Adult Fiction
Reviewed by Angela from the Manitou branch
Although based on personal journals published after her death, After Anne is the fictional account of Lucy Maud Montgomery's life.
Maud (the name she preferred and went by), recopied and edited her journals around 1919 when she was in her mid-forties, removing several pages. Later, towards the end of her life, she burned many of her private letters and papers, leaving some gaps in her life story that have always fascinated the author. In After Anne, Steiner tries to fill in some of those gaps based on her own research into Maud's life, although no one will ever know the true story of certain aspects of her life, as there were some things that Maud obviously didn't want to share with her public audience.
The story begins as Maud is about to publish her first Anne of Green Gables novel at a time when her life is full of promise, good friends, and a new fiancée, the local minister, Ewan.
Throughout the book, we see how Maud is the alter ego of her famous and beloved fictional character, even as she longs to be more like Anne. Anne is bubbly, eternally optimistic, irreverent, and defiant, while Maud is proper, sensible and restrained by a strong sense of duty. Maud even postpones her wedding to Ewan for several years to continue taking care of her frail grandmother.
While her public persona as a celebrated author seems positive and exciting, Maud's personal life becomes more tragic with the loss of her dearest friend and her husband's decline into mental illness and prescription drug abuse. It is the voice of Anne in her head that helps her deal with the challenges, until that voice isn't there anymore.
This is a beautiful read; poignant and sad, but an excellent tribute to a great literary talent.
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