
Emily Climbs
'Emily Climbs' Summary
Emily Byrd Starr longs to attend Queen's Academy to earn her teaching licence, but her tradition-bound relatives at New Moon refuse. She is instead offered the chance to go to Shrewsbury High School with her friends, on two conditions. The first is that she board with her disliked Aunt Ruth, but it is the second that causes Emily difficulties. Emily must not write (aside from schoolwork) during her high-school education. At first, Emily refuses the offer, unable to contemplate a life without any writing. Cousin Jimmy changes the condition slightly, saying that she cannot write anything that is not true, meaning she must not write stories for the duration of her high school education. Emily does not think this much of an improvement but it turns out to be an excellent exercise for her budding writing career.
Emily clashes with the ever-suspicious Aunt Ruth, who must know all but rarely believes it. After more than a year of Aunt Ruth's disrespect and arbitrariness, Emily walks the seven miles back to New Moon in the dead of night, only to walk back after fully venting her feelings to Cousin Jimmy.
Emily's friendship with Ilse Burnley is tested by Evelyn Blake, the school's would-be writer, who is jealous and condescending. Emily vanquishes her once and for all when she finds physical proof that Evelyn plagiarized an old poem to win a school contest. Rather than tell everyone about it, Emily only shows the evidence to Evelyn who admits she did it so her father would allow her to take a trip to Vancouver if she won.
Thanks to Aunt Elizabeth's ban on writing fiction, Emily starts to develop her powers of storytelling, writing 'portraits' of people and keeping a journal diligently. Through a series of adventures, Emily is furnished with materials to write stories and poems, and even sees monetary success with the short story "The Woman Who Spanked the King," as told to her by an addled Scottish woman.
In the meantime, Emily also begins to see romantic possibilities for her life. She and Teddy Kent draw closer, but due to misunderstandings and interference from Teddy's jealous mother, the romance stalls. Emily refuses a proposal from her childhood friend Perry Miller, and her cousin Andrew, but continues her long-lasting friendship with Dean Priest.
At the end of the novel, Emily, now a budding young writer, is offered the opportunity to move to New York with the famous writer Janet Royal to jumpstart her career. After much thought and hesitation, Emily chooses to remain at her beloved New Moon, intent on finding fame her own way.
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
EnglishPublished In
1925Authors

Lucy Maud Montgomery
Canada
Lucy Maud Montgomery (November 30, 1874 – April 24, 1942), published as L. M. Montgomery, was a Canadian author best known for a series of novels beginning in 1908 with Anne of Green Gable...
Books by Lucy Maud MontgomeryListen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books

George Bowring - A Tale Of Cader Idris by Richard Doddridge Blackmore
George Bowring and Bob are two friends whose lives have been intertwined since their school days. Despite their different fortunes, they have remained...

Little Colonel by Annie Fellows Johnston
The Little Colonel is a novel by Annie Fellows Johnston. The story is set in Kentucky and tells the tale of a young girl who is known as the Little Co...

The Charwoman's Shadow by Lord Dunsany
It is a captivating novel that tells the story of a young boy named Joseph who is fascinated by the shadows of the people around him. One day, he meet...

Claude Gueux by Victor Hugo
Publié en 1834, ce livre explore les thèmes de l'injustice sociale et du système pénal. L'histoire se déroule dans la France du XIXe siècle et suit le...

Riceyman Steps by Arnold Bennett
Riceyman Steps is a poignant and moving story about the human condition. Set in the gritty streets of London's Clerkenwell district shortly after the...

Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis
Arrowsmith is a novel by American author Sinclair Lewis, first published in 1925. It won the 1926 Pulitzer Prize (which Lewis declined). Lewis was gre...

Good Wives by Louisa May Alcott
The story follows the lives of the four March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—and details their passage from childhood to womanhood. Loosely based on t...

Vaaralla: Kuvia laitakaupungilta by Teuvo Pakkala
Vaaralla is a novel that depicts the lives of several families in a working-class district of Oulu, Finland, in the 1800s. The novel focuses on the st...

Betty Wales, Sophomore by Margaret Warde
Betty Wales, a spirited and engaging young woman, returns to Harding College for her sophomore year. Now residing in the Belden House, she navigates t...

The Three Friends; A Story of Rugby in the Forties by Arthur Gray Butler
The story follows the lives of the three friends as they navigate the challenges of growing up and dealing with the many obstacles and temptations tha...
Reviews for Emily Climbs
No reviews posted or approved, yet...