Is EMILY OF NEW MOON Better Than ANNE OF GREEN GABLES?
Would Anne and Emily be friends if they met? I asked myself as a young reader. Would Anne beat Emily in a bar fight? I ask myself today. I, like so many others before me, gobbled up the works of the patron saint of 19th-century Prince Edward Island orphans, Lucy Maud Montgomery, and had a clear favorite among her fictional darlings: Emily, the goth poetess of PEI. Emily has come to mind a few times over the years, such as when I shouted “Yes!” at the television as Natasha Lyonne’s Russian Doll character, Nadia Vulvokov, beat me to the punch, monologuing about why Emily is superior to Anne. But I didn’t think to reread Emily of New Moon until I decided to replace my lost copy for my daughters’ future library. It had been so long since I last read it, I only remembered the broad strokes.
I don’t often reread because I generally don’t enjoy more of the same, and revisiting a childhood favorite, especially a classic, is a treacherous exercise. You’re sure to find something you shrugged off or didn’t even notice the first time that now takes some of the shine off of the book. I gave it a go anyway because my last visit to New Moon was distant enough to make the story feel new again, and because I had to find out if my Vulvokov-level certainty that Emily is indeed the better character would survive.
I want to make it clear that I love Anne and because, as the more popular character, Anne of Green Gables got more merch, I ended up consuming more Anne content, including the older edition of The Anne of Green Gables Cookbook (I made a mess of Marilla’s Plum Pudding). As a once insufferable optimist, I had to appreciate Anne’s sunny disposition. But my bourgeoning artistic, subcultural side gravitated to the less popular Emily—her books felt like my special secret.
Since Anne is such a massive figure of the literary canon, I’m not going to spend time rehashing who she is (here’s a useful link to someone else’s rereading of Anne of Green Gables). What I am going to do is share the big takeaways from a reread of the first book in the Emily series that factored into whether or not she got to hold onto her medal:
All Access members read on to find out if Emily survives a reread!
Emily is a Relatable Writer
Writing is Emily’s one true passion. While I’ve dabbled in poetry, I never aspired to be a poet the way Emily does in these books, but her faults and lessons as a writer remain relatable. Her early prose is almost as purple as L.M. Montgomery’s, she wilts beneath cruel and common rejection, and she learns that revisiting old work is a deeply humbling and necessary practice. These are the hallmarks of a writer that absolutely resonated with me as a young aspiring novelist. My bias toward Emily’s journey as a writer continues to put me in favor of her series over Anne’s.
The Flash, The Groan
Emily experiences “the flash” throughout the book. Today I describe the flash as a moment of intense feeling—anyone who has been indescribably moved by something beautiful or awe-inspiring has felt it. The first time I read Emily of New Moon, the flash felt more unique, like a phenomenon that only happened to acutely sensitive people like me and Emily. It’s certainly written that way. Anne’s passions felt more obtuse and less supernatural, which I found less intriguing back when. Maybe because I now know “the flash” is a common enough feeling, powerful though it may be, it wore on me this time, and I found myself irritated by Emily’s outsized reaction to it. It was just too twee for adult Sharifah.
Emily’s Cat Game is Strong
I was freshly horrified by Aunt Elizabeth’s approach to disposing of unwanted farm kittens and 100% on the side of Emily’s outrage. Emily is a cat person and whether or not she remains my favorite character, her affection for our feline overlords will always go a long way with me. I mean, I paid extra for the edition of the Emily books I grew up with because the first book features Emily in New Moon’s dark garret with her big cat stretching up for a neck scritch. This cover and that cat were the reason I picked up the Emily books in the first place.
Emily’s Story is Sloppier Than I Remembered
I started to read the second book in the series, Emily Climbs, and had to stop. There were plenty of things to dislike in a contemporary reread of Emily of New Moon, including Emily’s readiness to use fatness as an insult and the ableism throughout the book, but more broadly it often read like a speed writing assignment. Montgomery had her template and off to the races she went! I gave up on my hope that the writing would improve a few pages into book two. Because Emily’s story read so jumbled and stilted, she ended up falling a bit flat for me. I want to say I remember better writing in Anne of Green Gables, but I fully admit I could be misremembering.
Ilse is the Best Character in the Book
As I reread Emily of New Moon, I found myself anticipating the reappearance and development of one character and it wasn’t Emily. For me, the most interesting figure in the book turned out to be Ilse Burnley, the hissing heathen of Blair Water. Ilse is loyal and wild and free, with no thanks to her shitty dad for her winning personality. She has as much imagination and creativity as Emily without being so achingly precious about everything. Ilse is Emily’s best friend. I wager she’d also be friends with Anne if they met, and I’d absolutely bet on her in a bar fight against Anne and Emily.
This was it. This was my answer. At the end of the day, Ilse wore the crown atop her golden head. Maybe it’s a cheat to call Ilse my fave since that battle should technically have been between her and Anne’s bestie, Diana Barry, but Diana could never be a main character where Ilse exudes main character energy. The mystery of her mother is one of the most compelling parts of the book (though the solving of said mystery was quite the stretch).
I’m not sad to see Emily unseated even after so many years of defending her to the tune of Joe Esposito’s “You’re the Best.” She’s still a favorite character and, like Anne, will always hold a special PEI-shaped piece of my heart.
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