Emily of New Moon (Emily #1)

Ahmad Sharabiani

Rating: really liked it
Emily of New Moon (Emily of New Moon #1), L.M. Montgomery

Emily of New Moon is the first in a series of novels by Lucy Maud Montgomery about an orphan girl growing up in Canada. It was first published in 1923.

The Emily novels depicted life through the eyes of a young orphan girl, Emily Starr, who is raised by her relatives after her father dies of tuberculosis.

Montgomery considered Emily to be a character much closer to her own personality than Anne, and some of the events which occur in the Emily series happened to Montgomery herself.

Emily is described as having black hair, purply violet eyes, elfin ears, pale skin and a unique and enchanting "slow" smile.

تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز دوم ماه ژانویه سال 2016میلادی

عنوان: امیلی در نیومون؛ نویسنده: لوسی مود (ماد) مونتگمری؛ مترجم: سارا قدیانی؛ ویراستار محبوبه کرمی؛ تهران، قدیانی، 1394، در 560ص؛ شابک 9786002514011؛ شابک دوره 9786002514042؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان کانادا سده 20م

زندگی دختر جوان «امیلی استار» است؛ دخترکی که پس از مرگ پدر، خانواده ی مادری اش، سرپرستی او را میپذیرند؛ داستان «امیلی» بیشتر واقعگرایانه است، و بیشتر رخدادها برای نویسنده ی کتاب، پیش آمده است؛

نقل از متن کتاب (...؛ امیلی گفت: کاش آدمها از همان لحظه ی تولد همه چیز یادشان میماند؛ اینطوری خیلی جالب میشد؛ پدر لبخندی زد، و گفت: فکر کنم آنطوری کلی خاطره های ناجور، ذهنمان را پر میکرد؛ البته در مورد تو صدق نمیکرد، چون تو کوچولوی خوش مشربی بودی امیلی؛ ...؛)؛ پایان نقل

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 28/07/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 24/06/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

Ruby Granger

Rating: really liked it
At first, I actually liked this more than the Anne books. Like Anne, Emily observes and sees beauty in everything around her; however, she is even more of a writer than Anne. She tries to articulate all of the lovely things she sees, and then Montgomery shares this poetry with us. It is a treasure trove of nature writing. Having said that though, I ended up not liking the plot so much. Maybe it's that the characters are less striking and likeable, but I started to find it a little tiresome three quarters in. To be fair though, that's probably because I'm reading it as an adult.

Wendy Darling

Rating: really liked it
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April (Aprilius Maximus)

Rating: really liked it
Oh how I wish this was written in our time because this would be so, so gay. Emily and Ilse belong together and we all know Nancy and Caroline are a thing. What a heckin shame.
Also, CATS.
That's it. That's the review.

Duane

Rating: really liked it
Emily of New Moon is right up there with Anne of Green Gables. Emily Byrd Starr is another timeless and unforgettable character from the mind of L.M. Montgomery.
She's more serious and complex than Anne but just as stubborn and just as lovable. Written for teens and young adults, but anyone can enjoy this wonderful classic.

Helene Jeppesen

Rating: really liked it
In many ways, this book ressembles "Anne of Green Gables" a lot. It speaks of a young girl who admires the world's beauty while growing up amongst family and friends. However, "Emily of New Moon" touched me a lot more. There was something about Emily and her personality that appealed to me a lot. The same goes for her struggles which, in my opinion, were really cruel and harsh and made me care for her even more.
I also really liked the fact that Emily actually grows up in this book and goes out a little bit in the world (something that I missed in Anne of Green Gables). All of this made sure that I was never bored, and I gradually grew to care a lot about poor and sweet Emily.
Emily is an aspiring writer/poetess, and this novel does contain long passages of diary entries which I had to get used to. Nevertheless, I grew to appreciate even those because they added very much to her story and her growing up. All in all, a really endearing and honest story that I'm keen on continuing very soon with the next novel in the series.

Carolyn Marie Castagna

Rating: really liked it
4/4.5 stars*
🌟🌟🌟🌟
There is something quite magical about the way L. M. Montgomery weaved words together! She captured innocence, whimsy, imagination, ambitious, family, love, and friendship in a very singular way!
I loved following Emily's story, and I'm very excited to continue on with reading the next two books in this trilogy!
I will say, I do prefer Anne of Green Gables. Anne holds a very near and dear place in my heart, which I don't think will ever change! With that being said, I thoroughly enjoyed Emily of New Moon and being back with Ms. Montgomery's enchanting words!

Katharine

Rating: really liked it
Emily of New Moon has a much darker quality than the Anne of Green Gables series – and Emily as a character is not nearly as likable or sweet as Anne. But she seems real. Although LMM tends to stylize/idealize her heroines a little, you can sense the three-dimensional quality of Emily's personality from the first chapter. Anne is 3D too, of course, but Anne's character tends to emerge little by little, whereas Emily dominates her story right from the start. And there's plenty of attention to Emily's worst qualities – pride and a nasty temper being the main two. As beloved as Anne is, Emily has more interesting possibilities. When I read these books as a child, I identified less with Emily, but found her fascinating all the same. And rereading as an adult, I'm more aware of the way LMM is playing with twists on the expected in these books.

The plot follows basically the same arc as Anne of Green Gables, with orphaned Emily coming to live in a farmhouse on Price Edward Island; but whereas in Anne you get comic scenes like Diana and the cordial, or apologizing to Mrs. Rachel Lynde – in Emily you get adultery, hatred, gossip, and several extremely creepy, possibly psychotic characters. Teddy's mother is horrible, and Dean Priest a little weird – I notice the dark tone so much more rereading now than I did fifteen years ago!

Bottom line: One of LMM's more complex and interesting stories and heroines, if not as heartwarming and lovely as the Anne series.

Manybooks

Rating: really liked it
Even more so than L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series, her Emily of New Moon trilogy novels (Emily of New Moon, Emily Climbs and Emily's Quest) have always been absolutely and utterly personal favourites, and mostly so because while I have definitely and certainly enjoyed reading about Anne Shirley, her bubbly extrovertedness is not and can never be even remotely as close to me and to my own rather internal and quiet personality as equally imaginative and dreamy as Anne Shirley but also considerably more introverted Emily Byrd Starr. For indeed, Emily is absolutely and totally I, and a character, a persona to whom I can therefore relate much better and with considerably more ease than to either Anne Shirley and yes also to Emily's main sidekick and best friend Ilse Burnley who most certainly is an enjoyable and interestingly enough depicted character but who is also much too external and often considerably too all over the place, even bordering on the extreme for my personal reading tastes.

Now aside from my emotional kinship and attachment to young Emily Byrd Starr, I guess what has always made the Emily novels so special, so encouraging and uplifting (and indeed all of them, but my favourite is most definitely this here first novel, is Emily of New Moon) is that even with tragedies, sadness and emotional neglect being often rather overtly and painfully described by L.M. Montgomery (and in a manner so detailed and laden with pathos that she obviously seems to be writing from her own personal experience here), Emily is always able to keep engaging in her passion and need for writing even when especially her Aunt Elizabeth staunchly and rather unbendingly at first disapproves (and of course primarily and delightfully with Cousin Jimmy's help, who is probably one of my most favourite male L.M. Montgomery's male characters, period, richly and with exquisite and loving detail depicted, possessing a total and sweetly pure heart of gold and who is in fact also more than willing to unconditionally forgive Aunt Elizabeth for having pushed him into the New Moon well when they were children, even though this has had a lasting both physically and mentally painful effect on him).

And most definitely, I have certainly always in the Emily novels much preferred Cousin Jimmy as a character to say Aunt Laura, who while sweet tempered and always sympathetic towards Emily, is actually a rather pale and paper thin character with not much if any backbone and fight so to speak (and if truth be told, I do even rather prefer Aunt Elizabeth as a character to Aunt Laura, for while there is not really anything to Aunt Laura, Aunt Elizabeth always does appear as a real flesh and blood individual, as a character who might indeed be hard, severe and not always very sympathetic and empathetic towards her niece, towards Emily, but who still is a much more richly nuanced character than Laura who mostly just appears as a one dimensional leaf in my humble opinion). And yes indeed, I also do very much love love love how slowly but surely throughout the course of Emily of New Moon, both Emily and Aunt Elizabeth start to increasingly understand and appreciate one another until by the end of the novel, the latter considers her niece no longer merely an inconvenient duty and burden, no longer just the unloved and loathsome offspring of Juliet Murray's and Douglas Starr's unapproved of elopement and marriage, but a beloved and increasingly appreciated child (so eloquently and warmly depicted at the end of Emily of New Moon during Elizabeth's vigil at Emily's bedside when Emily is seriously and frighteningly ill with the measles, and where Elizabeth finally does admit to her sister Laura just how much she loves her niece and how much Emily actually has come to mean to her).

And now finally (but for and to me very much importantly), I do have to admit that I have aways had a somewhat difficult time accepting those dissenting voices which seem to imply that the character of Dean Priest is somehow and supposedly a pedophile (although I still do respect those readers who find him creepy, as what my reading tastes and viewpoints are, are of course not necessarily those of other readers). However and the above having been said, I personally do still NOT in any manner consider Dean Priest a potential pedophile (never have and never will), since his interest in Emily is (and in the first novel, in Emily of New Moon especially) entirely spiritual in nature, that he is not at all interested in Emily in a sexual and physical manner whatsoever, but in my opinion simply recognises and appreciates a kindred soul (as yes, Emily herself also does with him). And truthfully, aside from Cousin Jimmy and main protagonist Emily Byrd Starr, Dean Priest is probably also one of my favourite characters in Montgomery's Emily of New Moon series, well, at least until the third novel, until Emily's Quest, where Dean becomes more and more jealous of Emily's writing and actually causes (coerces) her to destroy, to burn her manuscript and then to be so devastated by this that she falls down the stairs and seriously injures herself. And yes, I do hope that those readers who tend to consider Dean Priest as a problematic individual and perhaps even as somewhat pedophilic will NOT now equally consider me thus, but be that as it may, I have indeed always adored Dean Priest (at least in the first two Emily novels, in both Emily of New Moon and Emily Climbs) and indeed until Dean's jealousy and almost stalker like clinginess in Emily's Quest, I for one had also kind of wanted Dean and Emily to become a couple as I just do not all that much like Teddy Kent as Emily's love interest (finding him a nicely enough conceptualised character but with not all that much which I personally would find either stimulating or engaging, and the same holds true for Perry Miller I might add, whom I do find more interesting than Teddy Kent but still not really of much narrative substance).

Rachel Aranda

Rating: really liked it
My heart overflows with love for this book. I completely understand the love and admiration so many people have for the characters and author of this series!

I read “Jane of Lantern Hill” back in April and May of this year. I really enjoyed it and became determined to read more by Mrs. Montgomery. It was a little ridiculous how long it took me to choose between all the book options available. (Color me impressed that she wrote so many novels throughout her life.) Being in a reading funk didn’t help either... I heard somewhere that Emily is more biographical a character than her others, which made me want to read this series. Will definitely read a biography on her in the future.

This book was delightful! It completely got me out of the reading funk I was in. I'd read books that were really good but I was feeling like I just didn't want to read for some reason. The characters all come alive and are memorable in their own ways. What’s interesting is how Mrs. Montgomery showcased the faults and strengths that each character has. She gives you hope they’ll change their faults but realistic knowledge that they might not. I will forever be sad that these characters don’t exist AND that I will never meet them.

EVERYONE should read L.M. Montgomery sometime in their life. I’m reading her later in life (in my 20s) but I can see myself rereading this series throughout my life. Highly recommend for those wanting a nice middle grade read that has a mix of fun and sadness of situations that many people can relate to like death of a loved one, loss of friendship, finding a BFF, being the new kid, ect.

June G

Rating: really liked it
Before Maud's Betsy-Tacy series had its Emily, bless our souls, Lucy Maud had hers. And I say "bless our souls" in the most literal sense, because time spent with either Emily can feed an inner flame reduced to the faintest flicker by heartbreak, doubt and despair. But please--Emily Byrd Starr is no shrinking violet. Here we have a fierce, free-spirited young iconoclast who, even more than Anne with an "e", has a thing or two to teach any adult with enough sense (and imagination) to listen.

Rikke

Rating: really liked it
Emily. My dearest Emily; my childhood friend and childhood idol, my inspiration and my consolation. There are books so special, read in such a tender age, that they become part of you. I wouldn't be the person that I am today if it wasn't for Emily Byrd Starr.

“It had always seemed to Emily, ever since she could remember, that she was very, very near to a world of wonderful beauty. Between it and herself hung only a thin curtain; she could never draw the curtain aside-- but sometimes, just for a moment, a wind fluttered it and then it was as if she caught a glimpse of the enchanting realm beyond-- only a glimpse-- and heard a note of unearthly music.”

Emily is a dreamer. A hopeful artist, poetry-writer, and a whimsical little creature with pointed ears and almost violet eyes. She is touched with a child's honesty and a strong sense of righteousness. She is constantly making up beautiful scenes in her mind, and she cannot write them down fast enough. But even though her pen is in constant motion, her mouth is hardly ever moved. She is quiet. Not necessarily because she is shy, but because she is cautious of her words; she doesn't spill them randomly. She values them.

Emily's life is bittersweet. While she is able to perceive all the glistening beauty in the world, she is touched by sorrow, her father's death and the stern eyes and expectations of her aunts. She is constantly misunderstood by everyone – even herself. But still, she lives. She hopes, dreams, laughs and she lives. She is able to observe and appreciate the little wonders in life, which people so easily overlook. She is someone to admire and someone to aspire to.

“She will love deeply, she will suffer terribly, she will have glorious moments to compensate.”

Even now, this story pulls at my heartstrings. Emily still wins my heart, over and over again. As I started to reread this cherished book this morning, I thought I would just read a chapter or two, but I couldn't put the book down. I am completely under Emily's spell, and yet again I find myself wondering how my childhood would have been without her. Would it be there at all?

Elinor Loredan

Rating: really liked it
2021 reread:
The Anne books are a warm gold. The Emily ones are a deep, rich purple. And I will never settle which I like better, just as I cannot choose between the the sun and moon.
*****
It's interesting, because I think I'd be a little afraid to meet Emily because of the scrutiny with which she approaches people-although I do that myself!

I love her spunk, though. When she hid under the table to listen to the family conclave and was retorting furiously to them in her mind, I immediately thought, "I like this girl!" I also feel like I relate more to Emily than to Anne. Emily is more brooding and withdrawn like me, whereas Anne is someone I wish I was like.

Delight and magic are found in Emily's fancies, such as the Wind Woman, and in the characters Cousin Jimmy and Father Cassidy. But what I love most about the book is what I have in common with Emily: the glory, relief, and fascination of writing things out. Writing words, the choicest I can think of, with a pen has always been one of the greatest feelings for me, whether they compose thoughts, 'deskripshuns', or stories. Like Emily, I tend to think of my experiences in terms of how I would write them out, and so I read the letters to her father with much sympathy and interest.

Sarah

Rating: really liked it
When I was little, my mom passed on to me and my sister all of her glorious, hard-back books from her childhood. Louisa May Alcott, Gay Melody (look it up), and, her favorites, The Anne books. She told us how her father, the quiet newspaper editor, took her to the library and insisted she had to read about Anne Shirley. Something about the book jacket made Mom sneer, but her dad insisted, so she read it. As we all know had to happen, Mom fell in love. And when her daughters were old enough, she insisted we had to read them. Her older daughter appreciated them, but her younger daughter (yours truly) was the true kindred spirit.

Mom told me she was just sure there had been more books, but her collection stopped at Anne of Ingleside. Then one day, Mom went to the grocery store, which meant I got to go to the bookstore in the same strip mall. There it was: Rainbow Valley. Then in a few more months, my personal favorite of the Anne books, Rilla of Ingleside. A publisher had decided to re-release the Anne books. But then came more.

I'd always loved Anne. I am a kindred spirit, after all. But she and I would never have been quite bosom friends. Emily Byrd Starr, though. Oh, Emily and I are cut from the same cloth. First reading Emily of New Moon when I was about the age Emily is in that book was like coming home.

I read Emily's Quest regularly, whenever I'm feeling particularly tempestuous. But it occurred to me this weekend I don't think I've actually read the entire series from the start for many, many years. Since I'm feeling rather dark and stormy, now seemed a good time. I think it was the right choice because while I will never be able to recapture the thrill of finding Emily for the first time, I will never be sorry to spend my time with her.

Megan Baxter

Rating: really liked it
With this review, we're revisiting another one of my old favourite, my comfort reads, the books I can still pick up and read with a great deal of pleasure, almost as much as when I was curled up in my bed as a girl, discovering this world for the first time. Which is all to say that this review is naturally heavily coloured by all of who I was and who I am now, and how this book has fit into my personal mythology for many, many years.

Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.

In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook