I adored this charming collection of tales as a youngster and most of these stories (gathered by an editor) held up, with one notable exception. Although the ocean doesn't feature prominently in the Anne books, Montgomery beautifully describes the sea in all its moods here. A pleasurable reread!

what can I say...I love her writing, and I love the sea. This set of short stories may be old fashioned and romantic, but I will continue to read it again and again :)

That last one was weird… I liked most of the stories, but I wouldn’t bother reading “The Waking of Helen” or “A House Divided Against Itself” ever again. Not sure it was worth it the first time.

Those two excluded, I greatly enjoyed all the others!

Some were great, some were good, some were a bummer... but that last one shocked me!

I love short stories by LM Montgomery and these were wonderful.

This collection revolves around stories connected with the sea, and, being in love with L.M. Montgomery's books, I was none too glad this was our December selection over at the L.M. Montgomery Book Club here on Goodreads.
I liked this stories, although not as I had liked other collections, say, the Chronicles of Avonlea. Perhaps it was not the wisest choice to collect L.M. Montgomery' s short stories in themes, it makes reading them monotonous. Some of them repeat the same formula, such as a happy ending resulting from someone being saved from danger out at sea, and men falling in love instantly with exceedingly beautiful damsels who are perfect in nearly every other way as well. Also, some of this material she reused in her novels, such as the whole story The Life Book of Uncle Jesse which is reused almost word for word in Anne's House of Dreams, so It felt like I was just rereading those old plots again.Some of the stories felt like they were left hanging. Only a bit.
The collection includes the following stories:
The Magical Bond of the Sea: This one was sweet, although rather predictable and had that beautiful-damsel formula I mentioned. L.M. Montgomery assetrs here, as in several other stories of this collection, that if one has been brought up near the sea, the bond between both grows so strong that parting can only result in heartbreak. She must have felt that way when she left P.E.I. *sigh*
The Life-Book of Uncle Jesse: A few names where changed but this story is found in an Anne book, and I felt I was rereading it, so It did not feel very original, like the author had plagiarized himself. But I know this story came first, so a bow of the head to Uncle Jesse, for it is a wonderful story.
Mackereling Out in the Gulf: This one was also sweet, but sad. I kept rooting the whole time for Benjamin the fisherman, too bad Mary Stella preferred Mr. Braithwaite. The saving-from-the-sea element was employed.
Fair Exchange and No Robbery: I knew from the very beginning what the outcome would be, the title says it all. Nice, predictable.
Natty of Blue Point: This and the following story have a child for hero/heroine, in this case small Natty. I liked it quite a bit, though simple.
The Light on the Big Dipper: Liked the main character, although the ending with the father saved by her was a bit cheesy. ( I loved it when the girl tied her little sister to a chair).
An Adventure on Island Rock: This and the following story are both about an orphan child close to a dog who must be parted with it, but the the dog saves someone from a sea peril and doesn't have to leave. I liked this one, though. The near-drowning at the rock held me in suspense and reminded me of the similar near death in Peter Pan .
How Don Was Saved: Practically explained above. Very simple.
A Soul That Was Not At Home: This story was reused in Anne of Avonlea, but I love the character of Paul in the said book so much that seeing him again in this story was wonderful, although this time he is more of a shore boy and his story seems to end a bit differently. One of my favorites, for old friends' sake.
Four Winds: Parts of this story were reused both in Anne's House of Dreams and Emily of New Moon . The longest story in this collection, it was very good, if you can ignore the beautiful -damsel element also present here.
A Sandshore Wooing: Nice, although the character of Marguerite was a bit too flighty for me. Also, how quickly were engagements made back then! I felt like the two betrothed barely knew each other.
The Unhappiness of Miss Farquar: Another of my favorites. ( Yes, the said Miss Farquar is very beautiful too).Teaches a great lesson on the real values of life and happiness.
A Strayed Allegiance: This story left me angry. What a featherbrain, that Esterbrook! I found myself sympathizing with the noble Marian instead of with Esterbrook Elliott and Magdalen Crawford, who just because she is dazzingly beautiful must also be perfect.
The Waking of Helen: A bit depressing, I must say, and very, very sad,. The ending is just shocking.
Young Si: I liked this story, especially because of the female lead's red hair, she reminded me of Anne! Otherwise it was a bit predictable, but still enjoyable.
The last story, A House Divided against Itself, I couldn't find, and therefore did not read. But I've heard it wasn't exactly the most pleasant in the collection, so I don't mind it.

I love the little romances.

I have to say that this collection was a bit better than 'The Doctor's Sweetheart' and 'Among the Shadows', though I didn't like two stories 'The Awakening of Helen' and 'A House Divided'. I know that most of these stories were written about a hundred years ago, but I was dismayed at the use of the 'n' word in the latter story I mentioned. But some of the other stories were good reads. If you're a LM Montgomery fan, then you should check out this collection. There's a few not-so-good stories, but some great ones. While Anne of Green Gables was a great kid's book, this collection and her other collections really are more for the young adult and older crowd.

Several of the stories are from quite early in Montgomery's career (c 1900). My favorite is "The Wakening of Helen."

Reçu en cadeau de Noël quand j'avais 13 ou 14 ans.
Aucun esprit critique, aucun recul malgré les années qui me séparent de cette lecture, juste un magnifique souvenir. C'est peut-être lié à la fin de l'enfance.
Gravé dans mon cœur comme tous les livres de Lucy Maud Montgomery.

I'm kind of digging short stories right now. They're so easy to consume. I didn't particularly LOVE these ones. I found my mind wandering. Some were a little darker than I have come to expect from L.M.M. Would I read them again? Of course.

March 2025 reread:
As usual I skip the stories with recycled plots and passages, but there are some real gems in here: Fair Exchange and no Robbery (particularly humorous and romantic), A Sandshore Wooing, The Unhappiness of Miss Farquhar. As a whole this is not one of my favorite collections, but these are some of my very favorite Montgomery stories.

***
There are several extremely sad stories in this collection, I think because LMM always thought that the sea itself sounds sad. Mackereling Out on the Gulf, for instance, does not end in a happy ending for the hero, but it is very moving. Others are simply hopeless (The Waking of Helen, A Strayed Allegiance), yet they hold beauty. Most of the stories are actually funny and end happily. I love A Sandshore Wooing and Fair Exchange and No Robbery. The Unhappiness of Miss Farquhar holds a moral that everyone would do well to remember.

It's a bit disappointing that LMM used some of the stories word for word for her novels. Of course I would prefer that she took the time to invent brand new characters and plots for her novels, but I know she was often pressed for time and struggled with depresion--thus I can excuse her. And really, A Soul That Was Not At Home features Paul Irving's character, but the plot has nothing similar to his story in Anne of Avonlea.

Previous to this second rereading, I found this collection to be a little tiring because many of the stories involve a beautiful heroine who strikes a man dumb with her wonderful beauty. I didn't mind it as much this time. I focused on the themes of the stories more than the character details. As a result, I am much more favorably disposed toward the collection than before. It worthily holds its place beside LMM's other delightful short story collections. Much wisdom and inspiration is to be found by reading it.


The stories I like best in it are Fair Exchange and No Robbery, Four Winds, A Sandshore Wooing, and The Unhappiness of Miss Farquhar.