Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings

This book is a must for all Montgomery devotees. It`s the most comprehensive and in-depth biography so far. Having been written by one of the world`s leading experts on the famous islander, Mary Rubio, who has been studying Montgomery`s life and works for a few decades, it definitely provides more insight and credibility than others. Based on a multitude of resources, journals, letters and personal interviews with people who knew the writer directly included, this biography is a unique opportunity to confront certain well-rooted assumptions or misconceptions about Maud. Rubio, despite the fact of being the editor of Montgomery`s journals, does not take them at face-value, but tries to delve deeper beyond the surface, without the effect of being sensational or too presumptuous. She does that in a very compelling manner, striking a fine balance between being informative and engaging, proving her excellent narrative skill. All in all, this book is highly recommendable to anyone fascinated by Maud Montgomery Macdonald and her literary creations and looking to learn more about the person who gave birth to red-headed Anne, Emily and others. I promise you won`t be disappointed.

I read a lot of biographies and often find myself skimming long passages to get past the endless recitation of facts. But I read every word in The Gift of Wings, because this biography is beautifully crafted from beginning to end. Mary Rubio provides detailed analysis of the events of Lucy Maud Montgomery's life, comparing what she wrote about in her private journals to corroborating evidence from other sources and adding context from historical events. Rubio's insightful analysis is critical to the success of the work. After reading The Gift of Wings, I gained a deeper level of respect for Montgomery, who I had simply considered to be a children's book author. She was a prodigious writer while juggling multiple roles as wife, mother, church leader, and caregiver. As the primary breadwinner for her family, she knew she could not indulge her anxiety and depressive episodes and used her personal journals as a safety valve. While The Gift of Wings is an eye-popping 597 pages (before endnotes), it is broken up into manageable sections. This book is not only a fascinating biography of one of Canada's most beloved authors, it also provides insight into depression and women's issues in the early part of the twentieth century.

Mary Henley Rubio has written a fine biography and companion to the Journals of Lucy Maud Montgomery. After I had read the Journals with fascination and not a little sorrow I was left with wanting more, wanting to know the rest of the story, as they say. Rubio has provided that. With her own flowing storytelling style Rubio has filled in the gaps of the Journals and let us see other sides of Maud, her family and her wide circle of friends and writing colleagues. Rubio has also handled the more difficult aspects of Maud's character and circumstances respectfully, not condoning but explaining human foibles and foolishness with compassion. I have come away from this book with a broader understanding of Montgomery as a person and writer as well as a broader understanding of my home and native land's literature. This book is an excellent read, hard to put down and satisfying to the finish.

Well written result of decades of research, this book is the definitive biography of Maud. Even if you had to pay full price it would be worth every penny! Chock full of interesting details and insights.

I am a huge fan of Lucy Maud Montgomery and of her novels. I think I can safely say that I have read every biography or LMM related book available on the market (and then some). Mary Rubio is one of the most well-known LMM scholar and I actually had the opportunity of meeting her in PEI quite a few years ago. LMM has always been an enigma and through the various biographies written about her (including her very own journals), you always get the feeling that you are still missing huge pieces of her life - that she is still, somehow, managing to remain a mystery. All of this changed for me when I starting reading The Gift of Wings by Mary Rubio. This is, withouth a doubt, the most comprehensive book every written on Maud and FINALLY answer so many of the "mystery" questions that have surrounded Maud's life and death for the last 60 years. The Gift of Wings gives a wonderful glimpse of Maud's life as a youngster and how much she loved PEI. As I was reading, I could actually feel myself in PEI - in the 1800's. The book continues with the story of Ewan (Ewen) and Maud's meeting and subsequent wedding as well as their many moves and the birth of their children (including a third child that did not survive). Throughout this book, you will find some little gems that had never previously been revealed. This is due in large part by the fact that Maud's son Stuart - met with Rubio on many occasions, before his death to talk about his mother and to give Rubio full access to all of Maud's journals and various writings etc. It is amazing to me to think what would have happened had all of these precious papers been left to Chester, Maud's other son. There are some great black and whites shots of Maud, her friends and family. What I also loved about this book is the fact that Rubio really dug deep into the family aspect. She honestly describes Chester (wow!) and Stuart as well as the problem Maud had with Ewan and medication. FINALLY, this book also announces and clarifies that the "mystery" cause of LMM's death was potentially suicide - although there is some speculation that Maud may simply have accidentally overdosed on the drugs she has become addicted to (prescription). NOWHERE in any other biography has this ever been mentioned in such a forthright manner. I always felt odd that this somehow was the worst kept secret and yet, never admitted to. There is also a very interesting look at Maud's problem child - Chester. Having said all of this, I always thought that although Maud would be the person I would most love to meet (which dead person would you love to talk with) I also always felt that while I would highly respect her as a writer, I probably would not like her as a person. She sounded incredibly vain and not particularly open to honestly discussing feelings, etc. Although I understand that the time period was different, Maud got very despondent over war, Chester, money, etc. These are still issues that we face today and somehow I