Emily of New Moon by L.M Montgomery | a raving book review

Helloooo, all you wonderful bookworms and writerses!! ^^ How are y’all doing? I have been buried deep within the trenches of a half-completed first draft (AAAAH!), a ginormous pile of books (I should not have signed up for this many ARCs), Pinterest boards, and a good deal of letters waiting to be sent out. So you could say it’s been chaotic here. XD

Today, however, I emerge from said trenches of first drafting, piles of books, Pinterest boards, and letters to share with y’all a book that I recently read and fell in love with! And a book that I duly think needs more readers. Hence this book review. In which I shall attempt to ensnare more Emily Byrd Starr fans.

And yes, that’s right, folks!! This book is none other than the delightful Emily of New Moon by L.M Montgomery!

This shall no doubt be a rather cobble-squabble* review. It shall involve a good deal of ranting, raving, and also tea. Oh yes, and also, after reading this book, you may have a wish to write poetry.

So. Shall we begin?

From the author of Anne of Green Gables comes a trilogy with another spirited heroine who will beguile readers of all ages.

Emily Starr has never known what it is to be unloved. But when her father dies, she is left in the care of her mother’s family. Emily is a stranger to the proud Murrays, none of whom think they can cope with such a heartbroken, headstrong girl. They decide to draw lots for her, and Emily is sent to live at New Moon with stern Aunt Elizabeth, the head of the clan. Kind Aunt Laura and friendly, eccentric Cousin Jimmy also live at New Moon, though, so she is not without hope.

Emily is enchanted by New Moon, but cannot believe she will ever belong there. With her lively imagination and dreams of being a famous writer, she seems to have a talent for scandalising her family. Before long, though, she has made firm friends: Ilse, a tomboy with a blazing temper, Teddy, an aspiring artist, and Perry, the ambitious houseboy. She brings so much life to New Moon, perhaps one day even Aunt Elizabeth will consider herself lucky to have ‘won’ Emily.

I love this novel so much!!! Emily is just such a brilliant heroine — she is determined, she is imaginative, she’s a writer, and she feels so very much like a real person you can get to know and befriend!! She gets into her fair share of scrapes but also a great deal of triumphs, and I love how you get to follow her throughout her life all through the series!!! And also her name, folks, her name!

Emily Byrd Starr.

Also, I think “Byrd” is such a lovely way to spell “Bird” for some reason.

She is such an imaginative person as well! A bit like Anne Shirley, methinks. And I love the way she sees the world, how she knows the Wind Woman, and also how she sometimes sees The Flash. And it is very hard to explain without you reading the book, and so here’s a little snippet:

“It had always seemed to Emily, ever since she could remember, that she was very, very near to a world of wonderful beauty. Between it and herself hung only a thin curtain; she could never draw the curtain aside– but sometimes, just for a moment, a wind fluttered it and then it was as if she caught a glimpse of the enchanting realm beyond– only a glimpse– and heard a note of unearthly music.” -Emily of New Moon

The way the book captures the whimsy and beauty of the world is just so incredible, and reading this book really does feel like a hug on a rainy day!! I also loved all of the friends that Emily met throughout the book, especially Ilse! Ilse is very fiery, I would say, with the way she and Emily often quarrel, but they always end up forgiving each other at the end of it. And Teddyyyy!!!!! He is a splendid character (and also an artist!!!). I cannot say I have much love for Mrs. Kent though.

Aunt Elizabeth and Aunt Laura are the two sisters who take in Emily and the two of them are very different from each other. Aunt Elizabeth is stern and strict, but though I didn’t love her as much in the first half of the book, I love how much character the story gives her and I started to like her a great deal more in the later half! (Also, where would the story be without Aunt Elizabeth, really?) I love Aunt Laura as well!!! I wish she had more presence in book two, but alas. She’s very much the kinder, softer aunt, and I love her!!

AND COUSIN JIMMY!!!!!

His poetry!! Boiling the pigs’ potatoes in fall!

He’s probably one of my favorite characters in the novel. He writes poetry in his head and is always so nice and encouraging to Emily!!

I also love how, throughout the story, you also get to see snippets of Emily’s writing! (Especially what she writes in her Jimmy-book and also her letters to her father.) And you can also see all of the spelling and grammatical errors which are included in her writing!

“…Cousin Jimmy gave me a whole dollar on the sly last week. I wish he had not given me so much. It worrys me. It is an awful responsibility. It will be so diffikult to spend it wisely also without Aunt Elizabeth finding out about it. I hope I shall never have a million dollars. I am sure it would crush me utterly.”

There are less spelling and grammatical errors as the series goes on (though a good deal more italics in the beginning of book two! Mr. Carpenter does have a point about the italics, Emily. Though I’m fairly certain Emily with italics is very much me with em dashes. XD), but I just love reading Emily’s writing and how much character it gives to her.

I also quite like Mr. Carpenter! He is most hard on Emily, but not in a bad way, I think, and I adore the scene towards the end of the book!!! “No good! Didn’t I tell you there were ten good lines [out of all the poetry she’d shown him]? Jade, for ten righteous men Sodom had been spared.” And there’s so much more in that scene that I wish to share, but we can’t have spoilers floating around this blog now, can we? 😉

Oh yes, and we cannot forget Father Cassidy. My favorite line of his is when after Emily points out he has a cat, he says, “Wrong. A cat has me.” It is true though. XD

The series is written a lot like Anne of Green Gables (or any other classic book, really) as it follows Emily throughout her life and through all of her sorrows and triumphs, and L.M Montgomery’s writing style is really so vivid and makes you feel things. (Especially the beauty of nature!)

Book two is just as good, following Emily as she goes to high school and pursues her literary ambitions! (And Aunt Ruth!! She’s in book two and adds a great deal to the story.) I also think that having the main character of the series be a writer is just so encouraging to me as a writer myself! I always say that I wish there were more writers in books, but there actually are a few that I know of, especially in classic literature, and Emily is one of the best ones! She crawls out of bed in the middle of night (when it’s freezing too!) to write stories that spring up on her, she imagines and writes down everything in her Jimmy-book, and she also gets a bazillion rejections from magazines — all of which I’m sure we writers can relate to. XD

Especially the having to crawl out of bed when it’s cold to jot down story ideas…

:/

I do love story ideas. Having to leave my warm, cozy bed when I’m wretchedly sleep-deprived? Not so much.

And there is so much brilliant lore and backstory in this novel (the Murray look!!!) that I can’t possibly explain in a review so you’ll just have to read the book yourself.

Overall, this is just a fantastic book for young readers, especially those who are already fans of Anne of Green Gables by the same author!! (Especially fellow writers as well!!!) Five out of five stars!! I would most definitely recommend!

Do let me know down in the comments if you’ve read this book or if you are going to read it! I love hearing from y’all! (And it is, of course, always my hope to ensnare more Emily Byrd Starr fans. ;D)

And before I leave y’all, have a writerly quote!

“We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.” -Ernest Hemingway

Till next time and wishing y’all a splendid week!

-Isabelle

P.S. I was recently interviewed by Mary Lanni over on her YouTube channel and Spotify podcast! :)) So if you want to hear me ramble on about the Enchantria series, writing middle-grade, and self doubt (among other things) you can now check it out here! (If the embed doesn’t work, just click the link in the previous sentence.)

Or on Spotify if you’d prefer: