''Emily of New Moon'' is the first 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 ...

about an orphan girl growing up on

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...

. Montgomery is also the author of ''

Anne of Green Gables ''Anne of Green Gables'' is a 1908 novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery (published as L. M. Montgomery). Written for all ages, it has been considered a classic children's novel since the mid-20th century. Set in the late 19th century, t ...

'' series. It was first published in 1923.

Plot summary

Similar to her earlier and more famous ''

'' series, the ''Emily'' novels depicted life through the eyes of a young

orphan An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...

girl, Emily Byrd Starr, who is raised by her relatives after her father dies of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. Montgomery considered Emily to be a character much closer to her own personality than Anne, and some of the events which occur in the ''Emily'' series happened to Montgomery herself. Emily is described as having black hair, purply violet eyes, elfin ears, pale skin, and a unique and enchanting "slow" smile. Emily Starr is sent to live at New Moon Farm on

with her aunts Elizabeth and Laura Murray and her Cousin Jimmy. She makes friends with Ilse Burnley, Teddy Kent, and Perry Miller, the hired boy, whom Aunt Elizabeth looks down upon because he was born in 'Stovepipe Town', a poorer district. Each of the children has a special gift. Emily was born to be a writer, Teddy is a gifted artist, Ilse is a talented

elocutionist Elocution is the study of formal speaking in pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone as well as the idea and practice of effective speech and its forms. It stems from the idea that while communication is symbolic, sounds are final and compelli ...

, and Perry has the makings of a great politician. They also each have a few problems with their families. Emily has a hard time getting along with Aunt Elizabeth, who does not understand her need to write. Ilse's father, Dr. Burnley, ignores Ilse most of the time because of a dreadful secret concerning Ilse's mother. Teddy's mother is jealous of her son's talents and friends, fearing that his love for them will eclipse his love for her; as a result, she hates Emily, Teddy's drawings, and even his pets. Perry is not as well off as the other three, so his Aunt Tom once tries to make Emily promise to marry Perry when they grow up, threatening that unless Emily does so, she will not pay for Perry's schooling. Other characters include Dean "Jarback" Priest, a quiet, mysterious cynic who wants something he fears is ever unattainable; fiery Mr Carpenter, the crusty old schoolteacher who is Emily's mentor and honest critic when it comes to evaluating her stories and poems; "simple" Cousin Jimmy, who recites his poetry when the spirit moves him; Aunt Laura, who is the kind aunt; and strict, suspicious Aunt Elizabeth who yet proves to be an unexpected ally in times of trouble.

Series

The three ''Emily'' novels are ''Emily of New Moon'' (1923), ''Emily Climbs'' (1925) and ''Emily's Quest'' (1927). The series follows Emily through her school years and her climb up the symbolic "Alpine Path" to becoming a successful author (the Alpine Path is a phrase from a poem which was inspirational to her from a young age). The later books also follow Emily through several romances (which are not intimacy romances) and adventures. Emily is a heroine with a love for the beauty in nature and art, loyalty to her friends, a thirst for knowledge, and a passionate dedication to her writing.

Publication

Since its original publication in 1923, the book has never gone out of print. The most popular editions of the book include the following.

Short stories

To promote the book in the United States, Montgomery published edited chapters from it as short stories in ''

The Delineator ''The Delineator'' was an American women's magazine of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, founded by the Butterick Publishing Company in 1869 under the name ''The Metropolitan Monthly.'' Its name was changed in 1875. The magazine was publis ...

''. These included "Enter Emily" and "Too Few Cooks", which was later adapted into a chapter of ''

Magic for Marigold ''Magic for Marigold'' (1929) is a novel written by L. M. Montgomery. It is an expansion of 4 linked short stories Montgomery wrote and originally published in 1925. The United States copyright was renewed in 1957. Synopsis Marigold Lesley is an ...

''. These ran the early months of 1925.

Translations

The book has been translated into numerous languages, including the following. * "Emily fra Månegården" (Danish) * ''Kumkunen Emily (Emily a dreamer)' and 'Emily, Chowon ew Bit (Emily, the Light on the Plain)'' (Korean) * ''Emīlija no Jaunā mēness'' (Latvian) * ''Pieni runotyttö'' (Finnish) * ''Emilka ze Srebrnego Nowiu'' (Polish) * ''Emily'' (Swedish) * ''Emily, de la Luna Nueva'' (Spanish) * ''Emily della Luna Nuova'' (Italian) * ''Kawaii Emily'' (Japanese) * ''Emilie de la Nouvelle Lune'' (French) * ''Emily auf der Moon-Farm'' (German) * ''Emily-Dokhtare Darrehaye Sabz'' (Persian) * ''Emily z Nového Mesiaca'' (Slovak) * ''Emily ở trang trại trăng non'' (Tiếng Việt) * ''Emily'' (Sinhala) * ''Emily de Lua Nova'' (Brasilian Portuguese) * ''Emily - A tűzpróba" and ''Emily - Barátságok'' (=Emily: Friendships)" (Hungarian) * ''אמילי ממולד הירח'' (Hebrew)

Television

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 ...

Cinar Cookie Jar Entertainment Inc. (also known as Cookie Jar Group and originally known as CINAR; renamed as DHX Cookie Jar Inc. from 2012 until 2014, or simply just Cookie Jar) was a Canadian media production and distribution company owned by DHX M ...

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. It was filmed on Prince Edward Island and starred local children. The series currently airs on Canada's

Vision TV VisionTV is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel that broadcasts multi-faith, multicultural, and general entertainment programming aimed at the 45 and over demographic. VisionTV is currently owned by ZoomerMedia, a company ...

in English and TLN in Spanish, and in the US on

This TV This TV (also known as This TV Network and alternately stylized as thisTV) is an American free-to-air television network owned by Allen Media Broadcast Networks, LLC, part of the Allen Media Group division of Entertainment Studios. Originally fo ...

. The series is also currently available on Roku's Hallmark Movie Channel, and for free on Encore+. In April 2007, the novels were adapted into a 26-episode animated television series in Japan called ''Kaze no Shōjo Emily'' (Emily, The Wind Girl). The series was produced by

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 ...

and

Tokyo Movie Shinsha , formerly known as the , also known as or , is a Japanese animation studio established on October 22, 1946. TMS is one of the oldest and most famous anime studios in Japan, best known for numerous anime franchises such as ''Lupin the Third'', ...

Popular culture

The book is featured in the TV series

Russian Doll Matryoshka dolls ( ; rus, матрёшка, p=mɐˈtrʲɵʂkə, a=Ru-матрёшка.ogg), also known as stacking dolls, nesting dolls, Russian tea dolls, or Russian dolls, are a set of wooden dolls of decreasing size placed one inside ano ...

, Season 1, Episode 5. On November 5, 2019, the ''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

'' listed ''Emily of New Moon'' on its list of the 100 most influential novels.

References

External links

Online text of ''Emily of New Moon''
* *
An L.M. Montgomery Resource Page
��Excellent resource on L.M. Montgomery and her novels
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 of New Moon''

The L.M. Montgomery Literary Society
—This site includes information about Montgomery's works and life and research from the newsletter, ''The Shining Scroll''
Anime World: Kaze no Shōjo Emily
��NHK's Official ''Kaze no Shōjo Emily'' site * *(anime) {{DEFAULTSORT:Emily Of New Moon 1923 Canadian novels New Canadian Library Novels by Lucy Maud Montgomery Canadian children's novels Novels about orphans Novels set in Prince Edward Island Canadian novels adapted into television shows 1923 children's books Frederick A. Stokes Company books