Kate Scarth

And they wanted, you know, they wanted to be producing their own F. Scott Fitzgerald and Hemingway and showing that Canadians could do modernist too.

And that was not what Montgomery was doing.

And so she was really used as like, almost like the punching bag for like, this is not the direction we want Canadian literature to go in.

We don't want it to be sentimental and for children and we want it to be real life.

Absolutely.

And I think that readers and fans always loved Montgomery's work, you know, no matter what these critics were saying.

And people continue to read Anna Green Gables and other books by Montgomery.

But it was very distressing to her, even though she had a lot of success, was a celebrity in her lifetime, and was very interested in promoting Canadian writers.

She helped establish the Canadian Authors Association.

So then for these modernist writers to

to turn around and exclude her from the national stage in many ways was very difficult.

But yeah, we remember her name now when we don't remember many of her critics.

One of my absolute favorites is Heather Fawcett's The Grace of Wild Things, which is just, I think, an amazing work of art itself.

A middle grade book that is Anna Green Gables meets Hansel and Gretel.

And I like that.

I mean, I like it as a book in itself.

It's a great story and great characters and a great sense of place.

But I love that she draws out the dark elements that are present in Montgomery's writing.

I think, you know, they're there in terms of Anne's backstory as an orphan.

But in other books, she explores that dark side in more detail.