Reviews

Along the Shore: Tales by the Sea by L.M. Montgomery, Rea Wilmshurst

jgintrovertedreader's review against another edition

3.0

These stories are primarily ones that never saw the light of day after being published in magazines in Montgomery's lifetime. There's a reason for that. I love reading more my L.M. Montgomery, but these are not my favorites. Maybe because they're grouped together by theme? The stories get very repetitive. And some of the stories showed up as scenes in her books. Fans of Montgomery should read these, but don't pick this up expecting to fall in love with it.

bookishlybeauty's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

3.5

aimeeverret's review against another edition

5.0

Au départ, j'ai eu peur d'être déçue. Et si ce n'était pas aussi bon que je me le rappelais depuis l'enfance. Eh bien NON. C'était aussi bon. Délicieux. J'étais enchantée. Seule faiblesse: comme ce sont des textes rassemblés de diverses publications, il arrive que des intrigues se recoupent.

megthegrand's review against another edition

3.0

Good, but the last story is the same story that included the racial slur in A Tangled Web. Totally disappointing.

aseel_reads's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

i love l.m. montgomery's writing so much and it made me like the ocean much more but i am really not a short stories person at all

rcsreads's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

This was super cute all the way through and then we end on desecrating Native American graves and the N word!
 Up to that point it's just lots of cute romance,  unbelievable coincidences and dogs rescuing people. Although my favourite story unexpectedly ended with the heroine drowning herself!
 Recommended for fans of Anne but skip "A House Divided Against Itself".

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, and Suicide

eupomene's review against another edition

4.0

Many of the LM Montgomery short story anthologies can read fairly redundantly, since editor Rea Wilmshurst has grouped many of them into themes. This group of stories is less so - the theme is of stories by the sea, a place close to Montgomery's heart, and therefore the stories range from romances to children's tales to those of family love, all closely linked by place. Romances do tend to lead the way, of course, as she certainly does those best. Some characters will seem familiar (Paul and Nora), others are clear precursors to folks we meet in her novels (Uncle Jesse = Captain Jim), but to fans this will be a meeting of friends.

kateshark's review against another edition

4.0

One of my favorite collections of Montgomery's short stories. The woman loved the sea, and it sparks up the short stories, most of which were written for cash from magazines and tailored to specific audiences. The shore lifestyles appeal to me more than the farmland stories, so I prefer these stories to many of her others.

wenwanzhao's review

lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

the_discworldian's review against another edition

3.0

As with all the collections, there are some good, some bad stories here. I tend to prefer Montgomery with a lighter touch (except when she goes REALLY REALLY dark, which is why I like the "Emily" trilogy and the "Among the Shadows" collection best), by which I mean the stories that just breeze along (heroic doggies! Ministers who wear raincoats! Love affairs conducted through telescopes using sign language!). Otherwise you get stuck with people who say "hitherto" in conversation and a lot of description of beautiful girls who look more or less the same as each other. I also have to complain about the choice of "A House Divided" as the last story. Not only was it a weaker story overall, with the two heavy-handed aw-shucks caricatures as the only characters, but then to have the very end of the very last story contain a heaping dose of good old fashioned down-home racism? HUZZAH! Not the best choice the editor has ever made.