In a special Podcast Swap episode, we are sharing with you an episode from the fantastic limited series podcast Story Girl: The Life of Lucy Maud Montgomery. Discover the life and legacy of L.M. Montgomery in this insightful 7-part podcast, in which we explore her childhood, literary journey, and the timeless impact of Anne of Green Gables on generations of readers. Listen to the entire series here.

We are sharing  Episode 2: The Road To Anne from Story Girl. In this episode, Maud attends teachers college, gets engaged and falls in love (not necessarily in that order). She also begins writing the novel that will change her life.

Written & Hosted by Ryan Barnett

Produced by Ryan Barnett & Sonia Gemmiti

Associate Producers Maia Foster-Sanchez & Kristi Prophet

Recorded by Tyler Rauman

This series features interviews with Kate Macdonald Butler, Kate Scarth, Jessica Young, Laura Robinson & Yuko Matsumoto.

Additional voices by Candace Amarante & Matthew Barnett

A Knockabout Media Production

Story Girl was made possible thanks to funding from the Government of Canada.

Faith and Una Meredith, Mary Vance, Sara Stanley, Felicity and Cecily King – all of these girls have different relationships with housekeeping and cooking, and PhD candidate Ariel Little is here to tell us all about it! We speculate about how the characters might show up on social media, the way that housekeeping reflects power and authority in Montgomery’s work, and why cleanliness was so important to the Victorians. 

If you want to read some of Ariel Little’s writing, she’s published this article, Under the Moon's Healing Influence: George MacDonald's Literary Re-envisioning of Women's Health  and also has a chapter in this new book, Beyond Little Women, edited by Lauren Hehmeyer.  

Inspired by:

Ragon is inspired by: Fourteen Talks By Age Fourteen by Michelle Icard and Finding The Magic In Middle School by Chris Balme.

Kelly is inspired by: Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson.

Ariel is inspired by:  The Sanitary Arts:  Aesthetic Culture and the Victorian Cleanliness Campaign by Eileen Cleere and Architecture in the Family Way by Annmarie Adams, as well as The House Of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones.

If you want to get a free logo sticker from us, either leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or share your love for the pod on social media!  Send us a photo of your share or review at either our email: [email protected] or on our KindredSpirits.BookClub Instagram. 

 Whether they are giving their own church sermons or looking at a picture of God, whether trying not to giggle in church or debating the ethics of prayer, the kids of The Story Girl engage with religion and morality constantly. Today we get into why religion figures so prominently in their lives, and also discuss the invention of Sunday schools. Digressions include prayer to lesser known saints and our recent experience with a one day choir!

Inspired by:

Kelly is inspired by the Belief-O-Matic quiz which could possibly helped Peter with his Methodist vs. Presbyterian dilemma.

Ragon is inspired by the One Day Choir at the Gaia Music Collective for a spiritual musical experience.  

If you want to get a free logo sticker from us, either leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or share your love for the pod on social media!  Send us a photo of your share or review at either our email: [email protected] or on our KindredSpirits.BookClub Instagram. 

Adolescent identity and values take center stage in this episode. The themes beautiful, clever, and good reappear in The Story Girl as archetypal girls. We talk about beautiful Felicity, good Cecily, and the brilliant Story Girl in today’s episode, and why these girls feel like they can only be one of those things. 

Inspired by:

Kelly is inspired by the late lamented Bath and Body Works Juniper Breeze and recommends its sophisticated modern counterpart Jo Malone Wood Sage and Sea Salt scent.

Ragon’s signature middle school scent was Love’s Baby Soft Rain and so recommends Clean and Clean Rain by Clean Beauty Collective if you want the same vibe.

Ragon also recommends tubing mascaras including Thrive Causemetics Lash Extensions mascara, Milani Highly Rated Lash Extensions mascara, and e.l.f. Lash XTNDR mascara.  

Alice recommends Trader Joe’s Brazil Nut Body Butter but you’ll have to find it in stores in the summer!  Sorry to folks who don’t have a Trader Joe’s!

If you want to get a free logo sticker from us, either leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or share your love for the pod on social media!  Send us a photo of your share or review at either our email: [email protected] or on our KindredSpirits.BookClub Instagram. 

The Story Girl is one of L.M. Montgomery’s most charming books, full of witty dialogue, playful antics, and wistful nostalgia. We are kicking off our discussion of The Story Girl with a recap of all the characters, hijinks, and stories that make this book shine. We also discuss the LA fires, which had a huge impact on the podcast, and recommend some ways to support the girls who inspire us.      

Inspired by:  

Ragon is inspired by Girl Scouts!  Buy cookies whenever you see a Girl Scout selling them or you can donate to Girl Scouts as an organization.

Kelly is inspired by Altadena Girls, a girl-led program to support girls affected by the Eaton Fire. 

If you want to get a free logo sticker from us, either leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or share your love for the pod on social media!  Send us a photo of your share or review at either our email: [email protected] or on our KindredSpirits.BookClub Instagram. 

Kelly and Ragon welcome L.M. Montgomery scholar and curator Emily Woster, Phd to the pod!  Emily tells us all about L.M. Montgomery’s reading life–what books she loved growing up, what influenced her books, her active reading style and her unique writing process.  And in true kindred spirit fashion we nerd out about our influential reads and Emily’s family legacy of Anne fandom!  

The Anne Manuscript for high quality scans of LMM’s original handwritten manuscript and notes.

The L.M. Montgomery Bookshelf  where you can find scans of books from LMM’s library including some of her own notations in the books and Emily’s information and notes about history and context of these books!  An amazing resource!  

And you can follow Emily on bluesky for updates about her work.

Inspired by:

Kelly is inspired by: Graphic bookends from the Container Store.

Ragon is inspired by: Dragon Bookplates and Personalized Library Stamps .

Emily is inspired by: Wonderworks: Literary Invention and the Science of Stories by Angus Fletcher and  Story or Die: How to Use Brain Science to Engage, Persuade, and Change Minds in Business and in Life by Lisa Cron.  And a bonus of the Library Kit from Knock Knock. 

If you want to get a free logo sticker from us, either leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or share your love for the pod on social media!  Send us a photo of your share or review at either our email: [email protected] or on our KindredSpirits.BookClub Instagram. 

What’s this? A messy love quadrangle?  You know Kelly and Ragon are all over that!  We channel our best Normal Gossip podcast inspiration and dive into our discussion of the self-sabotaging lovers of Rainbow Valley!  We ask such questions as “What’s Ellen’s deal anyway?”  And “Wait, do we agree with Norman Douglas?” And most importantly “Who should we cast in our movie version of this story?”  

On a more serious note, if you’d like to help Kelly rebuild after losing her home in the terrible Eaton fire, we have a fundraiser to support her as she begins the overwhelming task of recovering. 

And if you would like to help Los Angeles recover from the horrific wildfires, here are some places that are doing good work:

World Central Kitchen is feeding people on the ground in Los Angeles.

LA County Fire Department is doing heroic work and we aren’t done with the fires.

Pasadena Humane Society is caring for the wild animals and pets lost or injured in the fire.

Baby2Baby provides disaster relief to families and children in poverty impacted by the fires.

Give Directly is fundraising to provide direct cash support to those in most need after the fire for shelter, food, clothing.

Inspired by:

This whole episode was inspired by one of our favorite podcasts Normal Gossip.

Kelly was inspired by the 1995 Persuasion adaptation and the miniseries based on Elizabeth Gaskell’s  North and South.

Ragon was inspired by the classic rom-com While You Were Sleeping and the time travel romance in About Time . 

If you want to get a free logo sticker from us, either leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or share your love for the pod on social media!  Send us a photo of your share or review at either our email: [email protected] or on our KindredSpirits.BookClub Instagram. 

We are continuing our Rainbow Valley discussion and focusing on the Meredith children’s impulsive hijinks and the way the adults around them react, or don’t react, to their shenanigans.  We take John Meredith to task, break down how the patriarchy has helped enable this situation and learn a little about what parentification is and why the Meredith kids are poster children for it!

Inspired by:

Kelly is inspired by Normal Women by Philippa Gregory.

Ragon is inspired by All The Rage by Darcy Lockman and Fair Play by Eve Rodsky.

If you want to get a free logo sticker from us, either leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or share your love for the pod on social media!  Send us a photo of your share or review at either our email: [email protected] or on our KindredSpirits.BookClub Instagram. 

L.M. Montgomery scholar Maryam Khorasani joins us for a discussion of Rainbow Valley itself as both a physical place and a state of mind, drawing on our own childhood experiences and analyzing the characters' interactions with the natural world. We also discuss themes of childhood, imagination, friendship, and the transition to adulthood and are inspired by books with strong senses of place and third spaces.  

Inspired by:

Ragon is inspired by A Kind Of Paradise by Amy Rebecca Tan and by The Whalebone Theater by Joanna Quinn.

Kelly is inspired by The Eyes And The Impossible by Dave Eggers.

Maryam is inspired by The Fall Of The House Of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe.

You can find our guest, Maryam Khorasani on instagram as Maryam9756 or through her email at [email protected] 

If you want to get a free logo sticker from us, either leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or share your love for the pod on social media!  Send us a photo of your share or review at either our email: [email protected] or on our KindredSpirits.BookClub Instagram. 

In preparation for our Rainbow Valley mini-arc, we are recapping this lovely book on today’s episode. We’ll introduce you to the Blythe children’s new friends, the Meredith children and Mary Vance, and tell you all about their adventures and hijinks. We also touch on the historical context of the book, which is set in the years leading up to World War I, wonder where Shirley Blythe is in all this, and share some of our favorite easy recipes! 

Inspired by:

Ragon is inspired by Smitten Kitchen's Pizza Beans for a comforting hearty meal.

Kelly is inspired by Crispy Gnocchi with Burst Tomatoes for an easy Italian dinner.

If you want to get a free logo sticker from us, either leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or share your love for the pod on social media!  Send us a photo of your share or review at either our email: [email protected] or on our KindredSpirits.BookClub Instagram.