The Marriage Plot in L.M. Montgomery’s Emily Books, with a Guest Appearance by RobertBurns

Recently my friend M.T. Anderson read Emily of New Moon, at my recommendation. I felt a fool for suggesting it to him—if you know his books, you understand—but he outwitted me, loving its “meandering, summery pacing, the nuanced characterization” (Anderson). He was also struck by Montgomery’s description of a phenomenon he, too, experiences—a sudden, ecstatic, glimpse of the sublime. This was, of course, Emily’s flash. I’m mentioning it here because it’s consequential to my friend, but since the flash has never come to me, I can’t say much more.