LM Montgomery Books to Delight All Ages

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Lucy Maud Montgomery’s bestselling series Anne of Green Gables put Canada’s Prince Edward Island on the map. If you haven’t read the book, you may be familiar with the ever-talkative and dreamy Anne Shirley from the Netflix TV series Anne with an E or other film adaptations.

But did you know that LM Montgomery wrote many other books apart from the 8 that make up the Anne series? Over her lifetime, she published 20 novels, 500 poems, and more than 500 short stories. 

I may be biased, but I’ve read every single LM Montgomery book I can get my hands on, and so far, I’ve loved all of them! 

Best LM Montgomery Books to Add to Your Pile

I’m happy to share some of Montgomery’s books to enchant you and bring you back to a time of innocence and imagination:

1. Anne of Green Gables Series

Of course we need to start with the Anne series. Anne Shirley arrives on the scene as an 11-year-old girl, mistakenly adopted into the household of the elderly Cuthbert siblings instead of the boy they requested. Her imagination and relentless chatter will capture your heart as she tries over and over again to be good.

The next books in the series take us through Anne’s school years, and then to her career as a schoolteacher and her eventual marriage to Gilbert Blythe. The last book, Rilla of Ingleside, follows the life of her children, seen through the eyes of her youngest daughter Rilla, at the outset of World War I. 

2. Emily of New Moon Trilogy

Perhaps the most autobiographical of her novels, here Montgomery tells the story of Emily, a girl suddenly orphaned and left in the care of unwilling maternal relatives. You will enjoy seeing how Emily copes with her new environment by using her gift of imagination and writing. 

In the next two books in the trilogy, Montgomery outlines how Emily strives to become a published author, whilst effectively weaving her love story with the older Dean Priest and her childhood playmate Teddy Kent. 

3. Magic for Marigold

Marigold entered life in the midst of tragedy, with her father dying just before her birth. An imaginative, spunky little girl, she gets into more scrapes than she would like, as she struggles with jealousy over her father’s first wife, and fights for her imaginary friend Sylvia.

4. Pat of Silverbush Duology

Patricia, known to her family and friends simply as Pat, loves her home of Silverbush and would do whatever it takes to stay there. This two-book set is a coming-of-age tale for this little girl who hates any kind of change but is forced to deal with them and adjust accordingly. 

5. Kilmeny of the Orchard

Kilmeny is the most beautiful girl Eric Marshall has has ever seen, with one major flaw: she can’t say a word. Add to that the fact that her father has kept her under lock and key, and Eric has a hard time of getting her to marry him. But what if he can find a way to get her cured so she can speak again?

6. Jane of Lantern Hill 

Jane Victoria lives with her mother, aunt, and grandmother, who likes to control everything surrounding Jane’s mother. They have told Jane her father is dead, but he suddenly writes to her and invites her to stay with him over the summer on Prince Edward Island, where they develop a close relationship that makes it hard for Jane to go back to her former life. 

7. The Story Girl 

The novel, which is said to be Montgomery’s own favorite among all her works, follows the adventures of several cousins and their friends on Prince Edward Island in Canada. The title is named for one of the girls in the story, whom her cousins fondly call “The Story Girl” for her prowess in storytelling. 

8. The Alpine Path

If you want to learn more about L.M. Montgomery’s career, enjoy this autobiographical account of her own struggle to become a published author. This is a great book to read alongside the Emily Starr trilogy. 

9. A Tangled Web

In this book, Montgomery weaves a page-turning tale of a dying old aunt and the extended family who all want to get the best of the heirloom items she’s leaving behind. The aunt crafts a wise plan of entrusting her will to one of them, and giving everyone one year after her death to prove themselves worthy of the inheritance. 

10. The Complete Chronicles of Avonlea 

This collection of short stories will enthrall you with excellently-developed characters despite the limited space for portraying them. In this collection, you will also find a short story that appears as a scene in Anne of Green Gables.

Is Anne of Green Gables a True Story?

Anne Shirley is one of the most memorable characters in classic literature, and Montgomery has succeeded in endearing her to readers of all generations. But the story is purely fiction, inspired by an event that Montgomery heard about, of distant cousins who applied to adopt a boy but were sent a girl instead.

Th good news is that Montgomery set her stories in her own real-life hometown on Prince Edward Island, and like many other countless fans, you can visit the famous farmhouse with the green gables that inspired the Cuthbert house in the story.

Reading Classic L.M. Montgomery’s Books

The authors of what we call the “classics” had some of the best minds in history, and reading their works can give you a glimpse of their beliefs, insights, and many of the cultural nuances of their day. 

L.M. Montgomery is one of these authors, whose wit in portraying childish adventures will surely tickle your funny bone, but also give you much to chew on in terms of challenging cultural beliefs and religious tradition. 

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