''Emily Climbs'' is the second in a series of novels by

Lucy Maud Montgomery Lucy Maud Montgomery (November 30, 1874 – April 24, 1942), published as L. M. Montgomery, was a Canadian author best known for a collection of novels, essays, short stories, and poetry beginning in 1908 with '' Anne of Green Gables''. She ...

. It was first published in 1925. While the legal battle with Montgomery's publishing company (L.C. Page) continued, Montgomery's husband Ewan MacDonald continued to suffer clinical depression. Montgomery, tired of writing the Anne series, created a new heroineWriting a Life: L.M. Montgomery (Canadian Biography Series), Mary Rubio, Elizabeth Waterston named Emily. At the same time as writing, Montgomery was also copying her journal from her early years. The biographical elements heavily influenced the Emily trilogy.

Introduction

The poem ''To the Fringed Gentian''L. M. Montgomery's Fringed Gentian
/ref> was the keynote of Montgomery's every aim and ambition.
(Penn Library), 1917 Like Montgomery, Emily climbs the symbolic "Alpine path" to be a female writer. "The Flash" is an extraordinary experience common to both Montgomery and Emily, but not shared with

Anne Shirley Anne Shirley is a fictional character introduced in the 1908 novel '' Anne of Green Gables'' by L. M. Montgomery. Shirley is featured throughout the classic book series, which revolve around her life and family in 19th and 20th-century Prince Edw ...

Plot summary

Emily Byrd Starr longs to attend Queen's Academy to earn her teaching licence, but her tradition-bound relatives at New Moon refuse. She is instead offered the chance to go to Shrewsbury High School with her friends, on two conditions. The first is that she board with her disliked Aunt Ruth, but it is the second that causes Emily difficulties. Emily must not write (aside from schoolwork) during her high-school education. At first, Emily refuses the offer, unable to contemplate a life without any writing. Cousin Jimmy changes the condition slightly, saying that she cannot write anything that is not true, meaning she must not write stories for the duration of her high school education. Emily does not think this much of an improvement but it turns out to be an excellent exercise for her budding writing career. Emily clashes with the ever-suspicious Aunt Ruth, who must know all but rarely believes it. After more than a year of Aunt Ruth's disrespect and arbitrariness, Emily walks the seven miles back to New Moon in the dead of night, only to walk back after fully venting her feelings to Cousin Jimmy. Emily's friendship with Ilse Burnley is tested by Evelyn Blake, the school's would-be writer, who is jealous and condescending. Emily vanquishes her once and for all when she finds physical proof that Evelyn plagiarized an old poem to win a school contest. Rather than tell everyone about it, Emily only shows the evidence to Evelyn who admits she did it so her father would allow her to take a trip to Vancouver if she won. Thanks to Aunt Elizabeth's ban on writing fiction, Emily starts to develop her powers of storytelling, writing 'portraits' of people and keeping a journal diligently. Through a series of adventures, Emily is furnished with materials to write stories and poems, and even sees monetary success with the short story "The Woman Who Spanked the King," as told to her by an addled Scottish woman. In the meantime, Emily also begins to see romantic possibilities for her life. She and Teddy Kent draw closer, but due to misunderstandings and interference from Teddy's jealous mother, the romance stalls. Emily refuses a proposal from her childhood friend Perry Miller, and her cousin Andrew, but continues her long-lasting friendship with Dean Priest. At the end of the novel, Emily, now a budding young writer, is offered the opportunity to move to New York with the famous writer Janet Royal to jumpstart her career. After much thought and hesitation, Emily chooses to remain at her beloved New Moon, intent on finding fame her own way.

Series

Adaptations

Television series

The novels were adapted into a

TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

Salter Street Films Salter Street Films was a Canadian television and film production company based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. History The company was founded by brothers Paul and Michael Donovan in 1983. Paul Donovan was trained as a director at the London Film Scho ...

and

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

in 1998.

Animation

In 2007, Japanese educational TV broadcast "Kaze no Shoujo Emily" which was inspired by the novels.

Musical

The Gateway Theatre in Richmond played the musical ''Emily.''

References

External links

* * Online text o
''Emily Climbs''
(Project Gutenberg) *
L.M. Montgomery Online
Formerly the L.M. Montgomery Research Group, this site includes a blog, extensive lists of primary and secondary materials, detailed information about Montgomery's publishing history, and a filmography of screen adaptations of Montgomery texts. See, in particular, the page abou
''Emily Climbs''

An L.M. Montgomery Resource Page
Emily of New Moon Debuts on Canadian Television

Official Website of

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestri ...

Playbill News: Canada's Emily, of New Moon, Sings Again in Revised Musical Revival

The L.M. Montgomery Literary Society
This site includes information about Montgomery's works and life and research from the newsletter, The Shining Scroll. {{Lucy Maud Montgomery 1925 Canadian novels New Canadian Library Novels by Lucy Maud Montgomery Canadian children's novels Novels about orphans Novels set in Prince Edward Island 1925 children's books Frederick A. Stokes Company books Children's books set in Prince Edward Island