Review of <em>Emily of New Moon</em> and <em>Emily Climbs</em>

I started late in life as a fan of Lucy Maud Montgomery.  At the ripe old age of 17, a friend showed me the Anne of Green Gables movie and I was obsessed.  No matter that most girls start adoring the books by 12.  I have come to see that it is a misconception to believe that only "young adults" can appreciate the books this author has written.  Yes, the Anne books might have started when Anne was 12.  But, the last in the series Rilla of Ingleside finishes when she is in her 50's.  There are many nuances and exposures of hidden sociological guilty pleasures of her time that are very applicable today that a 12 year old could not understand.  But I digress...

Emily of New Moon and Emily Climbs are the first two books in a trilogy.  I had never read anything by Montgomery except the Anne books so it took a little bit of time for me to care about Emily and this new cast of characters on Prince Edward Island.  I held on and in time I saw she was not just writing about another young girl with no parents. As I researched the book, I came to learn she was roundaboutly writing about herself.  That made the series all the more interesting.  There was a definite "sass" to this series that the Anne books lacked.  She had no qualms telling the reader Emily innermost thoughts (which might have been thought scandalous at the time) as long as she reminded you she was only the storyteller, not Emily's judge.  So, there was a definite freeness of speech that Montgomery showed as she seemed to tell every bit of Emily's story with care and reflection.  For anyone who knows Anne, Emily is worth getting to know.