Emily of New Moon + Emily Climbs + Emily's Quest - Complete Emily Starr Trilogy

It was very wordy and the descriptions went on and on. She is an interesting character but there was a lot of repetition that got tiresome.
I enjoyed Anne of Green Gables much much more and have reread it over and over but I won't pick this book up again.

Famed Canadian Lucy Maud Montgomery began the "Emily" trilogy in the 1920's, after setting aside her "Anne of Green Gables" novels. Her new heroine, Emily Byrd Starr, was said to be closely based on Montgomery's own life experiences. The trilogy follows Emily from age ten into her mid-twenties.

In "Emily of New Moon", an orphaned Emily is sent to live with her Murray relatives, to be raised by her very strict Aunt Elizabeth at New Moon Farm. Aunt Elizabeth wants nothing to do with Emily's imaginative ways or her budding writing talents, forcing Emily to write in secret. Emily will find some comfort with her Aunt Laura and Cousin Jimmy, and with playmates Teddy Kent, Perry Miller, and Ilsa Burnley.

In "Emily's Climb", Emily is forced to bargain away some of her writing freedom for the "favor" of remaining in school, where she will find encouragement from an older teacher, Mr. Carpenter, and from a relative with his own writing aspirations and agenda, Dean Priest. She will experience her first youthful romance with Teddy Kent. Despite developing some skill at writing, she will turn down an opportnity to leave Prince Edward Island.

In "Emily's Quest", Emily will finally achieve some success as a writer, but will suffer a series of personal disappointments. Several failed romances will leave her fearing a lonely adulthood, but fate will give her one last chance for love.

The "Emily" trilogy is an often emotionally gritty narrative. Emily has many of the normal coming-of-age experiences, but in her case, they can be hard lessons. Emily is stubborn and proud, and these qualities sometimes add to her difficulties. Montgomery deals unblinkingly with Emily's ability of second sight as the mixed gift that it is. She cleverly and often humorously manipulates her cast and plot to keep Emily away from her true soulmate, but also subjects her to the creepy predations of an older mentor. Perhaps of most interest, Montgomery allows Emily to wrestle with the real challenges of becoming a good writer, and with the handicap of being a female writer in a time when women were expected to get married, raise children, and run a household. The "Emily" trilogy is very highly recommended to fans of L.M. Montgomery's novels.

Emily Byrd Starr's story is similar to her starry-eyed counter-part, Anne Shirley, except that Emily's life is less of a fairy tale. She's also a tougher, more self-sufficient character with a driving ambition to write. Like Anne, Emily is an orphan and circumstances have landed her in the home of an austere, humorless elderly relative who has no patience with charm or originality and is not too happy at the new responsibility of a child. While Anne successfully softens her guardians and teaches them to laugh, Emily has inherited the family dignity and she is perhaps the most resilient and focused of Montgomery's heroines. I suspect that Emily closely mirrors the author herself.
The Emily trilogy takes Emily from early childhood through to adulthood as she strives to earn a living from writing - her first "paid" story is rewarded with a packet of flower seeds! Naturally, there is a romantic sub-plot to the stories, although I think Emily might have been just as happy writing stories in her dream home with a family of cats.
Recommended to any young ambitious people who want a realistic picture of what it is like to work towards a creative goal. Emily's successes are slow but steady, and they are well balanced with the disappointments of a writer/ artist's life.

Emily is simply wonderful. With amazing description, the Emily books captured my heart. They made a wonderful addition to my library as a young girl, and they still do today.

I had to do the first book, Emily of New Moon, for a book project at school in 5th grade. I totally loved the book. I loved it so much I finished it way before we had to have our book done by!

The three Emily books are still on my shelf at home, and after lending them to my daughter , she got her own copies of the book for herself. The Emily books have always been loved by my family, and I hope they are always loved by yours.

Emily is such an enduring character! I love that this trilogy is all together so I could just keep on reading one book after the other. I highly recommend this book to all Anne of Green Gables fans ! You will love it!