To mark International Women’s Day, Historica Canada has released a new Heritage Minute that tells the story of Island author Lucy Maud Montgomery in her own words, as drawn from her journals.
The Heritage Minute explores Montgomery’s struggle with depression and social conventions of the early 20th century as she faces early rejection from publishers who sent back her manuscript for “Anne of Green Gables”.
“The Heritage Minute is kind of a visual poem,” said Ryan Barnett, producer at Historica Canada. ‘It’s a beautiful piece.”
Lucy Maud Montgomery
Early life: Born in New London, P.E.I., in 1874, she went to live with her grandparents in Cavendish at the age of 21 months, following the death of her mother.
Career: Montgomery wrote 20 novels, more than 500 short stories and 500 poems.
Literary classic: Her work, “Anne of Green Gables”, published in 1908, has been adapted into at least 36 languages and has sold more than 50 million copies worldwide.
Shot on P.E.I. and Ontario, Barnett said crews were on P.E.I. for six days in September, along with actresses Meghan Greeley and Nadia Tonen, capturing the exterior shots in Cape Tryon and Thunder Cove.
“The nice thing about shooting this Heritage Minute was all the production value was right there on P.E.I.,” said Barnett. “You can’t really compete with those landscapes.”
The interior shots were captured in a heritage home in Ontario.
To ensure historical accuracy, three consultants were involved in the production of this Heritage Minute, including Elizabeth Epperly, a former UPEI president and founder of the LM Montgomery Institute at UPEI.
Epperly’s appreciation of Montgomery began in her home state of Virginia when, at the age of five, her father read “Anne of Green Gables” to her and her sister.
Eppelry eventually went on to study at the University of Prince Edward Island in 1969.
“I just wanted so badly to see what it was like,” said Epperly on her move to P.E.I.
She stayed much longer than she anticipated and went on to change her citizenship, becoming a Canadian citizen.
She now lives in Fredericton, N.B., but visits P.E.I. regularly.
Her involvement with the Heritage Minute relied heavily on her extensive knowledge of Montgomery.
She provided writers with input for the script, wardrobe pieces and heritage home.
“Every image and every word matters so much when you only have one minute.”
Epperly says she finds the launch of this Heritage Minute on International Women’s Day fitting, since Montgomery was a strong advocate for women.
She wrote at a time when there were few serious women writers. She was also the breadwinner at home, paying for her children’s schooling, books and luxuries.
Epperly said she loves the finished version of the Heritage Minute.
She particularly enjoys the scene where Montgomery is standing at Cape Tryon saying, “I love this colourful little Island of ruby, emerald and sapphire”.
“I think they did a wonderful job,” said Epperly.
This Heritage Minute was produced by Historica Canada and Route Eleven. Heritage Minutes began in 1991, originally by the CRB Foundation. Historica Canada relaunched the program in 2012.
LM Montgomery is the 89th Heritage Minute and the 15th Heritage Minute since the relaunch.
“It’s nice to be able to do something on this Canadian author, and we hope people appreciate it and learn a little bit more about LM Montgomery,” said Barnett.
