I loved this book. But hated the last line.

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.

It all begins with garrulous Aunt Becky and the infamous Dark jug. She may be dying but the old matriarch of the large Dark and Penhallow clan is determined to throw one last "levee" - and stir up her extended family with her plan for bequeathing the heirloom. Dating back to when the first Darks came to Prince Edward Island in the early 19th century, the Dark jug has been in the family ever since, and with it comes a certain prestige for the owner. Over the generations, the Darks and Penhallows have intermarried time and again, and now they gather in Aunt Becky's rooms to hear what's to become of this jug, and who will get it.

But sharp-tongued Aunt Becky's not about to make things easy for them. She announces that the new owner of the jug will be announced a year from October, and that Dandy Dark is trusted with the secret - or perhaps he will make the decision on her behalf, so everyone should be on their toes.

And so they all are. Drowned John and Titus Dark stop swearing, knowing that Aunt Becky wouldn't give the jug to someone who curses all the time. Tempest Dark decides to finally start his history of the clan that he's been talking about doing for years. And perpetual bachelor Penny Dark thinks maybe he should get married, if he wants to get the jug, and casts his eye upon the spinsters in the clan.

Meanwhile young, pretty Gay Penhallow is caught up in love with Noel Gibson, while her sophisticated and seductive cousin Nan decides to steal him away. Peter Penhallow suddenly and violently falls in love with widowed Donna Dark, whom he has hated since they were children - only he's been travelling through Africa and South America so much he hasn't seen her since, or not until Aunt Becky's infamous final levee. Joscelyn and Hugh Dark, separated on their wedding night for reasons unknown, still yearn for things they cannot have. And forty year old spinster and dressmaker Margaret Penhallow too yearns for things she feels she can never have: a beautiful little baby to adopt and the little old house she calls Whispering Winds.

At the centre of it all is the jug, and Aunt Becky's final surprise.

According to the inscription on the inside of my copy, I got this book for my birthday in 1993 from my brother (meaning, my mum picked it out for him to give to me), when I turned 14. As far as I can remember I only read it once, but I did love it. I'm always wanted to re-read it, and now I finally have I can say that I still love it. Allowing so much to go by meant that it felt like visiting old friends I hadn't seen in a long time, but with all the surprises still intact: I couldn't remember what had driven Hugh and Joscelyn apart, I couldn't remember how Donna and Peter finally overcame her father, Drowned John's, refusal to let them marry; and I couldn't quite remember what happened to Gay Penhallow - though I was pretty sure she did end up with thirty-year-old Roger, the clan doctor (rest assured, it's not as Jane Austen as it sounds - Gay is no Mariane Dashwood).

There are of course A LOT of characters to keep track of, and at first they tend to blend one into another (for instance, there are two Penny Darks: one is the bachelor and the other is Joscelyn's sister-in-law), and it doesn't help that they go by the old naming conventions (e.g. "Mrs Frank Dark"); you'd think it would but it doesn't.

But Montgomery focuses on the main characters, and since the novel takes place over about a year and a half, we get to know characters, progress somewhat with their story, then come back to them later, so you do get very familiar with them - and like I said, they start to feel like your own crazy extended family! Montgomery is so good at writing these character sketches (one has only to read those scenes set around the dinner table at family gatherings in The Blue Castle to get a sense for it), that for all their eccentricities you have to wonder just how many of them were based on real people Montgomery knew.

The pacing is wonderful: brisk and rolling like gentle hills, here getting dramatic, then slowing down again for a spell, a breather, before dashing off into a new plot. Perhaps the most tragic character for me was little Brian Dark, whose mother, Laura, died when he was young, never revealing who the father was, so that Brian lives with his uncle Duncan Dark and his family, barely fed or clothed and given endless chores, mostly to look after the dairy cows. It broke my heart a little bit, especially now that I have my own little boy.

The story is told with Montgomery's usual insightful wit and honesty, and an artist's touch: she knew when to get in there and strip a character bare, and when to hold back and let things reveal themselves to the observant reader, on their own. I should add a warning for American readers: the final sentence does include the "n-word", which should be taken in the context of the period it was written in, as well as the character who uses it - don't let it put you off this author, who weaves magic with her words in the simplest, most unpretentious ways.

This is the L.M. Montgomery book for adults I was hoping to read. Keep in mind it was first published in 1931... but it is daring and witty, sarcastic and sentimental. This clever story of the Dark and Penhallow clans, whose family trees are more like shrubs, is a fun romp with the skeletons in their closets. It's a behind the scenes look at the best and worst of human nature among the clan and it's entertaining from start (or almost) to the end (not quite). The first section of the first chapter is a little off-putting and there is an unfortunate racial slur in the last paragraph of the book which leaves the reader with a nasty taste in their mouth which is sad for such a wonderful book. Granted there are so many characters in the book with such similar names that it gets very difficult to keep track of them all but the main characters are quickly well developed and stand out from the pack. A definite recommend to anyone who loves Victorian literature and L.M. Montgomery in particular.

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.

When I first read this back in my early twenties, I didn't really like it - I was all about Anne at the time, and this is quite a different kind of story. I'd re-read since then, but still I didn't rate it much. But it came up in November for a re-read on the kindred spirits email list, and so I thought I'd give it another go. Christmas, and other books, got in the way a bit as I started the first few chapters then it got lost in a pile on my table, but yesterday I sat & read the last 3/4 of it, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is waspishly funny. It has an absolutely huge jumble of characters, and somehow they sit perfectly together as real individuals, in an enormous interwoven family group. The skill of LMM as a writer is on display throughout, as she captures character, dialogue, plot, scene setting, emotional punches and humour. It's cleverly done, I had totally forgotten the resolution to the story so it kept me guessing. I found myself caught up in all the multiple stories - goodness knows how she kept them all straight in her head as she wrote.
It's a shame it ends on a racist note - I wonder if now publishers would edit that final brief chapter out, since it's unnecessary to the story?
Anyway, I'm glad I came back to it again to see what a gloriously deft writer she was.

I get very cranky when L.M. Montgomery's books are dismissed as "girly kids' lit." For one thing, it's just part of the grand old tradition of shitting on things that girls like. And for another, it completely disregards what a wonderful storyteller she really was.

A few years ago I bought the Kindle edition of her complete works for like $3, and every now and again I peek into a book I haven't read before. I'd avoided this one because the premise sounded pretty dopey - a large, complicated family loses its collective head over who is going to inherit Aunt Becky's ceramic jug - but it sucked me right in. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, but they're all wonderfully portrayed and Montgomery has given each of them a pretty great identifying characteristic so you can keep them straight. They all ended up where I wanted them to be at the end (well, mostly) but it was a hell of a roller coaster ride getting there, and the ending turned out to be excellent. And then it ended with a paragraph that made me go DAMN, LUCY MAUD, and feel grateful that nobody was looking over my shoulder.

So yeah, this was good.

I didn't really have any expectations for this one. For unknown reasons the unread book never appealed to me and it is one of the last Montgomery novels I read.

Yet I really liked A Tangled Web. I was intrigued from the very beginning and found myself caring for many of the characters.

It was quite an unusual setting for a Montgomery novel to have that many storylines, but for me, it worked well. I enjoyed reading it and I was pleasantly surprised.

DNFing for now... I'm struggling to connect to the story but I know pushing through is worth it with LM Montgomery, I'll definitely be coming back to this story at some other time!

I was shocked by the last paragraph in this book, which was disgustingly racist. Up to that point , I enjoyed some of L.M. Montgomery's book geared to an adult audience, about the clan of Darks and Penhallows, who fight over an ugly heirloom. There were too many clan members to keep track of, which greatly took away from the story. And then the horrible ending, felt like someone had dropped a brick on my foot. I think the author could have dropped the last chapter altogether. Not my favorite book by this author who wrote the beloved Anne of Green Gables series.

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.

My least favorite of hers. Too many characters, not enough depth.