An entertaining read. Loved all the characters!

This is my favorite of all Montgomery's books. I love the whole Dark and Penhallow clans. I love all the little loves and hates and side stories. I love the ridiculousness of the jug. It's not perfect, in spite of my 5 stars. I do get tired of all the "damning" of things, as if it's the only way LMM could figure out how to make it aimed towards adults. The last line is almost unforgivable as well, even accounting for the differences of time and place. But oh the stories! So many different stories woven together in a tangled web. It's just awesome. And of course, the real question... Who should have gotten the jug?

I loved this book! The various family tales in here were intriguing to read about, and I especially liked the character of the old aunt who started this whole mess ;)

Lately I have been rediscovering my love for L. M. Montgomery. Her books are witty and charming, sentimental and ironic, filled with atmospheric places and nuanced characters. "A Tangled Web" is so brilliant because Montgomery introduces a broad variety of characters; old lovers, confirmed bachelors, young girls and forgotten spinsters.

"A Tangled Web" begins when Great Aunt Becky dies. She leaves a family heirloom behind, a dark jug which has been in the family for generations. The two branches of her family, the Darks and the Penhallows, are at war with each other and both parties feel entitled to the jug.
However the heir will not be revealed until a years has passed and in those 12 months scandals occur, lovers drift apart, lovers reunite, old secrets are spilled and dreams come true.

Through a magnitude of characters, Montgomery shows characters from every stage in life and writes with a heartfelt understanding of their struggles, hopes and dreams. While many of the characters in this book are ridiculous, they are always treated with compassion. Some of Montgomery's characters has an austenesque flavor to them and the overall storyline is filled with an irony and a sentimentality that is Austen worthy.

Montgomery wrote few stories for adults, but the ones she did write were extraordinary. "A Tangled Web" is no exception.

A Tangled Web is one of L.M. Montgomery's stand-alone books. It took a little getting used to because the book follows so many people, and it was hard to keep them all straight at first. But after a few pages, the characters came to life, and I wanted to know their stories.

2021:
I have the same reaction to this as before. Each time I am more impressed and enchanted, although it's a rather colder, darker world than some of other LMM novels. I was more annoyed this time by the clan trying to get Gay to marry Roger. Although I love his character--he is one who has few lines but makes a big impression--I almost want Gay to not end up with him just to spite the clan. Sure, we should listen to and consider our family's opinions on who we marry, but at the same time it's ultimately up to us, and a lot of happy marriages are not approved by the families. So I'm very irritated that the clan ended up being right. Why couldn't Noel have seemed like an okay or even upstanding guy to everyone but then turned and jilted Gay, surprising the common opinion of him?

The racism of the Sams also bothers me more now than in the past. I guess that kind of ignorance was funny then, but it isn't now. And maybe LMM was trying to show how ignorant and wrong those attitudes were, but it didn't come across that way. I really could do without those parts. The Sams are funny enough already.

What an amazing book, though. LMM showcases her incredible range of character creation.

******
Superb. Absolutely superb. The characters live and step right off the page, leaving me thinking about them after I've closed the book. I like Gay (though she's a weensy bit pathetic and one-track minded) and Roger and Margaret-and even Drowned John, though I wouldn't want to meet him in reality.

All the 'damning' does get a little old-it's almost like LMM was trying to show that she could write something 'realistic' and 'grown-up'- but it doesn't interfere with my delight in the story, nor does the racism of the Sams (though it's a little disconcerting). It's without doubt one of my favorite LMMs.

The thing I like most about A Tangled Web is that when I read it I feel that no matter who I am or what my circumstances are, everything will turn out alright and the dreams I have may come true. There are so many characters in it with their hopes and desires, and I love how she ties up their threads. There's such a broad spectrum of humanity that I think everyone could find herself in at least one of the characters.

I guess every LMM book brings me to feel that everything will be okay, giving me lots of hope and optimism, and that is why I'll revisit her work again and again.

* The cover drives me mad-is it Donna and Peter or Gay and Roger?? I can't figure it out. The woman looks a little dark to be Gay, but on the other hand she has a sad expression that tells of keen suffering, as would fit Gay. Anyone reading this have a guess?

"Tee-hee--how very romantic" tittered Mrs Toynbee Dark, who had been standing for ten minutes at the corner of the old house watching them with sinister little black eyes.

"Ho, ho, my pet weasel, so you're there," said Peter.

Probably not my favorite of Maude's books, but nevertheless good. I'd go for rating it a 4, yet there are some aspects of it that make me bring it down to a 3 (which we'll get to later).

This is also one of Maude's few books intended for adult audiences. First of all, it is an overall delightful and amusing look into a messy clan living on P.E.I, probably about 10 years after WWI. The Penhallow-Dark clan seems to make up a large portion of P.E.I (not the part near Avonlea-- the towns mentioned are Bay Silver, Rose River, and a few others. None of these towns, FYI, are real though I imagine they are based on real ones? Or possible communities that no longer exist). The Darks almost always marry Penhallows and Penhallows almost always make marry Darks, which is incredibly inbred. One character even compares it to the Royal family.

Also, a small piece of trivia for anyone interested -- if you watched the Sullivan TV show, Road to Avonlea, the character of Romney Penhallow was taken from a short story (in Chronicles of Avonlea) about the Penhallows. He's not mentioned in this book, but there you go.

remember when these two broke 11 yr old me's heart? I do

The crux of the book is that Aunt Becky dies and makes everyone wait a year to find out who will inherit a family heirloom from her, which is a jug. Everyone wants it, yet Becky has guidelines for what kind of person she will and won't allow to have it. Shennagins ensure and Aunt Becky, judging from our brief glimpse of her while she's alive at the beginning of the book, is probably cackling happily from above.

My favorite storyline is probably that of Margaret, a spinster who doesn't really want marriage but does want a nice little house and a child. My second favorite was probably Peter and Donna's romance, partly because Peter amused me and Donna is one of the characters I liked the best.

What lowered my rating (these are slight spoilers, but not huge)

- there is, at the very end, like literally the last page, an instance of racism that just startled me. basically, the n slur is used (about painting a statue). and like I get, it's "the times" and the men that are having this conversation are two middle-aged fishermen that don't have the best manners/morals. but still. yikes, yikes. YIKES.

- *screaming about Gay and Roger, but not in a happy way* Gay, no! like, please, Noel is absolutely a prat but go off and visit a friend off the island or go to Queens, please don't marry Roger. I get he is like, nice and all but he is 32, you're 18 and I am kind of worried he has known you for quite a while, which makes it all weirder. Anyway, thanks to Peter for expressing my feelings on the matter. ""Oh, you like them buxom, I suppose," sneered Peter, "like Sally William Y.--or just out of the cradle-like Gay Penhallow." "At least the book is somewhat self-aware? At least Roger isn't Dean Priest-- although Dean doesn't marry Emily and everyone things/concludes he's a creepy possessive jerk. But I digress, since that's entirely different book. The basic thing is that a romance between an 18 yr old and a 32-year-old relative of hers skeeved me out.

Overall, I did enjoy this book, but it's not without its faults. Maude has her usual gift of offering you glimpses into many character's lives that seem realistic and she captures their voices well. Despite there being a boatload of characters, I usually wasn't lost on who they were. The details of small-town life and family in-fighting are superb -- fights over pigs, over pews, never letting each other forget stealing jam, things like that. It's like seating on the shoulder of the town gossip that knows everything.

کوزه ای ارزشمند، نسل به نسل در دو خاندانِ در هم تنیده ی پنهلوها و دارک ها دست به دست شده. حالا که مرگ عمه بکی نزدیکه، زمان اون رسیده تا وارث بعدی کوزه مشخص بشه. گزینه های احتمالی بسیار زیادتر از اونی هستن که بشه پیشبینی درستی ارائه داد! از پیتر و دانا که بعد از سال ها نفرت، حالا عاشق همدیگه شدن گرفته تا جاسلین و هیو و گی و نن و نوئل و...

لوسی ماد مونتگمری، نویسنده ای کانادایی که همیشه با قلم خاص خودش جادو می کنه و قصه ای می نویسه که در برابر دیدگان خواننده جون می گیره.
کتاب های مونتگمری رو می شه به مدرسه آموزش نویسندگی تشبیه کرد! از توصیفات درست و دقیق گرفته تا نکات ریز در شخصیت پردازی های متنوع و...

امکان نداره که مونتگمری صحنه ای رو توصیف کنه و خواننده در ورای کلمات، اون صحنه رو نبینه. امکان نداره مونتگمری شخصیت هایی خلق کنه که خواننده نتونه درک و لمسشون کنه.

کتاب A Tangled Web پر از شخصیته. شخصیت هایی از دو خاندان شلوغ که با ازدواج های بین خاندانی و روابط مختلف به همدیگه مربوط می شن و شما برای درک و فهمشون باید حوصله به خرج بدید.

هر موقع که کتابی از مونتگمری می خونم، به معنای واقعی کلمه عاشق تمومی کرکترهای داستانش می شم، حتی اگه منفور باشن. این کتاب هم شخصیت های دوست داشتنی زیادی برای من داشت. از گل سر سبد، عمه بکی گرفته تا عمه But و پیتر و...

برخلاف باقی داستان های مونتگمری که شخصیت اصلی نوجوانه، در این داستان ما با طیف وسیعی از کرکترهای بزرگسال سر و کار داریم و همین جدیت کار رو نسبت به سایر رمان های مونتگمری بیشتر می کنه. اما همچنان طنز ظریف مونتگمری در لفافه ی واژگان مشهوده.

The beginning of the book was rather dizzying... She introduced so many characters back to back. Once they got sorted and the few main storylines started to develop I became more invested in the story.

Over the years, 60 Penhallows have married 60 Darks. These two families have formed a clan and its members are expected to marry into each other's families. The clan is full of characters, yet one in particular stands out; Aunt Becky. At 96, Aunt Becky isn't long for this world. Yet her tongue continues to spit fire and she forgets nothing even on her death bead. Most dread an encounter with Aunt Becky fearing that she will drudge up some sordid detail of their past, yet there is one thing that brings almost all living members of the clan to her levee; the jug. This jug has a romantic history behind it and Aunt Becky has been in its possession for years. All members of the clan crave a chance to own the infamous jug and hope that when Aunt Becky dies it will be left to them. Yet as a seemingly last jab at the entire clan, Aunt Becky has decided that Dandy Dark, the least expected member of the clan, will be the keeper of the name of the jug's recipient with instructions to reveal the name after one year. Aunt Becky spouts off a laundry list of things that would keep a person from receiving the jug, yet also admits that these things may not affect her decision.

Over the course of the year, many things take place. Gay Penhallow, much against the clan's wishes, falls madly in love with and becomes engaged to an outsider, Donna Dark surprises everyone by falling in love with Peter Penhallow and vice versa. And the age old question of why Jocelyn Dark left Hugh on their wedding night still hangs in the air.

This is the first adult novel I've read from L.M. Montgomery. I rented a copy from my local library and am surprised to find the edition I read labeled YA. This book certainly isn't YA. Though not terribly vulgar, it does have a few curse words and hints at some mature subjects. It's different to read after having read her young adult novels, but this is a really good book. I just recommend keeping it away from younger readers.

I'm kind of on the fence as to whether or not to label this book a romance. There is plenty of romance in lot of the stories, yet some are not romantic and I feel like that isn't the main focus of the book. The main focus seems to be how this jug affects the lives of the clan over the course of a year. I could be wrong, though.

This book has so much going on, yet ties in well together. Each chapter deals with a different story of one or more of the clan's members. My favorite characters were Gay, Donna, Peter, Jocelyn and Hugh. Even though I wanted to roll my eyes at Gay some of the time, I still found myself curious as to what would happen in her part of the story. Donna and Peter's story was probably the most romantic and I love the tragic romance of Jocelyn and Hugh's story. I was curious as to how all of these stories would unfold and was happy with all of their endings.

Aunt Becky is quite a character. She's so hateful and says such mean things, but one does come to feel sorry for her just before her end. And Nan Penhallow is like that evil soap opera character that you can't help but watch. She's so spiteful to sensitive Gay simply because she thinks it's fun. I was pretty glad that she wasn't in the book more than she was.

I think the title "A Tangled Web" is perfect for this novel. So many of the stories within the book are tangled and even the clan itself is tangled with 60 Penhallows having married 60 Darks.

All in all, I think this was a great book. It's quirky with humor, tragedy and romance. A lovely read.

I was daunted by the extensive character list that took up the first dozen or so chapters, but once that was sorted out and the actual story picked up I finally was able to enjoy this book. The title is appropriate because it definitely was a tangled web. I ended up really loving this book and how it all turned out, but it was just really confusing in the beginning and hard to get into.

If you've ever read any of Montgomery's short stories, it'll help you to understand what I mean when I say this book is like a bunch of them interwoven together, and hence is better than if they were all separate. The book follows a large family clan through about a year with engagements, weddings, falling in love at first sight, *thinking* you fell in love at first sight, etc. Although it was hard for me to keep so many people straight, I really loved it. Montgomery did a clever job making the main characters from one story the incidental characters in another. Well done.