymous skills under her belt. Eponymous means that the skill was named after her (for example: The Biles). A skill gets named after a gymnast if the gymnast is the first one to compete said skill in international competition. 

I got the pleasure to read about her experience growing up, going to the gym, and learning with her coaches before she turned to elite gymnastics. 

Of course being an elite gymnast isn’t easy, and there is a lot of mental pressure when you’re competing, whether on a national or international stage. 

Simone grew up in Spring, Texas with her grandparents, and is of Belizean descent. Her parents were alcoholics and drug addicts, and couldn’t care for her or her siblings. She had a younger sister Adria, two older brothers named Ron and Adam, and an older sister Ashley. After bouncing between foster homes for a few years, she and her siblings were eventually adopted by their grandparents, Ron and Nellie Biles. 

But she found a love for gymnastics and continued with it ever since, leading her eventually to be the GOAT that she is now. 

She was in many competitions, from the 2013 Worlds all the way until the 2021 Olympics, however the memoir ends after the Rio 2016 Olympics, or shortly after. The mental pressure on a gymnast dubbed the GOAT is incredible, and hard to imagine. But I digress. 

Simone talks a lot about her setbacks as she was starting out – missing out on a Worlds team spot, not getting onto podiums, etc – but she also talks about her determination to get to the Olympics after that. You can really feel her excitement and pride when she makes the Olympic team as well as when she is doing her medal-winning routines. 

Simone has won a medal in almost every event, in every competition that year and many years since. She is the 2016 Team, All-Around, Floor, and Vault Gold medalist, Beam Bronze medallist. She is the most medalled gymnast of all time. 

After the Olympics she was on Dancing With The Stars, finishing fourth. 

It’s about here where the memoir ends, but since 2016, she came back to gymnastics for the 2017 Worlds and has continued with the sport ever since. After the 2021 Olympics where she withdrew from almost all finals except for the beam final due to mental health issues and injury, and since then she has become a strong advocate for mental health. 

I Got This: To Gold And Beyond (Laurie Hernandez)

Laurie, on the other hand, grew up in New Jersey, with her three older siblings, and lived with both her parents. She had a pretty normal childhood, and started gymnastics after ditching ballet at the age of five. 

She is of Puerto Rican descent and is the second US-born Latina to make it to the international stage on the US women’s gymnastics team. 

She suffered some injuries throughout her professional career, but nonetheless continued to improve her skills until she finally made it to the Olympic Team. She and Simone, as well as Alexandra “Aly” Raisman, Gabrielle “Gabby” Douglas, and Madison “Madi” Kocian won gold in Rio 2016 in the Team Final, but Laurie also won silver on beam. Her very expressive performance and facial expressions got her the nickname of the ‘Human Emoji’ that year. 

Laurie was also on Dancing with the Stars after the Olympics, but came back to training in 2019 before competing at the Winter Cup in 2021. 

Laurie is now retired as of June 6th, 2021, but is sometimes a commentator for some American or international competitions.

Similarities and other thoughts

One thing that I found really cool about reading both of these memoirs is that their stories overlap, specifically when Laurie and Simone are talking about the Rio 2016 Olympics. 

They were together at the same time and place the majority of the time, but they also had different voices and perspectives, which was pretty clearly shown in each of their respective memoirs. 

I definitely recommend this, it’s very inspirational for whoever you are, in whatever stage of life. Whatever goals you have, if you need to push through adversity of any kind, then these are must-reads. If necessary, look up the trigger warnings, but none of the memoirs are graphic in any way. 

They also use a lot of gymnastics terminology, but there is typically an explanation of what the term means, or a gymnastics glossary in the end. 

I will leave you, lovely readers, with this final thought. Like Simone and Laurie tell us, even if you have responsibilities and a career that depends on you, your mental and physical health are more important than that. Take breaks, take care of yourself. 

Thanks for reading!

Do you follow any sports? Do you read memoirs? Do any of these memoirs sound interesting to you? Let me know in the comments below, and subscribe (if you feel so inclined!)

Life is a story. How will you write yours?

Until next time,

Catherine Khaperska 

P.S. If you’ve read this far, thanks! A big, big surprise is coming in the next few weeks, and I can’t wait for you all to learn about it!

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The Thing About Fanfiction

If you’ve ever been around the book-ternet, or if you are a die-hard fan of anything, chances are you’ve heard the word ‘fandom’. And in a fandom, there is likely to be fan-made content. Today we will be tackling a rather controversial subject: fanfiction.

Fanfiction can get a bad reputation sometimes. People can write some really nasty stuff, or some really graphic stuff, or some explicit stuff, and it’s 100% understandable if that’s why you choose to stay away from it. 

But there is definitely an appeal to writing and/or reading it. 

So, why is there such an appeal? There are three main topics I’m going to be discussing. First, the lack of fear of being ‘unoriginal’, secondly, the intrigue in continuing or adding to a story or a series of stories in your own words, and thirdly, the creative liberties associated with fanfic.

A lot of authors struggle with wanting to be ‘original’ and wanting to put their own unique twist on their stories that they choose to tell. 

The good thing about fanfiction is that it allows you to let go of that fear. 

On one hand, it does that because most of the base characters, base setting, base plot is already there. So writing fanfiction about these characters and places that people have already invented by default makes it unoriginal. And by writing and labelling it as fanfiction, everyone understands that while you may have written the words, the inspiration and names of things, and everything along those lines is from somewhere else.

On the other hand, people love to talk about specific tropes, or specific stylistic devices and preferences that are used, both in fanfic and in other forms of media. Some examples of this can be hurt-comfort, in which one character is hurt either physically or emotionally, and another character is comforting them in one way or another. Another example could be an AU or Alternate Universe, in which two or more characters are in a setting that isn’t from the original story, such as fantasy characters in a high school.

People like tropes because of many reasons, but one of the main reasons is because of the emotion it can make you feel. People who read fanfiction have already been attached to these characters and stories, and they want to see them in other situations, and read more stories with them. 

These tropes have come into being and are recognizable because these people are writing more and more stories with these different events and things happening, and people enjoy them. So if you want to use a lot of tropes and are worrying if it’s ‘unoriginal’ … well, they’re tropes for a reason. People read things with these tropes in them for a reason. 

Now onto my second point, which I touched on a little bit above, but it’s the fact that people who are attached to characters, where their stories may have ended, or maybe there’s a lot of time between books/movies, etc, people want to follow more stories with these characters. Live in the world that their favourite author has created. They want to go on emotional journeys with them for the first time again. They want the feeling that they had the first time they read the book and met the characters and their struggles. 

But this time, fanfiction goes more in-depth and allows you to experience that which the authors have not yet written about. 

My final point is that fanfiction isn’t limited to canon. Canon refers to things that the author/creator has explicitly stated are true in a fictional reality. For example, in the Star Wars universe, it is canon that Luke Skywalker comes from the desert planet of Tatooine. 

But with fanfiction, you have the privilege to change, or add to, the story in any way you want. You can make Luke a regular high school student in California, or you can make Darth Vader turn good before the end. You can make anyone fall in love in any way you want. Add new planets, new aliens. And these are just some of the many, many possibilities that you can write about. 

People who are unsatisfied with certain events, or didn’t like how the book/movie/show ended, or who wanted to see specific characters together, they have the freedom to change it (maybe not the original version but through the fanfiction they write, there’s the possibility of for a brief moment having the story turn out the way you want it to.

So there we have it! My thoughts of why fanfiction is so appealing and what makes it so interesting as a concept or as a form of media. 

Do you read or write fanfiction? Do you agree or disagree with my points? Are there reasons that I may have missed? Let me know in the comments below, and subscribe (if you feel so inclined!)

Life is a story. How will you write yours?

Until next time,

Catherine Khaperska 

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Author Highlight! Lucy Maud Montgomery

Lucy Maud Montgomery is one of the most famous Canadian writers of all time. She’s written numerous books about life on Prince Edward Island, specifically Cavendish, on PEI’s lovely North Shore. Today I will share her story.

Lucy Maud Montgomery was born on November 30th, 1874, to Hugh Montgomery and Clara Macneill, in Prince Edward Island. Her mother died when she was very young, and she ended up living with her grandparents. Her father left and moved to the prairies, where he remarried and made a new life for himself.

Young Lucy found herself reading and writing a lot. Living with her grandparents was hard, but she visited Green Gables a lot. If this name sounds familiar, that’s because it’s this house that inspired the location for her most famous novel, Anne of Green Gables. Green Gables was the house that Lucy’s cousins lived in. 

From 1890 to 1891, Lucy Maud Montgomery went to Saskatchewan to visit her father and his wife, but became homesick for PEI, and so she returned to Cavendish. However it was not all useless, she published ‘On Cape LaForce’ in a PEI newspaper while she was in Saskatchewan. 

After grade school, she would go on to get a teacher’s licence in 1894 at the Prince of Wales college, graduating with honours. She taught at multiple schools over the course of her life before going to mainland Nova Scotia to study English Literature at Dalhousie University, being one of few women who went to seek higher education (granted, this was the 1890s). However in 1898 she returned to Cavendish after her grandfather’s death to take care of her grandmother.

At this time she was writing a lot of short stories and poetry, and managed to generate a pretty good income, earning 500 dollars from her writing by 1903. This doesn’t seem like a lot of money in the modern day, but in 1903 this was a very good, considerable chunk of cash. 

In 1905 she wrote Anne of Green Gables and sent it to numerous publishers, however was rejected by all of them. Two years later, in 1907, she decided to rewrite Anne of Green Gables and send it out again. It was finally published in 1908. 

To use modern terms, it went viral. Anne of Green Gables became an instant hit. 

Lucy had two romances before getting married. The first being to her third cousin (a very unhappy engagement that was) and the second being a short but intense romance between her and a man named Herman Leard. After her grandmother’s death in March 1911, Lucy Maud Montgomery was married to Reverend Ewan MacDonald in July 1911, after a secret engagement that lasted since 1906. 

Lucy and her husband had three kids, including one that was stillborn. The first World War, along with her husband’s declining mental health and the death of her sons and cousin/closest friend Frede Campbell, took a great toll on her. During this time, she kept many journals and kept writing poetry and short stories. 

She moved to Ontario with her family in 1926 and when she died on April 24, 1942, she was buried in her beloved home province of PEI. The cemetery in which she is buried exists to this day in Cavendish, PEI.

(Sources: https://lmmontgomery.ca/about/lmm/her-life) 

Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote much more than just Anne of Green Gables. She’s had numerous short stories and poems published in many different places, as well as having written a lot of novels. 

Anne’s life story is written in eight books. 

In terms of story chronology: 

Anne of Green Gables (1908) 

Anne of Avonlea (1909)  

Anne of the Island (1915) 

Anne of Windy Poplars (1936) 

Anne’s House of Dreams (1917) 

Anne of Ingleside (1939) 

Rainbow Valley (1919) 

Rilla of Ingleside (1921)

Rainbow Valley and Rilla of Ingleside follow the story of Anne’s children rather than herself, but they are still memorable books that have charmed the hearts of millions all over the world. I remember being about ten or so years old and willing to give up almost a year of allowance money to buy the entire series. Worth every penny. 

Anne’s story isn’t the only one Lucy Maud has written. 

The Emily trilogy is made up of Emily of New Moon (1923), Emily Climbs (1925), and Emily’s Quest (1927). It’s about a girl named Emily Starr who goes to live with her aunts and cousin after she is left an orphan. 

As well, L. M. Montgomery has a lot of stand-alone novels. Some have sequels, some don’t. Some of her more famous works involve: 

The Blue Castle (1926) 

The Story Girl (1911) 

A Tangled Web (1931) 

Jane of Lantern Hill (1937)

Pat of Silver Bush (1933)/Mistress Pat (1935)

The Golden Road (1913) 

Kilmeny of the Orchard (1910)

Magic for Marigold (1929)

And much, much more. 

Lucy Maud Montgomery has gotten so much recognition that her childhood home and inspiration for her debut novel has become National Historic Sites. 

The Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island has been visited by many people from all across the world – me included. There are two trails (Haunted Wood and Lovers Lane) that are featured in the Anne series many times. You can enter the actual Green Gables house that has now been turned into a museum, and contains items that would have been used in the time period that Anne of Green Gables takes place in, such as slates, wood stoves, porcelain crockery (plates and bowls, etc), and dresses of the ‘latest fashions’ of the time. 

Recently they have added an interactive display in the Visitors Centre that shows Lucy’s story as well. The gift shop has all sorts of lovely Anne merchandise, and you can buy the iconic raspberry cordial in shops all over PEI. 

As well, the birthplace of Lucy Maud Montgomery in New London, PEI has been turned into a historic site. It’s not as popular as Green Gables is, but it still goes to show just how important and influential of a person Lucy Maud was. 

As I’ve said before, Lucy Maud Montgomery is one of the most influential and well-known Canadian classical authors. She has a very lyrical, poetic style of writing and puts a bit of herself and her experiences in every story. Her vivid imagination shines through her works and she has immortalised the beautiful Prince Edward Island for decades and generations to come. 

I hope her story inspires you as it did to me and many others across the world. 

Thanks for reading! Subscribe so you can see future posts as they come out, and leave a comment and tell me if you’ve read the books, visited the Historic Sites, or plan to do either (if you feel so inclined!).

Life is a story. How will you write yours?

Until next time,

Catherine Khaperska