This was a delightful read! As a massive Anne of Green gables fan growing up, when I saw the opportunity to read this book, I jumped at it! Shoutout to Book Club Girl for posting this title as part of their early reads program!

This story is about the beloved author Lucy Maud Montgomery who wrote Anne of Green Gables and introduced us to Anne with an E. I will admit that I knew little to nothing about Maud, but knew I loved her characters and stories! This book is a work of historical fiction, but as the author explains in the Author’s Note, she did extensive research to fill in the gaps.

We learn of Maud’s childhood and how she lived with her grandmother for most of her life. How her dear cousin, Frede, was her bosom friend and whose friendship I’m sure inspired Anne and Diana’s. Then we get to know Maud’s long time love Ewan, the minister to their small church, who she ended up marrying and having two boys with. It was quite insightful to get the background of such an imaginative mind! But with the beauty, there is a tragic element as well. Maud’s life was full of hard decisions, storms to weather, and times of having to be incredibly brave.

It really does go to show that you never know what someone is going through in life. Even in the midst of trials, Maud was able to create beautiful, meaningful stories that have impacted so many lives! To me, that is the beauty of books. In the middle of the pages, the author’s words touch so many hearts and minds!

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves Anne of Green Gables, or to anyone who enjoys learning more about how people have lived their lives. Thank you to the author, Book Club Girl, HarperCollins, William Morrow, and NetGalley for this copy of the book to read!

This book is a tad confusing as it bounces around. I had to look back a few times until I got the hang of how the story flowed. At first it was interesting and I found myself interested in where the story would go. I grew up on Anne of Green Gables, but knew nothing of the authors life. While this book is a work of fiction, much of it was based on Montgomery's actual life...and it became very depressing. To the point that I did not enjoy it. The writing was wonderful, but because the story was so depressing, especially the second half, I had a hard time with it. I came away feeling sad, and even had to set myself up to feel that way in order to pick up the book and continue reading--something I've never had to do before. For some I can see how this story would feel intimate and personal, but the depressing emotions were too much for me to enjoy it.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book was really well researched and written! The timeline skipping around was confusing at first, but The further I got the more I understood. The author did a great job in how she handled the mental illness both of Montgomery and her husband. I would definitely recommend this book to people who enjoy the Anne of Green Gables series and want to learn more about the life of L.M. Montgomery.

A novel of the author behind the most beloved Anne of Green Gables. A tribute to Lucy Maud Montgomery who struggles with a world that did not accept her while creating one of the most timeless characters in Anne. Maud's hidden challenges show her tenacity and the refuge imagination can offer to all of us. The author pays tribute to a women who wanted to give so much more but was constrained by what society would allow her (as a woman) to do. I was not expecting such a thought provoking novel. The author treats Maud with reverence and brings you along on a journey that while tragic is also triumphant. A fantastic look behind the scenes so to speak for fans of Anne of Green Gables.

It was so interesting to learn about the life of Lucy Maud Montgomery, much beloved author of the Anne of Green Gables series.

I am one of the probably few people who haven’t read the series, though I plan to. After reading this story I definitely want to get to know Anne, she is spunky and determined which I love in characters.

Many parts of this book were hard to read. The story Maud’s husband, Ewan, and his descent into illness, Maud’s battle with depression, and the amount of loss she faced.

It’s not often that books make me sad more than happy, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. A book that can make me feel, which this book definitely did, is a good book in my opinion. Logan Steiner was able to evoke strong emotion from me as I read this story. The ups and downs of Maud’s life, I felt it all. I am curious to see what the author writes about next.

Thank you to William Morrow for the copy of this book. All views are my honest opinion.

AFTER ANNE: A Novel of Lucy Maud Montgomery
Logan Steiner, Author
https://bit.ly/3OMY7qv
Women's Friction
In this compelling biography of how Anne of Green Gables came to be and on the the life of Maud, as she likes to be called. From the ups and downs of Maud’s life and marriage to a Reverend, to her tragic death.



This book has a little bit of everything that Maud wrote about. From kindred spirits to being in the depths of despair. With a bit of a shock, for me, at the end. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. I also recommend this book be read in print or ebook form to not have any confusion I felt with the audiobook.

Anne of Green Gables was a book I fell in love with as a child. Anne was an endearing character full of optimism, endless chatter and wit and had an extreme love of nature. However, I knew nothing about the author, Lucy Maud Montgomery.

Lucy's life was not like Anne's life and this story is a fictionalized account of her life based on her journals. Of course, we learn about Lucy's inspiration for her stories, but her actual life seemed to lack joy. Her marriage turned out to be unfulfilling and her children were in some ways a disappointment. Those she cared most about most deeply were taken from her too soon or were just not meant to be a part of her life.

Although, I found the book to be well-researched, I did struggle with the jumping of timelines and found it difficult to follow at times.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I think Logan Steiner is a very talented writer. However, the book did suffer slightly because it jumped around too much.

After Anne is a captivating and intricately crafted portrayal of a remarkable woman. The writing is both profound and poignant, evoking a range of emotions in the reader. Steiner's attention to detail and nuanced approach to character development makes for a truly immersive reading experience. After Anne is a masterful work of literature that is sure to leave a lasting impression on its audience.

I received this advance reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for a free review. What a fascinating story about an incredible woman in turn of the century Canada. Although I haven't read the Anne of Green Gables novels, I have seen the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's movies on Anne many times, and I truly enjoyed this incredible story.

I was concerned when I first received this ARC that the story could be a bit grim, but I'm glad I persevered and read it cover to cover. Some of the particularly interesting features for me included the way Anne is described as a fully formed character in our protagonist's mind, as well as the beauty of the island that inspires her writing. Anyone who enjoyed the Anne of Green Gables novels would undoubtedly enjoy reading the story about its creator. Excellent novel for historical fiction lovers!

Did Not Finish.

I loved Anne of Green Gables so I was really excited to be given this copy of After Anne as a #bookclubgirlearlyread.

But sadly, my interest waned quickly. There was a lot of dialogue from Anne of Green Gables sprinkled in, and I think that contributed to my mood. It almost felt like deja vu at times. Additionally, most of it felt like the meandering inner monologue of Maud’s mind, and I quickly got bored.

At the end of the day, I’m not a big enough Anne of Green Gables fan to continue on.

This fictionalized biography reveals the difficult relationships with the men in her life, her husband and oldest son. The author is very familiar with the books and expertly inserts quotes to enrich the text. For fans of the Anne of Green Gables series.

I will read anything about or by L.M. Montgomery. This novel was a good read about LMM’s life. I think the author stayed true to fact while massaging the story for creative purposes. She isn’t #afraid to tackle the more sensitive issue of Maud’s life.
It will be a hit for anyone who is an Anne fan.
The author has a good historical note and proffers a list of books for readers to find more information about Maud.

I am an Anne of Green Gables fan and was interested to read more about Anne’s creator, Lucy Maud Montgomery. This novel, while well researched, fell very flat to me. First it took me until about chapter 9 to figure out that the timeline was skipping around between days in 1906 and 1907. Later it skipped between 1919, 1941 and then back to 1907. It was all very disjointed and if you didn’t pay attention to the small note at the beginning of some chapters you wouldn’t realize it. Second it seemed to focus only on the hard, tragic aspects of Maud’s life—her trials with her husband’s mental illness, the loss of her cousin and her worry over her oldest son. Her success and her love for PEI was only minimally mentioned. This seemed an injustice to me.

Thanks to Netgalley and #bookclubgirlsearlyread for the advance copy of this novel.

Beautifully written, well-researched novel based on the real life of Lucy Maud Montgomery, the author of the famous Anne of Green Gables series. Written from Maud’s perspective, it shifts back and forth in time and shows her life with a focus on after the publication of Anne of Green Gables.. Her relationship with her grandmother who raised her and her close friendship with one of her female cousins are highlights of this novel for me, as is Maud’s desire to balance her wish to write more novels with her role as a Minister’s wife and mother. Mental health, societal norms, and grief are dealt with in this novel.

I would note that I found the pacing slow and the story sad and tragic but Maud was also resilient and very likeable. Fans of Maud will appreciate this look into her life. There are also many references to the character of Anne of Green Gables which were a nice addition - fans of the Anne series will also like this novel.

Thanks to Harper Collins Canada and Netgalley for this complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and #bookclubgirlearlyread for this ARC.

I have always been a big fan of Anne of Green Gables and this isn’t the first biography/historical fiction book I’ve read about Anne’s creator, LM Montgomery (Maud).

This book focuses on Maud’s life from her 33rd birthday on. It begins with her planning a special birthday weekend with her fiancé Ewan and her best friend/cousin Frede. The story moves ahead and is told with flashbacks to her birthday weekend throughout.

Maid had an unhappy childhood and ultimately a sad and depressing later adulthood. The story is not particularly uplifting and I didn’t really understand why the author chose to focus on this part of Maud’s life until I read her author’s notes.

Despite the sad content, the story is written with lovely lyrical prose. And the book is well-researched. Three

After Anne is the story of Maud, Lucy Maud Montgomery and her life around when writing Anne and "After Anne". I'm an AVID Anne fan- those books were staples of my childhood and even my adulthood. However, I never knew the story of the author, who created such inspirational beloved characters. I never knew the tragedy that embodied her life and the mystery surrounding her death. This book could be very triggering for people who are caregivers for people with mental illness, suicide, etc. There are split time narratives which was often hard to keep track of. The more joyous time narrative I wanted expanded upon more (the good times between Ewan and Maud). The weaving of the time narratives didn't quite work as well as I think was intended, but the creativity and voice was a definitely plus to this novel! I could hear Anne just as Maud could...and I could see glimpses of the books in Maud's story. Those nuggets were endearing and redemptive.
Thanks to #NetGalley and #William Morrow for the ARC.

This is a must-read for any Anne of Green Gables fan! Steiner does a wonderful job at weaving in Montgomery’s written words and her actual life events. It’s a heartbreaking tale but one that makes her writing even more poignant. How could someone who had so many personal troubles write such hopeful characters like Anne and Emily? Characters embedded in the hearts of millions who read about their escapades and are captivated by their charm. Characters that have endured over a century as generation upon generation of girls saw themselves in Anne’s inner turmoil and Emily’s writerly angst. If you love behind-the-scenes character studies of your favorite authors, this book is perfect. If you love Anne and the rest of Montgomery’s characters, you’ll be amazed at how her creativity shines even through a sheen of sadness. Don’t fear losing the lightness the characters bring to your life; this book will just enhance it as a contrast with Montgomery’s personal darkness. The book and Montgomery’s story will stay with me a long time.

Anne of Green Gables has charmed readers for many years. She charms her creator, Lucy Maud Montgomery, as well. Anne is her escape from the limited and lonely life she leads. With few diversions and few people to love, she finds moments of delight in Anne’s adventures and opinions. Maud loses her mother and is left by her father with a strict grandmother who insists marriage is the only answer. Her husband suffers from mental illness. Her beloved friend dies young. Once Anne grows out of her life, she finds it difficult to fill the emptiness. She loves her two sons, but is this enough? Logan Steiner through flashbacks and flash forwards shares Maud’s loss and sadness. Through this perspective we find Maud a deeply troubled and rarely happy character. She brings fame and tourism to her native island where hope exists for all; unfortunately, she seems to have trouble finding it for herself.

WOW!

This was not the book I expected at all.

It's a bit depressing and heavy to read at times, but I'm still glad I read it. I think most lovers of Anne of Green Gables should read this book, however, be prepared for it to leave you feeling a bit down and depressed.

This is a story that needed to be brought to light. It really highlighted to me how different Lucy's life could have been if she hadn't married and also if she would have let go of her commitment to her marriage.

What a juxtaposition for such a sad woman to have brought us such happy tales.

4.5 stars