Jane of Lantern Hill

Jane is a child so cowed in the beginning and her experiences at Lantern Hill bring out her personality wonderfully. Any signs of it that had shown up in her earlier pre-Lantern-Hill days were mercilessly suppressed by Grandmother, one of two truly malicious personalities in this story.When the father she'd thought was dead most of her life "sends for her," what is she to do but dread the very thought of leaving her dear mother, as her father had clearly made her mother so unhappy? Doomed to a summer on Prince Edward Island with a stranger, Jane discovers herself her father's daughter & blossoms away from her grandmother's contemptuous care. Aunt Irene, her father's sister, is the other, though she wraps up her sneering & condescending comments in an irreproachable sweetness of manner Jane sees through right away.Back in Toronto after a glorious summer, Jane holds her own with her vicious & nasty grandmother & her personality shines through, though her beloved mother can see Jane is now her own person & also very much like her father.I wish Jane's PEI friends had regular names, but I know that's an LM Montgomery characterization I've just had to tolerate. The Jimmy Johns, Mrs. Jimmy John, "Punch," "Shingle," "Young John," "Ding-Dong" - they don't seem real compared to her friend Jody in Toronto, who is much more fully characterized.And...the description of Lantern Hill...and its garden...and its spool bed ... and Aunt Irene's jabs ... it's a bit ... tiring to read.... though that must be very naughty, as Aunt Irene would say. I have this book in Kindle format and if I could figure out a way to count each ellipsis... well...Also, it's hard to come to the conclusion that her parents really do belong together. Of course one roots for them, for Jane's sake & romance's sake, and perhaps the years they've spent apart, though building up bitterness & loss, will have matured them & brought them closer to being compatible.The main delight is Jane & her evolution & the triumph over the characters determined at all costs to keep her from loving both her mother and father, not to mention them loving one another.

I started this book expecting quirky, home spun humor that I’ve experienced in the past from Montgomery, but this book only exhibited those anticipated quirky sparks in spots. I almost stopped reading a number of times, but on the strength of the Anne & the Emily series, I persevered. Once Jane moved to the island and away from the oppressiveness of her Grandmother’s Toronto house, the book became so much better. Sadly, it seemed that wasn’t before the halfway point. When Jane finds out she has a Father, he is alive, not dead, and yes, he invites her to stay with him on PEI – Jane becomes a different person. Lantern Hill’s magic and her father’s personality work to bloom Jane into a person that has a spine of steel and she becomes her own person. I found it very Montgomeryish, when Jane rushes off in the rain, gets sick, which pulls both her parents together in a real drama, drama moment and that leads to a family, second chance, happy, ever after. The second part of the book was a solid 4 stars, but since the first part was sad and depressing, I had to rad it down, even so; I’m glad I read the book.

"Jane of Lantern Hill", first published in 1937, was one of L.M. Montgomery's last completed novels. The story takes place in Toronto and on Prince Edward Island, two venues very familiar to Montgomery.As the story opens, Jane Stuart is an awkward ten year old living with her mother Robin and Grandmother Kennedy in a old mansion in Toronto. Grandmother Kennedy runs a strict household, keeping Jane and her mother tightly under her thumb. Jane's only friend is the poor orphan Jodi, living next door as a charity case in a boarding house. Jane has a rich imagination and budding domestic skills, both stunted by her Grandmother's repressive ways.Jane's life changes when her father, previously unknown to her, writes to demand that she spend the summer with him on Prince Edward Island. Jane will discover, to her joy, that her father is a kindred spirit, who is prepared to let her take on the running of their new household at Lantern Hill. In a magical summer, Jane blossoms, learning through trial and error, making friends and becoming a capable, confident young person.A different Jane returns to Toronto, prepared to face down her grandmother and to make a place for herself at school. Jane will defy all her controlling relatives to take on one last challenge, hoping to bring her mother and father back together again.Jane Stuart is a modest type of heroine. She is too young for romance; her challenges are the more age-appropriate ones of mastering domestic skills and herself. "Jane of Lantern Hill" is an engaging, feel-good story, highly recommended to fans of "Anne of Green Gables". It is a real shame that L.M. Montgomery never managed to write the sequel she apparently contemplated for "Jane of Lantern Hill."

Lovely characters and beautifully descriptive scenes. I loved Jane from the first page. Thank you for sharing your talents with all of us.

Jane of Lantern Hill was written late in Montgomery's career. It's missing some of the delightful innocence of the Anne books. It's interesting to speculate where the difference is because of where Maud was in her life emotionally or it it was simply Jane's character. Regardless, it was still a sweet tale of a young girl finally finding where she belongs. It was a beautiful thing to watch her blossom into her true self. I will admit there were tears at the end.4.5 stars

I first read this book over sixty years ago, when I was seven or eight years old. It was a school reading book, which meant that I could read it in school time but I could not take it home. I absolutely loved it and smuggled it out of school to finish at home because I could not bear to leave it behind. As I re-read it now and consider the adult themes of the book, I am quite surprised that I found it so enjoyable. However, the magic of a great writer was there - it drew me in from the first page, I identified with the heroine and felt her joys and woes, was sobered by her predicament and understood the world better at the end of it. Above all, for an eight year old, it had a happy ending and made the world seem a safer place, because the problems were resolved and Jane became happy. I had no idea that LM Montgomery was the famous author of the Anne of Avonlea books, because I had never heard of them.Reading it as an adult, I can see that it is a little different from most of LM Montgomery's books, the prose a little darker than in the Avonlea books and not very typical of Montgomery's usual themes, either. I think it might be more suited to the tastes of modern children, who are accustomed to books dealing with difficult themes.

I loved this, the last book that L M Montgomery wrote. It's heroine Jane, is young, like Anne of Green Gables, but is dreadfully unhappy, living in Toronto with her mother in the home of her Grandmother. But it isn't home. Her father is dead, her mother is always out socialising, and her grandmother cannot speak without criticism. It makes for a truly miserable upbringing for Jane. Until, that is, she finds that not only is her father not dead, but she must spend the Summer with him on Prince Edward Island. This was a lovely read and especially as it was one of Montgomery's that I had never heard of. Recently re-published by Virago Classics, it comes with a wonderful cover.

I believe this is one of the best of L M Montgomery's books.Eleven year old Jane's life is allowed to blossom when given freedom and love by the father who is estranged from her mother by a domineering gradmother. When Jane went to live with her dad fo a summer holiday she finds the confidence to cook, organize a home, love and encourage those around her as her father's love and belief in her bring change in her life. Her intellectual gifts are set free also.This book was written, I suppose, for teenagers of the early twentieth century, but had a lot to offer an adult (an octogenarian in the twenty-first century!)

A heartwarming tale of how love triumphs over all. Readers who haven’t yet met Jane are in for a treat. Enjoy this unashamedly romantic tale of eternal truths.

Lucy Maud Montgomery's depiction of both beauty and the ugliness of surroundings is magnificently portrayed in this gentle novel. The contrast between Jane's home with her grandmother and that of her father on Prince Edward Island is skilfully drawn. Jane's gradual maturity from a gauche child into a confident, resourceful and more insightful teenager is carefully developed.