This wasn't supposed to be political

When I got the idea in December to make a little show about re-reading L.M. Montgomery’s Emily of New Moon as my 2025 project, I didn’t think about what it might mean to be making a podcast from the United States about a distinctly Canadian heroine created by an iconic Canadian author. Because it didn’t actually mean much beyond the surface in December 2024, if I can remember back that far, which is increasingly difficult to do. Canada was up there, with the good hockey (shout-out to Shoresy) and health care; we were down here, acting like the world should revolve around us, as usual. I had a little time over Christmas to read and had this lovely set of the Emily trilogy I hadn’t cracked open. I wasn’t sure what it would be like to re-read this book that I loved so much when I was 12 as a grown woman. Would I still find her enchanting? I did, and then I went down a rabbit hole on Maud, too, digging into her diaries and her life as a Prince Edward Island native with a tragic family story of her own. A truly lovely and inspiring way to spend the dark months.

Fast forward to today, and here we are threatening a trade war, demanding Canada let itself be absorbed into the U.S. as the 51st state, a premise that sounds like a very dumb comedy sketch. But Emily will never not be Canadian. Blair Water and New Moon Farm will always be located in the province of Prince Edward Island, on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. We’re talking about a character who, in later books, made an active decision to write from and about Canada, not move to New York and court the U.S. audience. That shouldn’t be a political statement, but maybe it is now.

This project is one way I have of reminding myself, at least, that books have the power to connect us across all manner of geopolitical absurdities. That women with career and artistic ambitions are not some new concept dreamed up in the 1960s. They’ve been here all along. Where is here? The late Victorian era. A farmhouse still lit by candles. (Where we are not is in some “tradwife” nonsense, though.) A little girl who loves cats and trees writing her observations of the world around her on old letterbills stuffed into a hiding spot, who makes a vow to herself and the world that she will have a career as a noted author and then follows through by writing and revising and publishing and being rejected, just as Maud herself did til she broke big with Anne of Green Gables and became an international literary sensation.

The Blair Water Literary Society podcast is a very DIY indie project, so it’s already been derailed by things like jury duty and shipping delays on out-of-print research I had to order secondhand. But I will be connecting with some delightful guests you’ll love hearing from. And would you believe the amazingly talented songwriter Brigid Kaelin wrote the show’s theme music while living in Canada for the winter? It features big-screen star Angus Caldwell on footwork and was mixed by Kentucky banjo legend Steve Cooley. I hope you love it as much as I do.

Listen to the show’s teaser, and find me on your favorite podcast platform, where you can now subscribe. (Here we are on Apple Podcasts, if that’s your thing.) Give the show a follow, if you’re so inclined, so you’ll know when Episode 1 drops. Emily of New Moon is a good book. Let’s talk about it.