The Story Girl

Most people know Lucy Maud Montgomery from her Ann of Green Gables books, some of which were made into movies that I thoroughly enjoy watching.  My favorite book of L. M.’s, however, is The Story Girl, which was written in 1911.  The book starts with two brothers coming to live on their aunt and uncle’s farm on Prince Edward Island while their father travels on business.  They spend time with their five cousins and a hired boy who helps out on the farm.  Cousin Sara Stanley has a gift for storytelling and many of the stories she tells are about their relatives or people in town, giving us a glimpse into what life was like in a simpler time. 

When I read this tattered version of the book as a pre-teen, I wanted to be the story girl, not as an oral storyteller, but as a writer.  How rewarding it would be to spin a tale that an eager reader couldn’t put down, that was engaging and made you ache with longing when it was over!  That’s not exactly the career path I’ve taken, but I suppose it could still happen.

Story Girl

It’s doubtful that a book about kids who spend their free time hanging out in the family orchard, practicing preaching sermons, discussing the merits of being a Presbyterian or Methodist, or eating rich foods before bed to help them dream more interesting dreams would appeal to today’s teens who devour dystopian or fantasy fiction.  Then again, perhaps a simple life without cell phones and internet access would feel dystopian and they would devour the book to the end in the hopes that the world would be put right again!

Though at my age I’m probably not the intended audience for the book, I’m enjoying reading a few chapters each night and thinking about how nice it would be to live an agrarian life whose rhythm was dictated by the weather and the seasons and not by errands, TV, technology and the busyness of modern life.  One day I will visit Prince Edward Island and to see the place that L. M. so dearly loved and describes so beautifully in all her novels. 

There’s a sequel to The Story Girl, The Golden Road, of which I was completely unaware (but found on the internet, ironically enough!).  Hopefully there’s a musty copy at one of the local libraries that I can borrow!  Do you have a favorite old book that you’d like to recommend?  I’d love to hear about it!