New ‘Maud’ book takes fresh look at famed author

Roger Varley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A crowd of about 50 people filled the 9ByTin restaurant on Sunday for the launch of a new book about the life of famed Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery.

Kathy Wasylenky, a former member of Uxbridge council and former president of the Lucy Maud Montgomery Society of Ontario (LMMSO), spent two years researching and writing The Life of Lucy Maud Montgomery as Mrs. Ewan Macdonald. The book was published by Stones Throw Publications of Port Perry.

Wasylenky told her audience the book was more about the famous author as a community member, a wife and a mother so that readers can "get to know her as a person better." She said Montgomery referred to herself as "mistress of the Manse" since the Leaskdale manse was her first home as a married woman. Wasylenky said Montgomery became a vital part of the community after moving there in 1911, and her time at the manse was the happiest years of her adult life. While in Leaskdale, Montgomery joined the Red Cross during the First World War and Col. Sam Sharpe's 116th Battalion marched outside the manse on their way to the front. Montgomery also was a member of the "dry" committee.

However, Wasylenky pointed out that all was not rosy during Montgomery’s time in Leaskdale. Although she had two sons, Chester and Stuart, a third child, Hugh, died in infancy. As well, she had to deal with her husband's increasing religious melancholia. They eventually moved to Norval in 1926 in hopes that the change would help with Rev. Macdonald's mental condition, but they continued.

A number of local notables were on hand for the book launch, including several members of the LMMSO, former mayor Gerri Lynn O'Connor and sculptor Wynn Walters, who created the statues of both Montgomery and Col. Sharpe. Also on hand was Montgomery's granddaughter, Kate Macdonald, and, to Wasylenky's surprise, a few of her former students.