Maud: A Novel Inspired by the Life of L.M. Montgomery

In a delightful debut novel, Fishbane presents a fictional portrait of the teenage years of Anne of Green Gables author L.M. Montgomery. The story opens in 1889, with 14-year-old Maud living with her maternal grandparents in Prince Edward Island. They are distant, but Maud finds comfort in her writing, friends, and new teacher, Miss Gordon, who encourages her writing. Maud and her friend Nate grow close, but her grandparents don’t approve of him, and she’s sent to live with her father and his new family in Saskatchewan. Maud makes new friends and even finds love in her new surroundings, but she always strives for more. Fishbane lovingly captures the small-town charm of Maud’s Prince Edward Island home and the rugged frontier of Saskatchewan while etching an affecting portrait of a young woman determined to follow her heart and be something more, at a time when options for women were few. Fans of Montgomery’s novels will recognize much of Maud’s life in that of Anne, but even readers not familiar with those books will be easily drawn into her world. Ages 12–up. (Apr.)