Imagining Anne

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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