"The Alpine Path" by Lucy Maud Montgomery

This was a fun little book.  It's kind of a memoir of Montgomery's writing journey up to 1917, when she wrote it.  Originally, these memories were published in several installments in Everywoman's World, and later collected into one slim volume.

This was a fairly enlightening read, if only because it shows you how Montgomery wanted her life and her work to be viewed.  I have read enough about her actual history to know that her childhood was not a particularly happy one, and I got the impression that she cherry-picked some good and funny memories for this so she didn't need to delve into a more morose reality.  I was actually surprised with how much of the book revolved around her childhood, but she's trying to trace how her life informed her writing, so it does make sense.  

Obviously, since she wrote this in 1917, it doesn't include her memories of writing all her books, since she was in the midst of her career.  Still, this was an enjoyable read, filled with lovely passages in her distinctive style.  There's a section that's all about her memories of a trip to Scotland with her husband which made me laugh several times, though I'm not sure what it had to do with her writing, actually.

Particularly Good Bits:

I had, in my vivid imagination, a passport to the geography of Fairland.  In a twinkling I could -- and did -- whisk myself into regions of wonderful adventures, unhampered by any restrictions of time or place (p. 30).

...in those glorious days my imagination refused to be hampered by facts (p. 34).

I have always hated beginning a story.  When I get the first paragraph written I feel as though it were half done.  The rest comes easily (p. 46).  (I'm the same way, so that was a neat kinship to discover!)

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: G.  Rosy and sweet.

This has been my 25th book read and reviewed for my third Classics Club list, and my 37th for #TheUnreadShelfProject2021.  I'm halfway to my CC goal, and I hit my original goal of 36 books off my TBR shelves for #TUSP2021, so I'm upping that to 48 now :-o