Emily of New Moon

Written by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Narrated by Suzanne O'Malley

Emily Starr had never known what it was to be lonely—until her beloved father died. In this, the first of the Emily novels, young Emily is orphaned and goes to live with her mother's snobbish relatives at New Moon Farm. Sure that she'll never be happy there, Emily endures her stern Aunt Elizabeth and malicious classmates by holding her head high and using her quick wit.But things begin to change as Emily makes several new friends. There is Teddy, who does marvelous drawings; Perry, who has sailed all over the world with his father and has never been to school; and Ilse, a tomboy with a blazing temper. Amazingly, Emily finds New Moon Farm beautiful and fascinating. With new friends and adventures, Emily might someday think of herself as Emily of New Moon.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Blackstone Audio
• Release date: Apr 29, 2009
• ISBN: 9780786114887

Lucy Maud Montgomery

L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery (1874-1942) was a Canadian author who published 20 novels and hundreds of short stories, poems, and essays. She is best known for the Anne of Green Gables series. Montgomery was born in Clifton (now New London) on Prince Edward Island on November 30, 1874. Raised by her maternal grandparents, she grew up in relative isolation and loneliness, developing her creativity with imaginary friends and dreaming of becoming a published writer. Her first book, Anne of Green Gables, was published in 1908 and was an immediate success, establishing Montgomery's career as a writer, which she continued for the remainder of her life.

Reviews for Emily of New Moon

[erlangeralpacajedis · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Emily is now a young woman who desperately wants to go to high school in a nearby town.  All of her friends are going, and where else will she learn how to write? Finally her aunt agrees... she can go IF she won't write anymore. Can Emily do it? Will high school be worth it? And what other "scrapes" will she and Ilse get into in the process.A sweet, mostly gentle sequel to "Emily of New Moon."

[satyridae · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I liked this one better than the second Anne book. I found the characters interesting- the secondary characters more so than Emily, I must confess. Montgomery's prose dips into the purple every now and then, but not nearly on the scale it does so in the later Anne books. I suspect I'd have liked this much better had I read it as a girl. I'm glad I read it, CLM, thanks.

[dandelion_cottage · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Though perhaps not as famous as Anne of Green Gables, this is my favorite L.M. Montgomery book (and one of my favorite books of all time).

[tjsjohanna_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the things I really like about this book is how Ms. Montgomery occasionally addresses the reader directly. It always tickles my fancy! I can't decide if it lends an air of authenticity to the idea that Emily is a real person, or if it emphasizes the fact that she is fiction. Either way, I like it. Emily discovers the value of discipline in this volume, as well as the loyalty of family. She is such a likeable character - not because she is perfect, but because of all her imperfections and her appealing personality.

[lynn_barker_14 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After the death of her father, young Emily goes to live on New Moon farm with her austere and proud Aunt Elizabeth. A sensitive and imaginative child, she pours out her soul in letters to her dead father. Montgomery's descriptions of the characters in the story as seen through the girl's eyes are fascinating. Emily has a knack for getting in trouble but comes up with amazing ideas to address each problem that comes up. Enjoyable and kept my interest. The proud Murray family, with their stern adherence to tradition, seemed to recall some of my own relatives.

[stewartry · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I did some reflecting in my (review? Essay? Piece?) thing on Emily of New Moon about why I don't love Emily as much as Anne, why I haven't read the trilogy in many years when I won't let a year go by Anne-less. Emily Climbs clarifies the matter a bit more. There is a great deal more cynicism in Emily's world than in Anne's. I was astonished reading the first chapters at Emily's perceptiveness – and, like any perceptive person moving among the unimaginative and less incisive, she has, very young, developed an almost inevitable shell of jaded sarcasm. Mr. Carpenter doesn't call her "Jade" for nothing. I don't class myself with Emily (or Anne) in terms of intelligence or sensitivity, but still, I am of their ilk. Emily weeps over David Copperfield - oh, how I understand that. Aunt Ruth (not of the race that knows Joseph) upbraids her for the tears – crying over people who don't exist! And, with Emily, I protest that of course they exist. In a meta moment, Emily tells her they are as real as Aunt Ruth is – and so they are, of course. But Ruth is part of the force that demonstrates daily for Emily how flat most people's lives are – none of the terrible deep dark moments for them, but also none of the marvellous highs – nor even the small secret pleasures a combination of being able to see and being able to appreciate can bring. Aunt Elizabeth is Marilla without the sense of humor, and with a solid layer of scarring – from the accident with Jimmy to, probably, the fact that she is single in a time and place where spinsterhood is a wretched condition – to prevent most softer emotions … Aunt Laura has her moments, is loving and more willing and able to share it, but is prim and easily shocked. Uncle Jimmy is wonderful – but not comfortable, always; there is the occasional glimpse of what he might have been, of what was all but killed in him by the fall into the well, and you never quite know when it will make an appearance. Dr. Burnley has gone from bitter and cynical to … rather less bitter and cynical, and somewhat excessive. Aunt Ruth … Were I Emily, I think of the two conditions going to school in Shrewsbury, that I would lodge with Aunt Ruth and that I could not write any fiction for three years, the Aunt Ruth half would be worse. Fiction will still be there when it's over; the scars Aunt Ruth might leave will linger forever. Writing fiction is a passion which would not die in three years; living with Aunt Ruth would be torment. And so it was. The idea of the wild, dark vein that exists here but not in most of the rest of L.M.M.'s work intensified as it went on. Emily has a mean streak – not very big, and not well-developed, but expressed now and then in sarcasm and cutting remarks which send people off bleeding and vowing never to mess with her again. And she has an understanding for darkness; she hears goblins as well as wind spirits, and the thought is inescapable that she could have easily gone either way. Had she been raised by Uncle Wallace … I can see her at the age she is ending the trilogy, with a career as a viciously funny writer, slashing more tender folk to shreds and making millions doing it, but treasuring more the string of scalps at her belt than all the money. I think I was too young to get hold of all of this the last time I read Emily, and so these three books were not as enjoyable as the sweet and lovely place that is Anne's Avonlea. Anne has her moments – but compare her handling of Josie Pye to Emily's dealings with the evil Evelyn Blake. Anne wins by taking the high road, and Josie Pye, Pye-like, would never recognize her victory; Emily routs Evelyn foot and horse and leaves her bleeding in the dust. I loved this tale of the teenaged girl beginning to make a mark for herself. The tangled webs, to reference another LMM work, are beginning to tighten, but they aren't too heavy yet; the future is still completely unwritten, or seemingly so, and hope is high. There is a savor of the time and place, not so very long ago or very far away except in everything that matters; good companionship; wonderful writing; pathos in its best sense and moments that made me laugh aloud. Middle books are often maligned and disregarded things, but this is by far my favorite of the three. I'll never again be able to leave Emily out my list of the Montgomery girls I love.

[lfae_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Though I have only read them each once, I think I was fonder of Emily than Anne - given that I actually read all of the Emily books as opposed to only Anne of Green Gables. Penny recommended this to me in grade five or six.

[sablelexi · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love this story as much as the Anne series. It's somewhat more realistic, and some of the things that happen to Emily are much darker and sadder than the things that happen to Anne. Her ability to deal with what life throws at her is not extraordinary (she doesn't always overcome everything easily), but that makes for a good story. If you enjoy the Anne series I highly recommend this one. If you've never read the Anne serie, I still think there's a good chance you'll enjoy this one. And, if you didn't enjoy the Anne series, don't rule this one out, since it is more like real life it might be interesting to you.

[puckrobin · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

While not as endearing as its predessesor, Emily Climbs is nonetheless a delightful installment in the Emily series. In this novel, Emily embarks on the begining of her pursuit of her education and of writing. Her friendships develop and deepen, with one or two taking on entirely new under and overtones. A bit darker by nature than Montgomery's most famous PEI orphan heroine, Anne Shirley, Emily is a contrast in sardonic humour and girlish ideals in a book that paints a sweet, if idealized, picture of Canada just after the turn of the century.

[keycat · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a wonderful, timeless story. I have yet to read Anne of Green Gables but after reading this lesser known book by L. M. Montgomery I plan to read it soon.

[linda2irvine · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"The Flash" is real. I still can't decide who was a better friend to me: Anne or Emily. I recently re-read the entire Emily series. It was even better than I remembered as a girl.

[onlyhope1912 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is my favorite of the Emily novels. She not a child anymore; but she hasn't the romance problems of when she's older. Emily gets locked int he church with mad Mr. Morrison and Teddy comes to save her. Emily boards with her Aunt Ruth while in high school. I can't imagine having to live with stuffy Aunt Ruth. Then Emily discovers a lost boy, and who could forget The Woman who Spanked the King? This is a must read for all Anne of Green Gables fans.

[whitreidtan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What a delightful story. Anne of Green Gables will always own my heart with her flights of fancy but Emily of New Moon can have a sliver of it too, showing that Montgomery could write more than one charming young girl series. The book opens with Emily being told, rather brutally, that her father is dying. Never having gone to school and having had her mother die when she was very small, her father has been Emily's whole world. After his death, her mother's estranged relatives come to collect her and draw straws to see which of them will have to take her, they being the Murrays and always concerned with doing the proper thing as a result of their pride. Emily and her Aunt Elizabeth get off on the wrong foot as Emily knows she is simply a duty to Elizabeth, not a dearly beloved niece but there is hope in the shape of Aunt Laura and Cousin Jimmy. This tale of Emily's life the first several years at New Moon Farm is charming and Emily is, in her own way, as appealing a little miss as Anne, writing poetry and novels (her worry about how to spring one of her characters from a convent, not being Catholic herself and so not quite certain of the rules governing convents, is quite funny) and giving her heart to those who will only love her back. The book also contains delightful stories about the inhabitants of rural PEI, their hopes and dreams and the way that the community intereacts. The book is probably old-fashioned but for those children who appreciate the historical and would like to have had the chance to read by candlelight or wear pinafores and button-up boots, this will be a happy reading experience. I wish I'd found it when I was devouring all the Anne books but I am just as happy to be reading it now as an adult, enjoying the simplicity and sense of peace that pervades the story telling. I will definitely be reading the remaining books in the trilogy.

[callmecordelia1912 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is my favorite of the Emily novels. She not a child anymore; but she hasn't the romance problems of when she's older. Emily gets locked int he church with mad Mr. Morrison and Teddy comes to save her. Emily boards with her Aunt Ruth while in high school. I can't imagine having to live with stuffy Aunt Ruth. Then Emily discovers a lost boy, and who could forget The Woman who Spanked the King? This is a must read for all Anne of Green Gables fans.

[rainbowdarling · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As the middle book of a trilogy, my experience tells me that Emily Climbs should suffer some from too much exposition and not enough "action." This is not the case with this book. Emily Climbs is almost a book unto itself, able to stand alone as well as be enjoyed in the context of the other two novels in the series. The story is enjoyable because of how Emily grows and changes through the story as well as how she reacts and interacts with different characters than in Emily of New Moon. I am a fervent and unabashed lover of Emily.

[kathryngw · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This enchanting bildungsroman book gives the reader view into a young girls life. Set on the beautiful Prince Edward Island, this story is an account of the writer Emily. Emily meets many trails and faces them all dauntlessly with charm, wit and a good dose of Murray pride. All should at least read it, and all kindred writer spirits will love it forever more.

[siusaidh_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a fav LMM book.

[ilovecookies_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Emily is an aspiring writer who is orphaned and forced to live with her strict spinster aunt. Although not as famous as Anne of Green Gables, Emily of New Moon has all the qualities of an L.M. Montgomery book that we all love.

[puttocklibrary · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have always preferred the Emily books to the more famous Anne of Green Gables. The first copy of Emily of New Moon that I owned, I read so often that it fell apart--quite literally. I loved the way Emily thought about and dealt with the world--and then wrote about it in such a quirky and dedicated way.Reading this book always inspired me to want to write in my own journal--never as well or as faithfully as Emily--but it always inspired me. You don't have to be a child to enjoy this charming story, the beginning of a trilogy about Emily's growth to adult-hood in small-town eastern Canada.

[hphhtig · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I also feel like I am too attached to this book to write a review. Despite the purple prose of the time, Emily's character, life and literary ambitions were so appealing to me. I named my only daughter after Emily, choosing the name when I was a teenager and sticking with it even when Emily became the popular name of the year she was born. I know at least one other Emily named after this heroine.

[sflax_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The second, and I believe the best, in L.M. Montgomery's Emily trilogy, it follows Emily's social life and writing life in her teen years. As in most of Montgomery's books, it's the little things that make this one enjoyable - a line here and there at which it is easy to smile.

[wanderlust_lost · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The second installment of the Emily series doesn't disappoint in the least. It's tone is different from the first in just the right ways and Emily is, as always, Emily. I love this book. I can't read it enough. I've read it so often that my copy has split down the middle.

[jedisluzer · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have the sacreligious opinion of liking Emily a little bit more than Anne. I think this is because Emily is a writer, and loves gray cats, and is a bit proud and strange... well, Anne is those things too, but so much more social. Emily isn't a charmer like Anne. But I get along with her.

[pandoragreen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book, and reread it several times as a child. Emily's slow smile, and her "magic curtain", her love of books and of words, all of these things have stayed with me.