Emily's quest (by Lucy Maud Montgomery)

(Amazon UK link)

I needed more light reading, so after finishing 'Emily climbs' I picked up the final book in Lucy Maud Montgomery's 'Emily' trilogy, 'Emily's quest'. This novel is about what happens to 'Emily of New Moon'  after she leaves high school. Having read the previous books, it was fairly clear that she was going to take her writing more seriously, and also that she would probably fall in love.

Indeed, that's what happens. But becoming a writer is a gradual process, and falling in love is much more complicated than Emily expects, with several digressions along the way. Perhaps more than the others in the series, this book is character-driven. Emily matures realistically, and becomes a delightful young lady. She has plenty of faults, which are frequently shown in her journal entries that are interspersed in the main narrative.

There are some unexpected developments along the way, and a climax which is perhaps a little over-dramatic. But events are resolved satisfactorily (if maybe too tidily for realism) afterwards. On the whole I enjoyed this book, and thought it a fitting end to the series. As with the others in the series, I wasn't particularly moved or amused - unlike in the 'Anne of Green Gables' series. But Emily still stands out as someone I would like to have known.

This book is really for teenagers or adults, to pass a quiet weekend or to allow a few hours of escapism. There's nothing in it that's inappropriate for younger children, but I suspect that most of them wouldn't find it very interesting. I would probably have liked it from about the age of 12 or 13.