Lucy and Anne

I love the Anne books by Lucy Maud Montgomery. For my 7th birthday my Aunt Barbara gave the full set and the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder (which I will gush about at a later date). I read Anne's story numerous times in my single and double digit years. I love them so much that, when I graduated from college, my mother and I took a road trip to Prince Edward Island to see where Lucy was born, where she lived, the inspiration for the forest and fields in the books, and her grave. I love them so much that my all-time favorite movie scene is from You've Got Mail: a customer tells Meg Ryan (owner of a children's book store) that when she bought Anne of Green Gables she was advised to read it with a box of tissues. I cry and laugh every time!

Well, 2008 is the 100th anniversary of the publication of Anne of Green Gables. There is a new book out on Lucy, called Looking for Anne of Green Gables: the Story of L.M. Montgomery and her Literary Classic as well as reprints of the books themselves. And in the September 19, 2008 Globe and Mail Lucy's granddaughter speaks out about the crippling depression Lucy suffered with her entire life. In fact, she reveals that Lucy actually died from an intentional drug overdose - suicide. It's a heartbreaking article and I think the revelations will force us to read Anne with new eyes.