Emily's quest (by Lucy Maud Montgomery)

(Amazon UK link)

Since I reread LM Montgomery’s ‘Emily of New Moon’ and ‘Emily climbs’ earlier in the year, it was natural to reread the third in the trilogy, ‘Emily’s quest’. I started in paperback form, then switched to Kindle as we were travelling; it’s taken me much longer than I would normally take on a relatively short book. I last read it in 2005, and hadn't remembered anything about it. 

Emily, is an adult at the start of this book. She has completed her formal education, and is returning to the small town in Canada where she lives at a house called New Moon with her elderly aunts and her cousin Jimmy. Not that we see a lot of them, other than with comments to and about Emily, both positive and negative. Emily is still passionate about writing and has had several short stories accepted by magazines and newspapers. She is determined to pay back her relatives who supported her during her college years. 

She also starts thinking about whether she might marry; she has a lot of friends who are men, and during the course of the book she is courted by several others. Some are caricatures whom we never really meet; others have a bigger part to play.  She spends a lot of time with an older man called Dean who has clearly adored her for years, and would like their relationship to be closer. They think alike on many things, although he’s rather scathing about her writing.

It’s a bit of a rambling book, in my opinion.  There are even more descriptive passages, talking about the seasons, the trees and plants, and even some houses which Emily loves to dream about. It’s written partly in diary form; Emily continues to fill notebooks with her thoughts and ideas as well as writing for publication. And it’s also partly written about her.  The style works well, although I found myself skipping rather a lot of over-descriptive sections which did nothing for the story. 

Inevitably it feels dated, as it's set around 100 years ago, but it’s a pleasant, realistic feeling. The author wrote these books as contemporary fiction for teenagers, and as such it’s good from the social history point of view.  Emily herself feels real, if a bit over-imaginative. She’s certainly likeable, as are many of her friends. The flighty Ilse still writes, now and again, and also comes for visits although they can never be the same as their teenage friendship.

Significant parts of the book are taken up with the planning and preparation for two weddings, both of which seemed to me like mistakes. I’d entirely forgotten the storyline and had no idea what was going to happen - and I thought it was all well done, even if some people were quite hurt.  Given that Emily is a writer with such an incredible imagination, and ability to put herself in other people’s shoes, it didn’t seem quite right that she has so many misunderstandings with people she deeply cares about.

But overall it’s a pleasant read, one which was easy to dip into when I had a few minutes, or put down when other people or events claimed my attention.  It makes a good finish to the series. And while it could stand alone, there are a lot of references to events or people in the earlier books, so it’s best read after the other two ‘Emily’ books.

Recommended in a low-key way to anyone who has liked the author’s ‘Anne of Green Gables’ series, or other similar gentle, character-based novels set in the past. As it's now out of copyright there are many editions of this both in paperback or Kindle form; it can also be found free to download as an ebook from other sites. 

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