A Patron Saint for Fans

 

We’d arranged to help my mother do her shopping, but leaving the house is no simple matter for my family. My older son had to submit his AFL footy tips which takes deep reflection. My daughter insisted on watching the most recent episode of Stranger Things to avoid accidental spoilers on social media. My younger son loitered over a repeat episode of Master Chef to laugh at the contestants’ cooking techniques under pressure. But time is of the essence, since they’d also arranged to meet friends at the cinema later that afternoon for the latest Marvel movie.

As for me, I’m an avid reader and classic novel buff. I wanted to check in with a cool Facebook group who are discussing Anne of Green Gables to see if any new provocative questions had been posted. I had my own swirling impressions about Moby Dick to anchor onto paper. And I badly wanted to jot down ideas for a fan fiction spin-off to Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities which I’ll surely write someday.

A niggling inner voice sometimes asks me if I’ve been a bad influence on my kids. Perhaps these activities should be postponed because they aren’t important but simply self-indulgent.

Do you enjoy an immersive soak in a good story too? Or watching movies, listening to podcasts, or buying tickets to live concerts? Do you save up for your favourite sports team’s merchandise? Perhaps the pleasure of adding a new favourite character to your list of literary crushes makes your day. My daughter collects hundreds of vinyl figurines she loves from books and screen. Their beady eyes seem to follow you whenever you step into her room. At one stage, hearing the name ‘Harry Potter’ could make my ears twitch across a crowded auditorium.

 Maybe you’re just dying to know who’ll get married by the end of your novel, or who the villain turns out to be. And you've covered the backs and fronts of several scraps of paper with scribble, so you won’t forget plot details. Hey, maybe you’ll even figure out the mystery before Poirot.

‘But what’s the point of all this?’ a motivated medical missionary friend once asked me.

A tight, knotty feeling constricted my throat. It always happens when I panic. ‘Because it’s fun’ didn’t seem to cut it, so I didn’t say it. I’m not smart enough to add anything great to the world of science, engineering, politics or education. I don’t do anything important. The glint in her eye signified that she saw through me. I can't pinpoint a single soul who benefits from my love of reading and daydreaming. After all, it's not practical like the healing, helpful work she’s involved in. I’m merely a super passionate fan, but so what? Benefiting from someone else’s creative work isn't a skill, but a luxury.

I mumbled something about this sort of thing being mostly for downtime and escaped before she could ask, ‘Downtime from what?’ The brief exchange lingered like smog in my mind. Am I the ultimate parasite, wasting my life, by taking in without the means of giving much out? I wanted to dodge the next logical guilt trip of a question, but it wormed its accusative path into my conscience. Am I pulling my weight on this planet?

I tell you, I’m no fan of curly existential questions. Instead I’ve become a great fan of another person, who was also a wholehearted fan herself.

Let me take you back over two thousand years ago, to a fangirl who knelt in the desert sunset by the feet of a great visiting storyteller, captivated by every word he spoke. But her frazzled older sister poked her perspiring face out of the kitchen and pointedly cleared her throat.

‘Ahem, excuse me but has anyone noticed I’m doing all the work around here?’

Their guest’s raised eyebrows invited her to elaborate.

‘What I mean to say is this. I’ve been cooking, scrubbing and pot stirring, while Mary here has been sitting around doing nothing. Don’t you think she should give me a hand?’

The fangirl’s cheeks flamed. She was used to hearing her sister scold her to do something ‘useful,’ but never dreamed she’d draw their houseguest into their tense family dynamics. Whoa, I’ll be in for it later.

The great sage simply smiled. 'Martha, you're stressed out with many things on your plate, but if Mary has chosen the best one of all, who am I to deprive her? She isn’t doing nothing. I’ve nearly finished telling this story. Won’t those falafels keep for a moment? Why not stay and hear the end?'

The fangirl realised she was gaping, and snapped her mouth shut. Wow, what did he just say? Did he mean that being a fangirl was an acceptable use of her time after all?

We never find out just what was interrupted. What was he talking about to captivate her so? Was it one of his signature stories or something entirely new? Was it worth risking a tongue lashing for? Since Mary was so spellbound, wouldn’t you love the inside scoop?

But we never find out, because it's not the point. The spotlight is taken off the famous storyteller and shone on his listener. Her attitude strikes him as totally praiseworthy, to the point where he calls it a perfect use of her time. And she never appears to go away and do anything mind-blowing with whatever she takes on board. There's no 'Book of Mary' in the Bible where this story takes place. Her receptive, passionate heart was enough. She prioritised time for fun and fascination. Maybe when a receptive, passionate heart is the best we have to offer, it's enough from us too.

'Yeah, well somebody has to cook the meal and wash the dishes,' my busy, practical friend points out.

Well, duh, of course it’s self-evident that hard, tangible work is a huge benefit. Sometimes people in Martha's shoes are quite right to speak up. But hard workers often get the pats on the back they deserve, because the results of their industry are clear. This incident makes another point. Could it be that those of us who simply relish fandom may deserve kudos too?

What if our happy, preoccupied grins as we curl up with our books, switch on our screens or poke in our earbuds are lighthouse beacons, signalling others not to drift far from what brings them joy. It’s incredibly easy to get caught in riptides of duty and purpose. Maybe the danger is that this drift from pleasure doesn’t necessarily feel alarming. Just normal. Perhaps our passionate activities do have a point. Ours is the delightful duty of reminding others that it is vital to put aside time for whatever makes our hearts sing.

Once, my daughter and I stepped into a shop while she was wearing her Games of Thrones T-shirt. An employee stacking shelves nearby beamed broadly and called out, ‘Hey, do you think Jon Snow is really dead?’

A refreshing chat followed, which turned out to be one of the highlights of my daughter’s day. A shared fandom is a feast that makes friends out of strangers. Enthusiasts like my daughter, who are willing to wear their hearts on their T-shirts, can spread grace and joy wherever they go. And best of all, it’s freely bestowed, with no consideration for compensation or payback.

Another of my favourite role models, author Elizabeth Gilbert, says, ‘You may end only with the satisfaction of knowing you passed your existence in devotion to the noble human virtue of inquisitiveness. That should be more than enough for anyone to say that they lived a rich and splendid life.’

So please read on, my fellow nerds! Watch the documentary, learn how that game works, tell us your favourite novel from any specific series and explain why. When I'm feeling a bit fruitless, I sometimes remember that ancient fangirl Mary, who was never officially dubbed the Patron Saint of Fans but arguably should have been.

The last time we saw a nephew of mine, he said, ‘I love it when I get to hang out with you guys, because you all rave on about fictional characters as if they’re real people.’ I choose to take that as a real compliment. For if that’s truly what he loves, then he’s come to the right place.

Trixie Belden Series 16 - 18

16 The Mystery of the Missing Heiress

Jim discovers he has a cousin named Juliana from Holland who has just inherited a prime strip of land in Sleepyside. The Bob Whites eagerly await meeting Juliana when she arrives in town to board with Mrs Vanderpoel, yet is she all they hope Jim's cousin will be? Meanwhile another young woman known as 'Janie' is involved in an accident and wakes up with total amnesia. Janie is invited to recuperate with the Beldens but it seems she's the target of ruthless crooks. Can Trixie and the others stop the criminals in their tracks and figure out Janie's identity?

* Yay, we have a story taking place entirely in Sleepyside at last! It's been far too long. I enjoy their visits to far-off destinations, yet we've just had five holidays back-to-back and I do miss Peter, Helen, Bobby, Regan and others who are closer to home. It's great to see Mrs Vanderpoel again too.

 * Sadly, Spider and Tad Webster are no longer living with Mrs Vanderpoel because Spider was offered a higher position in the White Plains police force. However, it seems they're both homesick, and Spider feels the new job isn't all it was cracked up to be. 

* The Bob Whites are overjoyed because Mr Wheeler gives them his second hand station wagon. Their rule of not taking what they haven't earned doesn't seem to come into play. Not so long ago, Trixie told Di they'd have to turn down a mere lamp her father offered them (pun intended). Now they have no qualms about accepting a whole car. 

* As a kid, this story gave me a fascination with amnesia and the mysterious workings of the human memory. Janie's thread shows that a lovely person is lovely to the bone, with or without her identity intact. 

*  Jim is in fine gentlemanly form in this book. His delight to have traced a living blood relative, when he'd assumed he was the last of all his family lines, is heart-warming. 

* Trixie points out that Jim's corrupt stepfather, Jonesy, hasn't been seen around Sleepyside for the past two years. Although I've given up keeping chronology, it's only meant to be one year, in the compressed timeline we're given. Two years makes far more sense, but then the authors would have to adjust the Bob Whites' ages, and they're loath to do that. It may be partly because they want to prevent Jim and Brian turning 18 and heading off to college for as long as possible. But hey, surely the duo could commute! They live close enough to New York City. I think more to the point, they've decided Trixie's identity is a 14-year-old! That's all there is to it. She must stay 14, to remain relatable to her target audience. (Honestly, I'm sure it got to the stage where her audience would cheer if she turned 15, but there we have it.) 

* Diana used to want to be an air stewardess, but now she's not sure what she wants to be, unless it's a mother. Honey sweetly agrees that they all want to be that, and refers to Mrs Belden as their perfect role model. It's a lovely conversation, although Helen's occupation really stretches beyond stay-at-home-mom. She's running a small farm or cottage industry, of course, with her chickens and garden produce. She also grows prize winning banksias, which surprised me since I'd assumed they were Aussie flowers.

* Trixie and Honey volunteer at the local hospital as 'candy stripers' which turns out to be young teenagers in candy striped uniforms who help with odd jobs, such as a bit of cleaning or amusing patients. 

* Mart develops a passion for playing music. He strums away on guitar and can also play quite reasonable keyboard. Janie teaches him several ballads that linger in her memory banks, and he's keen to learn. Music is a powerful tool because unsurprisingly, Janie has flashes of memory return while she's playing or humming along with Mart. 

Mrs Belden gets a bit flustered and talks too much around intimidating people like Juliana. I can so relate. 

* Reddy is permitted in the zoo!!! How times have changed. Friends, I don't recommend trying to take your dog on your next zoo visit.

* Ooh la la, there might be a romantic liaison between Mr Lytell and Miss Trask after all. At least Mart suggests this might be the case, and although Honey shoots him down, she doesn't deny it. (Part of the conversation goes like this. Honey: Of course they like one another and they have for a long time. What of it? Mart: Not a thing. If she doesn't mind how cranky he gets and thinks he looks like a Greek god, it's okay with me.)

* Dan's elderly horse Spartan can dance. It's an accidental discovery. I can't shake off the hilarious image of Dan trotting along on his rounds for Mr Maypenny, listening to his radio, when Spartan suddenly breaks into a waltz beneath him. And there's a good reason for it. Spartan used to be a circus performer in his more coltish years. These left of field happenings are partly what make the series so cool. 

* But how about the Turf Show? That thread sadly peters out, unless it's picked up in the next book. The kids were practising so hard for it. It was such a big deal to Regan, but apparently not as big a deal to Kathryn Kenny. 

* Blue Heron Marsh is to be demolished to make way for the International Pine furniture company. I feel my memory banks being stirred. I reckon this thread will be taken further down the track. Brian and the others mourn the loss of all the precious herbs that grow and bird life that hangs out there.   

* Trixie has her stomach turned on several suspicious occasions by the lingering scent of Jonesy's nauseating tobacco. For a smart and crafty crook, he's pretty careless about cleaning up his crime scenes. If he's going to be sloppy enough to leave pipes or whole tobacco tins behind, he deserves whatever he gets. Furthermore, it's surprising that Jim doesn't instantly identify that sickening scent on these mysterious occasions. It's Jonesy's signature odour after all, and Jim has lived with him for long enough.      

* One of the biggest mysteries of this tale may be why Jim's foreign aunt from Holland happened to own such a prime slab of real-estate in Sleepyside of all places. The Bob Whites never seem to even speculate about that.  

* Quote of the book goes to Trixie. 'Don't you wish the Bob Whites could go on and on as we are now, just the same age as we are now.' Well, with the help of these Kathryn Kenny authors, her wish seems to get granted. 

17) The Mystery of the Uninvited Guest 

Wedding bells are in the air, as Jim's cousin Juliana prepares to marry her sweetheart Hans Vorwald, before moving back to live in Holland. The friction of preparing for it takes its toll on everyone, and a spate of robberies adds to the tension. The Lynches' lounge room is stripped clean, all the district bikes are stolen and even Juliana's gorgeous engagement ring goes missing. Meanwhile Trixie is barely tolerating a visit from her cousin Hallie, who she fiercely resents. And a strange lady phones out of the blue to request a wedding invitation. What will happen if everything comes to a climax on the special day?

* The Beldens are hosting their cousin Hallie from Idaho. To call Trixie's grudge against her ginormous is an understatement. It turns out to be based on jealousy and insecurity. Hallie has dark, Indian princess looks, and is totally self-confident with drawling mannerisms. The way Trixie blows up at Hallie, for no real reason at all, is inexcusable and atrocious. 

* Aha, it turns out Trixie frequently feels upstaged by Hallie. A shadow side of Trixie's character is revealed. Solving mysteries is more than just a generous impulse. She does seek credit and attention, to boost her own importance. She even admits that getting positive feedback makes her feel as if she matters in the world. When Hallie steps forward to do some sleuthing of her own, Trixie is so disgruntled because she feels sidelined. She's addicted to praise and acclamation. We fans of Trixie wouldn't go so far as to say it's all about her, but it clearly is a lot about her.

* We are directly told 'Trixie was not used to sharing the limelight and she didn't quite know how to make room for a cousin in this fun time.' (Refer back to my observation at the end of Book 14, The Mystery of the Emeralds, when Mart comments that Trixie doesn't want her thunder stolen; Trixie attempts to pulverize him on the spot, and Jim asks him to apologize to her.) She's a good detective but also a spoiled brat.   

* It's weird that Moms doesn't mention Hallie's visit in the week leading up to it. Trixie only knows about it because she overhears a phone call, and Brian and Mart have no idea at all until she's there. Perhaps it was meant to be a pleasant surprise. It sure backfires on Trixie.  

* Hallie is the daughter of a third Belden boy named Harold, brother of Peter and Andrew. I imagine she was named after her dad. I wonder if it's short for Harriet or if Hallie simply stands alone.  

* It turns out Mrs Vanderpoel was married straight after World War One. This continues to date the series. If she married in her twenties and is now in her eighties, this story must be the 1970s at the latest. Mrs Vanderpoel is possibly in her sprightly seventies though, in which case it's set in the sixties, which matches the 1962 publication date. 

* There's nothing quite like wedding preparations to bring everyone's deepest character flaws to the surface. Madeleine Wheeler is adept at dodging responsibility and leaving all the details to Miss Trask. And we get the feeling Miss Trask is just about on the edge of her last nerve. She's decidedly shirty at times, to be saddled with all the work. 

* Trixie is not the only one whose insecurities are stirred by wedding fever. Diana almost reverts to her old, touchy self as a result of having her wedding invitation swiped from the letter-box. It dredges old feelings of being left out. Sure, her sensible self can reason that there was obviously some mistake. She's in the wedding party, after all! But her sensitive self demands why it had to be her invitation. And Mart virtually admits that he makes a Herculean effort to assert himself as a distinct personality from his virtuous older brother, Brian. He's talking about his male cousins (Hallie's brothers) but we know he's thinking of himself.   

* Di's small twin sisters are included in the wedding ceremony, to their great delight. The names of these two are never divulged throughout the whole series, unlike their brothers, Larry and Terry.

* We are told the Lynches re-hired Harrison the butler, along with nannies for the younger kids. Apparently coping with the demands of a rich couple's lifestyle became too overwhelming to manage alone. But Mr Lynch is a fun guy, so why not look for someone a little less anal retentive than Harrison this time round? I get the feeling Mrs Lynch veers to the compulsive, control freak side of the scale, and Harrison is more on her wavelength. 

* It's cheeky of a stranger like Miss Ryks to make a phone call, asking to be included on someone's wedding guest list! Did anyone ever really do that, even in the primitive seventies? Whether she's on the level or not, behaviour that pushy crosses an etiquette line in my books. So the title of this book turns out to have a double meaning. Hallie is an uninvited guest at Crabapple Farm as far as Trixie is concerned, and Miss Ryks is an uninvited guest at Hans and Juliana's wedding.

* Circumstantial evidence looks really bad against poor Dan for a while. 

* There are a few romantic sparks between Hallie and Dan, or at least the suggestion of them. I get the feeling these could grow stronger if these two get to see more of each other. However, I don't know how well sparks fly across a large continent. Long distance relationships are rough. 

* Di catches Juliana's wedding bouquet. Look out, Mart. 

* The Turf Show which doesn't take place in the last book is mentioned again. And.... doesn't take place again. Are they really going to prolong it until the next book? 

* Juliana and Hans are off to start their lives together in Holland. And all the wedding planners no doubt breathe sighs of relief.  

* Quote of the book goes to Mr Lynch. 'My wife is a nut about having things match. Even the children.'

18) The Mystery of the Phantom Grasshopper

Trixie loves her mother's old tradition of calling a greeting to Hoppy, the grasshopper weather vane on top of Sleepyside town hall. It's said to bring good luck, so she gets Honey and Di on board too. But poor Hoppy disappears the night after an intense storm. If he was blown off the roof, he's nowhere to be found. When a $1000 reward is offered for the irreplaceable antique weather vane, it begins to look as if thievery might have taken place. Could Miss Lawler, the super-anxious teacher's aide, have anything to do with it? Or her erratic friend Sammy, who seems to have a split personality? How about the tall guy in the strange car who keeps hanging around?

*This book was published in 1977. I believe it can still be dated like earlier ones, but now back to the mid-seventies. The Bob Whites catch a movie at the Sleepyside cinema together, and when they emerge, the boys discuss the giant gorilla climbing a big building. I suspect this unidentified movie was none other than the 1976 blockbuster King Kong, which hit the cinemas around the time this book was published.

* Diana Lynch can be a bit of a quiet stirrer when she chooses. I'm convinced she draws attention to the missing button from Trixie's Bob White jacket just to set Mart off. And it works, of course. Sneaky retribution for all the times Trixie bosses her around, or leaves her out of plans with Honey perhaps. You got to watch the quiet ones. 

* We meet kindly Mr Perkins, the owner of Sleepyside radio station WSTH which plays a wide variety of music pleasing listeners across generations. The moms and dads are said to love a whole heap of moldy oldies from the jazz and swing era which not even grandparents listen to anymore. (Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, the Dorsey brothers and George Gershwin.) Thankfully the story doesn't identify what the young people listen to. That would be too big an anchor to the era. We are just told it includes 'all the current rock and pop hits'. I suspect that if we were told what they were, they would sound like dinosaurs too.   

* WSTH obviously didn't limit the number of times a request could be played on the radio. So listeners were bombarded with earworms such as 'Meet me in St Louis' and 'St Louis Blues' several times a day. That would be enough to make a former listener out of me. I'm relieved times have changed. I mean, gee whiz, how about time restraints? Wasn't anybody else requesting anything at all?

* Regan has been caring for a friend's Shetland pony and quietly teaches Bobby how to ride him, to surprise the Bob Whites. Regan is a legend, especially if he manages to conceal something as big as a Shetland pony while the kids have been coming and going. That's no mean feat.  

* Mart gets the wrong word! The Bob Whites walk into Wimpy's and he says he's positively bulimic, when he really means he's starving. The weirdest thing is nobody picks him up on this. 

* The Bob Whites walk in to the police station to discover Sergeant Molinson enjoying a coffee and doughnut. That's regarded as stereotypical storybook cop food now. I wonder if it was back then.

* Trixie proves herself to be great detective material once again, fearlessly doing things without a qualm that would daunt most people. She may be a bit full of herself at times but she sure does venture where nobody else dares to tread. 

* Just like Trixie, Honey and Di, I grew quite fond of Hoppy the town hall weather vane by the time the story finished. What a cool local icon. Especially his glass eyes. You can bet I'd be calling hello to him too. 

* Quote of the book is from Di. 'We're going to say hello to Hoppy until we're old, old ladies.' 

Do join me next time for Books 19 - 21

And catch up on Books 13 - 15

'Running Scared' by Susan J Bruce

What if the boy you love is hiding a dark secret?

My name is Melinda and this has been the worst
year ever … We had to leave our family farm,
Mum is in hospital, Dad is losing it and my
freak-out-and-run arachnophobia is getting worse.

The one good thing in my world is Rory.
Maybe he sees things differently because he’s
been in a wheelchair for the past eight years,
but Rory always knows how to make me laugh.

Problem is, Dad doesn’t want me anywhere near
him. He doesn’t trust Rory or his family,
especially as Rory’s brother is wanted
by the police.

And now I’m scared Rory is hiding something ... 

MY THOUGHTS: 

This is an edgy and fast-paced young adult novel which is still brimming with Aussie flora and fauna. I'm not sure how the author, Susan J Bruce, gets us to take in the sensual environmental detail while high stakes action scenes are happening all around us, but somehow she aces it. The theme is all about the illusory nature of fear and building mindsets to disarm it, and it's easy to take on board.  

Melinda Green is a teenager forced to move with her father to a city suburb after they lose their farm. Her mother is in hospital, suffering trauma of her own, and the mean Sartell siblings have taken a dislike to Melinda at school. Her safe spot and haven is their next door neighbour's yard. Rory is a school friend who doesn't let being bound to a wheelchair hold him back from anything. He is a keen athlete and keeps a fascinating menagerie of wild critters in his garage. But although these two are in sync with each other, Melinda's dad warns her to steer clear of Rory, because his brother Luke is a fugitive wanted for murder.      

Everyone Melinda cares most about has vulnerabilities of their own, which can't help impacting her. Her parents, Neil and Jill, are emotionally frail folk who have dealt with some harsh experiences and are trying to stay strong. The book really shows that when one member of a family unit takes a severe blow, everyone suffers and the repercussions are felt months, even years later. They are living with reliable Aunt Lynn, who tries to help heal the hurts in her brother's family using every means she can, including her infamous vegan cooking which nobody likes. And living nearby is Melinda's best friend Thali, a big-hearted but chatty girl whose mouth is a bit of a loose cannon. 

There is even something for those of us with arachnophobic tendencies. Melinda turns out to have a perfectly watertight reason for her intense dread of spiders. It's one of the book's mysteries which comes to light in its proper time, but she still wishes to overcome it. Rory's pet spider, Lucy, steals every scene she's in (unsurprisingly just by being herself). Even if this story doesn't make spider lovers of us all, I'm pretty sure no reader can make it to the end without at least liking Lucy and wishing her all the best.   

I have to say as I was reading, this story really put me in mind of one of my favourite Aussie books of the last few years; Trent Dalton's Boy Swallows Universe. It has that same pulsing underworld of danger beneath the seemingly colourful and innocuous Australian suburban setting. Both Melinda Green and Eli Bell are young adults living in Brisbane, but Running Scared is set in a far more up-to-date, tech savvy era than Dalton's eighties. If you're like me and loved one of these books, I can heartily recommend the other.

Disclaimer: Thanks to the author, for sending me a copy to review. All my opinions are genuine and honest. 

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟  

'Emily's Quest' by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Lucy Maud Montgomery's Emily Trilogy winds up with this novel about writing and love. 

MY THOUGHTS:

This third novel in the trilogy takes off where the second left off. It's essentially a gentle tale about a girl quietly working at home, but there is so much discussion worthy material packed in.

The core four have all graduated from high school and gone their separate ways. Ilse is at the School of Literature and Expression and Teddy off to the School of Design, both in Montreal. (What cool sounding institutions.) Perry is a law clerk in Charlottetown, aiming for the Supreme Court bench. Only Emily, having refused Miss Janet Royal's offer to live with her in New York, is back at New Moon, convinced that she's made the right decision. She wants nothing more than to buckle down and produce some quality writing from her beloved home, unless it's the love of a certain young man. (Okay, let's not be coy, anyone who comes to this book straight after Emily Climbs know that she fancies Teddy Kent.) 

Emily realises the sacrifices it'll take to chase her writing dream, yet her peace of mind still gets one almighty pummeling throughout this book. We readers can't help sensing a certainty that Montgomery is drawing from her own experience of shooting for the moon professionally. The toll it took on her translates to Emily, who is a more melancholic personality with far deeper depressive depths than other heroines of Montgomery who weren't aiming for brilliance and fame, such as Pat, Jane, Valancy and even Anne. 

Emily had long ago decided that if she couldn't be more than just a 'pretty scribbler' she'd sooner give up, yet she can't stop, because the drive to write is too powerful. So she has no choice really, but to flagellate herself to aim for the stars. It's a heavy burden to place upon her own shoulders, and I'm sure we can sense her psyche sinking beneath the weight of her ambition in this novel in particular. 

I've heard that the drive of celebrities and high fliers prevents them from ever truly relaxing, so it's a restless and often miserable way to live, with a few hard won highs in return. When Emily holds her first published novel in her hands, she reflects, 'What a reward for the long years of toil and endeavor and disappointment and discouragement.' I question whether a published novel is really enough to atone for the sacrifice of your life's vitality, but how thankful I am for people like Emily (and Maud by extension) who believe the single-focused scramble is worth it. We benefit from their hard work.  

But Emily is open for romance too. One of the biggest questions in this book is whether she will choose Teddy or Dean. A subtle coolness exists between Teddy and Emily which often seems to be unaccounted for. Her 'stiff, pale, queenly aloofness' and his 'cool detachment and impersonal eyes' got on my nerves a bit, because 'why?' There's nothing I really dislike about Teddy. In fact at times I quite like him, but he's said to be 'sleek and well groomed' in his twenties, which doesn't strike me as the most appealing description Montgomery could have chosen.

Anyway, if taking Teddy means taking his deranged, morbid mother as part of the package, my response in Emily's place would always be, 'No way.' Even when Mrs Kent's secret past comes to light, I can't share Emily's sympathy for anyone who would stoop to poisoning innocent pet dogs and cats because she's jealous of them. Toward the end, Mrs Kent expresses amazement that anybody could face another person who has what she wants without wishing curses and grievous bodily harm upon them. Come on lady, you're not the first person whose in-laws have treated them rudely, but not everyone turns into a destructive, vindictive menace.    

Talking about possessive individuals, Dean Priest finally gets his Colonel Brandon moment, when his devotion to Emily after an accident and subsequent sickness wins him her gratitude; perhaps a stepping stone for something more. But the fact that he's indirectly responsible for her state of mind leading to the accident lends a feeling of doom and gloom to their relationship. Still, this is the moment where I actually started liking him more. Emily has long grown up, so at last he comes across more the constant suitor than the creepy stalker. Montgomery gives him plenty of character development, colourful lines and good taste too. I feel Teddy just doesn't get the same space and time.

I can see why Team Dean contenders support their man, despite his worst moment. To Team Teddy fans, I'd say at this stage their guy needs to be brighter, more charismatic and at least equally as three dimensional, but he doesn't hit the mark. Sure, he's younger than Dean, but that's about it. The fact that he's a celebrated artist doesn't impress me much. Emily ponders the 'magnetic attraction of Teddy's personality' yet it doesn't come through on paper. Sure we're told about it, but never really see it.

Ilse and Perry's big, dramatic moment of coming together in the nick of time gets a great thumbs up from me though! It's an incident worthy of their flair and energy, and I'd better say no more than that. For me, it's the high moment of the book, and they aren't even the central focus. But the beta couple carries off the prize for romance in this story, and I wish we had even more of this vibrant couple. 

Still, it's a beautifully written book. I love the descriptions of Emily's tasteful household treasures and Ilse's exotic, eccentric clothes that she manages to pull off with such panache. And I'm glad we now have trusty Google to turn to, which we didn't when I first read the Emily series in my teens. If we wonder what Emily's beloved portrait of Lady Giovanna or Dean's charismatic Elizabeth Bas actually looked like, it takes only a second to find out.  

I think it loses a star for my eventual apathy about the central question. (Will she choose the manipulative, cynical, way older man or the bland hunk whose mother is probably jabbing pins into a voodoo doll of her?) But it retains a solid four for Montgomery's transparent honesty about the toughness of the writing life, and for Ilse and Perry. 

But how about the ultimate cruel cut, which is alluded to in just a paragraph or two? When Aunts Elizabeth and Laura and Cousin Jimmy eventually pass away, the person to inherit New Moon will be Uncle Oliver's son, Andrew, who has no value for old world charm. The father and son duo have already started planning the modernisations in store for it, so it'll be goodbye to Jimmy's orchard and the old dairy. There's no indication that any rescue attempt will be possible. Emily finally gets a happy ending but poor old New Moon will be the ultimate loser. It's a sober dose of realism for us readers indeed.  

🌟🌟🌟🌟