“… a daily escape from a world of intolerable realities.”
Lucy Maude Montgomery Journals
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| L.M. Montgomery Museum, Bala, |
So writes our famous Canadian author in her journals about
Bala, Muskoka in regards to an adult novel she wrote during her summer stay
here called “The Blue Castle” which is set here in Muskoka. I write to you from
the roar of Bala Falls, a sound she loved to listen to according to her
journals. The Sunday morning church bells have just rung much as they would
have in 1922. A plaque commemorating her is outside the charming lakeside manse
called “Roselawn” where she stayed. The family took their meals in the house
across the street. This house was eventually purchased by Linda and Jack Hutton
who have since renovated and restored it. It is called the Lucy Maude Montgomery
Museum honouring this woman who is a national treasure. I was fortunate to
visit the museum at a quiet time and enjoyed a private two hour tour from Linda
Hutton who is extremely knowledgeable about Maude (she apparently did not like
to be called Lucy). There is an extensive and impressive collection of
memorabilia pertaining to Maude’s life and it is clear Linda Hutton is a
passionate and dedicated curator. What I was more interested in though was
finding out about Maude’s personal life, one we tend to associate as being
synonymous with that of her famous character Anne. In reality Maude had many
challenges that clearly greatly burdened her shining and bright spirit. Much
more is known of her since her journals have been published along with a
carefully constructed biography by Mary Rubio called “Lucy Maud Montgomery: A
Gift Of Wings.” Linda Hutton comments that we probably would not have had such
a collection of writings had Maude been happily married for it is clear that
her writing was a way for her to
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| Curator Linda Hutton With Vintage Fridge |
escape. She wrote of a life she would have
liked to have had, this much is clear. Part of the problem was a condition we
have only recently understood which is bipolar disorder. This condition gravely
affected her Calvinist Presbyterian husband. There were times when he could
barely function, his moods were very black, and at one point he was committed
to a sanatorium. Maude bore the costs through her writings and shouldered
extensive responsibilities for the family. At one point, her publisher Mr.
Page, told her he would not publish “Further Chronicles Of Avonlea”, copied the
book, then published it without her knowledge or permission. This was after she
had made him quite a wealthy man through her immediate and popular success with
earlier books including “Anne Of Green Gables”. As a result she took him to
court but it was many years before the case was resolved with minimal financial
compensation as the legal costs were so high. In addition, her children were
greatly affected by all of these circumstances and her eldest son, after many
unscrupulous acts of character, she eventually disinherited. My heart went out
to her for on the one hand she was remarkably successful at a time when it was
difficult for women in the literary arts
and yet on the other hand she was besieged by heart breaking and insistently
wearing travail. I purchased her complete and unexpurgated journal and it is
remarkable that as a younger unmarried woman, she purchased a camera and tripod
and set up a dark room. We have these photographs today as she pasted them into
her “grumble book” which she called her diaries. Apparently Maude called this
area a “fairy land”, I can see why, and her connection to Ontario is very
strong in addition to Prince Edward Island. I first read Anne Of Green Gables
when I was eight after my grandmother bought me the book when we went to visit
her house in Prince Edward Island. It is a comfort now to look forward to more
reading and from an adult perspective in the days ahead as I drive towards this
beautiful and famous island that also was her home.