Cover Image: Imagining Anne

Imagining Anne

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

L.M. Montgomery's scrapbooks fascinate me. This is a neat collection for any fan. It would be a lot more relaxing to have the physical book than a digital format, but I enjoyed it.

Was this review helpful?

I love all things Anne Shirley and this book, featuring pages from L.M. Montgomery's scrapbooks, was no exception.

Was this review helpful?

I adored the Anne books when I was young and have also enjoyed rereading them as an adult.  Every time a new book about L.M. Montgomery becomes available I want to spend time with it and this title is no exception.


Readers will get to know the young author through her scrapbook, a forum that provides a true sense of connection with Ms. Montgomery.  Enjoy seeing what the author was doing right around the time that she would be writing about Anne in this beautiful book.


I recommend this title to those who are part of the author and Anne's fan club.   Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

looks at pages from Lucy's scrapbooks and gives information about her time of making page, the items, and some other information. A look at what she found interesting.

Was this review helpful?

Anne was one of my childhood favorite books, I read them over and over. This was a delightful slip back into childhood and Prince Edward island.

Was this review helpful?

A lovely lovely book.Any fan of Anne’s will treasure this book .A book in the form of a scrapbook so personal so lovely.Perfect gift for any fan.#netgalley#imageningAnne

Was this review helpful?

Anne of Green Gables is one of my favorite books, it has the most nostalgic feels in the world and it's just the most perfect feel-good story. This book is a must-read for hardcore fans of Lucy Maud Montgomery. It's a scrapbook that the author kept of the events and inspiration for the world she created and it's fascinating to see where she drew all of her ideas from. I absolutely loved this book, and would highly recommend it to all Anne of GreenGables fans.
Thank you to NetGalley and the Nimbus Publishing house for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

I absolutely adore the story of, "Anne of Green Gables" by celebrated Canadian author L.M. Montgomery.

This is a collection of two of her Personal Scrapbooks that she kept throughout her life. These in particular are centred around her life on Prince Edward Island (where she was born and grew up.) She collected and kept many things that she considered important in her life.

It was fun to scour through the clippings and to read some of her thoughts and see perhaps where she got the inspiration for the delightful character of Anne Shirley.

This book is charming and has a hint of old-fashioness to it. A wonderful book to display on the coffee table. It's so easy to flip through and become engrossed in another time.

I'd like to kindly thank NetGalley and Nimbus Publishing for granting me access to this Advanced Reader Copy. It was truly a delight!

Was this review helpful?

Having always been a fan of Anne of Green Gables and falling in love with every book Montgomery has written, I was intrigued when I saw this title on NetGalley and requested it right away.
In these pages are the very personal scrapbook pages that Montgomery created as a visual representation of events happening in her life and imaginings of her mind. The reader begins to learn of the true meaning and intentions behind the miscellaneous items found in Montgomery’s scrapbook. Maud kept many moments from special days with dear friends, hallmarks of her life, her many beaus, her photography, and the many clippings of fashionable ladies and cats. With these pages we get an intimate look at her life and see the evolution of her as a writer, drawing much inspiration for her characters and plots from those around her.
Although she was a very successful writer at the time, and a celebrity, we find very little of her accomplishments as a writer in these pages.

This is a lovely book and a nice one to add to the collection of anyone whose die-hard Montgomery fan. These pages and the research provide plenty of insight into her life.

3 stars.

**ARC provided by Nimbus Publishing via NetGalley

Was this review helpful?

Beautiful art. I love the layout of the book.

This is a wonderful coffee table book. I highly recommend this book for readers who loved Anne of Green Gables.

Was this review helpful?

I love Anne of Green Gables. I read the entire series by the time I was in 4th grade and could not get enough. I read them over and over, to the point that my cherished childhood copies are all but losing their covers, spines broken as I revisited my favorite parts repeatedly. This series nearly defined my childhood. In elementary school by best friend Amy and I would play Anne of Green Gables at recess; I as Anne and she as Diana. We never tired of this, though we never could get any of the boys to be Gilbert, unfortunately.

This book looks specifically at two of Montgomery's Island scrapbooks that she kept from 1893 through 1910. I had no idea these existed and I found them to be utterly fascinating. This time period is especially important because that is when she was creating Anne with an E, and seeing where her inspiration came from is simply lovely; I'm not sure how else to describe it. I found myself lingering for long minutes on each page, trying to take in everything, looking for every last glimpse of Anne I could catch.

I appreciated that the author kept her own commentary to a minimum and let much of the material within these pages speak for itself. She explained what needed explaining and left it at that. Montgomery carefully chose the items she lovingly placed into her scrapbooks and that care will be obvious to all who love Montgomery and her works so much. The vibe is so wholly Anne, it is breathtaking.

My only issue is not even an issue at all, not really. This book is not meant to be read digitally. The PDF was fine, but this is a book one must absolutely have a physical copy of to truly appreciate all that it offers. To be able to page through the book slowly, to read all the inscriptions, notes, letters, and such, that is the purpose of this one and something I intend to do.

This is a must-have for any fan of Lucy Maud Montgomery. Highly recommended.

Was this review helpful?

A completely lovely edition for any fans of L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Avalon. An interesting scrapbook or sorts with lots about the island and Montgomery herself.

Was this review helpful?

As a fan of Anne of Green Gables and the television adaptation Anne with an E, I was thrilled to get a copy of this book. The book is both amazing and beautiful. It delves into L.M.Montgomery’s life and the inspiration behind Anne Shirley’s world. There are pages and pages of quotes, images and information. The whole things is amazing,
This is a must have for any fan.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this.

Was this review helpful?

The main effect of this collection of L.M. Montgomery's scrapbook is to tantalizingly remind the reader of how lovely her novels and stories are. These scrapbook pages have me yearning to go pick up an Emily book or a short story collection after many years away from them.
The scrapbook pages are beautifully reproduced, although in the digital version of the book they did not enlarge very clearly, and it was therefore impossible to actually enjoy reading the news clippings or handwritten notes. Perhaps the finished product will be better. Most remarkable is the brilliant colors on many of the pages. Cut-outs of flowers blaze with vivid and attractive colors that she loved.

Each page is paired with a little bit of commentary about what Montgomery was memorializing or what symbols had meaning for her at different points in her life. Not all of them are very interesting to the casual reader, but I imagine it would be really satisfying to have these scrapbook pages at hand while reading Montgomery's journals.

Was this review helpful?

In this must-read for fans of Lucy Maud Montgomery, pages from Montgomery's personal scrapbooks are reproduced and carefully annotated. I read an advance copy from the publisher on my computer so can't accurately comment on the image quality, but I think this would be a wonderful coffee table or gift book. Calling cards, fashion plates featuring puffed sleeves, pressed flowers, clippings of dramatic poems, and notes about kindred spirits combine to give readers a sense of Montgomery's life on PEI and the inspirations behind the world of Avonlea.

Was this review helpful?

I was literally jumping up and down when I recieved notice I had been approved. Thankyou so much. The story of Anne Shirley and Green Gables is so deep within my heart that I could not wait to dig in. This is was such an amazing opportunity to peek behind the curtain if you will, into the author's world. If you ever loved Anne and her adventures. Fell madly in love with Gilbert Blythe, and be so thankful to their author L.M. Montgomery for creating such an integral part of your being like myself. Please read this!! It was a 5 star read for sure from me, heck I even have a quote from Miss Anne tattooed on my person.

Was this review helpful?