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Manybooks’s review of The Fragrance of Sweet-Grass: L.M. Montgomery's Heroines and the Pursuit of Romance

Manybooks's Reviews > The Fragrance of Sweet-Grass: L.M. Montgomery's Heroines and the Pursuit of Romance

The Fragrance of Sweet-Grass by Elizabeth Rollins Epperly
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Although I have indeed found The Fragrance of Sweet-Grass: L.M. Montgomery's Heroines and the Pursuit of Romance both insightful and often very much intellectually enlightening, personally (as well as from an intellectual and academic point of departure) I also really do not tend to believe that Lucy Maud Montgomery's oeuvre is to be simply seen (and like author Elizabeth Rollins Epperly does in my opinion seem to strongly claim and insinuate) as the pursuit of romance, that basically all or at least most of Montgomery's heroines have first and foremost love and marriage in mind.

For while love is of course and indeed important in and to L.M. Montgomery's writing (and as such of course also to and for her diverse heroines), I for one have actually never really thought that romance is or should be considered the be all and end all of Montgomery's fiction in general, because indeed, from where I stand and have always been standing, while romantic love and affection might well and to a certain point be the fuel that fires much of the Anne of Green Gables series, I certainly DO NOT consider this to be all that much the case with regard to for example L.M. Montgomery's Emily of New Moon novels, where Emily Byrd Starr’s only striving to become a writer but also to become accepted by both her family and society as a writer in my opinion absolutely and massively trump everything else, including Emily's romantic interests and considerations (I mean, even though at the end of Emily's Quest, Emily Byrd Starr and Teddy Kent are engaged to be married, for me, that Emily has finally had her novel published and by a very prestigious publishing house at that, this is, always has been and always will be more important and essential than the former, than Emily and Teddy finally appearing as a couple).

And furthermore, while I have certainly found Elizabeth Rollins Epperly's musings in The Fragrance of Sweet-Grass: L.M. Montgomery's Heroines and the Pursuit of Romance regarding Jane Stuart and Patricia Gardiner (from Jane of Lantern Hill and the two Pat of Silver Bush novels) interesting and do indeed also agree with her assessment that Patricia Gardiner's extremism with regard to her attachment to Silver Bush is not all that healthy, is actually strange and almost problematically pathological, I also do not really consider either Jane or Pat as being pursuant of romance (unless I were to take their love of home as a replacement for romantic and people oriented affection, which I guess I could, but no, I will not, as doing so would both feel a bit strange and yes, its would certainly tarnish my love of Jane of Lantern Hill if I were to consider Lantern Hill as an entity to which Jane Stuart is romantically linked and attached). Therefore, while I do agree with Elizabeth Rollins Epperly that romance and the pursuit thereof is important and often present in the writing of L.M. Montgomery, I personally do NOT in fact consider it as essential to and for L.M. Montgomery's oeuvre and yes almost forsaking everything else as the author tries to demonstrate in and with The Fragrance of Sweet-Grass: L.M. Montgomery's Heroines and the Pursuit of Romance.
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Reading Progress

February 4, 2020 – Started Reading
February 11, 2020 – Shelved
February 11, 2020 – Shelved as: l-m-montgomery
February 11, 2020 – Shelved as: literary-criticism-children
February 11, 2020 – Shelved as: book-reviews
February 11, 2020 – Finished Reading

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message 1: by Abigail (new)

Abigail I would think that finding romantic love, in Montgomery's work, is important partly because it is part of the larger quest (and what I think IS central to her books) to find love in general, and a sense of home and belonging. Sometimes that involves finding romantic love, and sometimes it involves finding other kinds of love.


Manybooks Abigail wrote: "I would think that finding romantic love, in Montgomery's work, is important partly because it is part of the larger quest (and what I think IS central to her books) to find love in general, and a ..."

It is important, yes, but I do think that the author makes romance a be too much of the be all and end all.


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