House of Dreams: The Life of L.M. Montgomery

House of Dream: The Life
of L.M. Montgomery
by Liz Rosenberg

From the publisher:
"An affecting biography of the author of Anne of Green Gables is the first for young readers to include revelations about her last days and to encompass the complexity of a brilliant and sometimes troubled life.

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Maud who adored stories. When she was fourteen years old, Maud wrote in her journal, "I love books. I hope when I grow up to be able to have lots of them." Not only did Maud grow up to own lots of books, she wrote twenty-four of them herself as L. M. Montgomery, the world-renowned author of Anne of Green Gables. For many years, not a great deal was known about Maud’s personal life. Her childhood was spent with strict, undemonstrative grandparents, and her reflections on writing, her lifelong struggles with anxiety and depression, her "year of mad passion," and her difficult married life remained locked away, buried deep within her unpublished personal journals. Through this revealing and deeply moving biography, kindred spirits of all ages who, like Maud, never gave up "the substance of things hoped for" will be captivated anew by the words of this remarkable woman. "

I can't say that I enjoyed reading this book because it was very painful through a lot of it, but it was highly interesting. Why do artistic brilliance and mental illness generally seem to walk hand in hand? I've always wondered that. What a sad, sad life our Maud had. I'm glad she had dreams that she could write about. I will always be thankful for her amazing books and wish that her life could have had the happy endings she wrote about. 

Even though this was an interesting and enthralling read (I read it in a day), I wasn't thrilled with the writing. It lacked cohesion, jumping around and then going back. Many stories were repeated in different sections of the book. The author kept pointing out Anne's similarities to Maud and yet almost wholly ignored the much more pronounced similarities of Emily of New Moon to Maud. I can't remember the source, but I do remember hearing that Maud herself said that Emily was much more autobiographical than Anne, although she used situations from her own life in the Anne books.

This book is marketed as "for young readers", yet there are some serious life issues brought up that might make young readers feel ..... not necessarily disappointed, but maybe just saddened that her life is so different that what we all imagined from reading her books. I'm not sure how well this will circulate once the avid L.M. Montgomery fans get through it, but I still think it is worth it having it available to those readers. 

Areas of concern:
*Abandonment
*A couple of swear words
*Mentions of sex and passion (nothing terribly graphic)
*Much discussion of mental illness
*A family member infects his wife with a venereal disease.
*Drug misuse (not blatant, just ignorant)
*Possible suicide
*My biggest concern is that some readers will wish they hadn't read it because they would rather have the picture they have built in their minds of this much loved author.

Suggested Ages:

Publisher's Weekly - Ages 10+
School Library Journal - Grades 6+

The Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P.T. Barnum

The Great and Only Barnum...
by Candace Fleming

From the publisher:
"Discover the true story of P.T. Barnum, the man who created the world-famous Barnum & Bailey Circus, as featured in the movie The Greatest Showman! 

The award-winning author of The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary, Amelia Lost, and Our Eleanor brings us the larger-than-life biography of showman P. T. Barnum. Known far and wide for his jumbo elephants, midgets, and three-ring circuses, here's a complete and captivating look at the man behind the Greatest Show on Earth. Readers can visit Barnum's American Museum; meet Tom Thumb, the miniature man (only 39 inches tall) and his tinier bride (32 inches); experience the thrill Barnum must have felt when, at age 60, he joined the circus; and discover Barnum's legacy to the 19th century and beyond. Drawing on old circus posters, photographs, etchings, ticket stubs--and with incredible decorative art by Ray Fenwick--this book presents history as it's never been experienced before--a show-stopping event!"

I read this after seeing the movie The Greatest Showman , and I have to say I like Hugh Jackman a lot better than I liked P.T. Barnum after reading this book. It is interesting that the things I didn't admire about P.T. Barnum (his treatment of his family, his lies and "humbuggery"...) were not shown in the movie, but conversely, the things I DID admire about the real man (he insisted his employees acted circumspectly and dressed modestly, he was a huge philanthropist...) were not brought out in the movie, either. I watched the movie with the director's commentary and he said, "We didn't let the truth stand in the way of a good story" (or something like that). He said they made the movie P.T. would have wanted about himself, and I think that is probably true. Who wouldn't want to be portrayed by Hugh Jackman?

Enough about the movie - the book itself was very interesting and informative. I liked the format with the circus-y font emblazoned across a whole page for every new chapter and the boxes with interesting facts on almost every page. I learned a lot, and it was never boring. But then, how could a book about the stupendous P.T. Barnum be boring?

Suggested Ages:
Kirkus Reviews - Ages 10-14
School Library Journal - Grades 6+