Finding home : food and identity in selected works by L. M. Montgomery

Abstract

Food is not merely nutritional; it is deeply meaningful emotionally, culturally, intellectually and creatively. This study analyses how the depiction of food and food experiences in Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne novels relates to identity formation and belonging – to finding home. The novels examined are Anne of Green Gables (1908), Anne of Avonlea (1909), Anne of the Island (1915), Anne of Windy Poplars (1936), Anne’s House of Dreams (1917), Anne of Ingleside (1939), Rainbow Valley (1919), Rilla of Ingleside (1921) and The Blythes are Quoted (2009). The study traces evidence of Montgomery’s own interest in food, evident from her life and autobiographical writings such as her journals, and two cookbooks drawing on her own recipes and complementing the novels. Using food studies as a lens, this study shows that the characters form a sense of self, and a social identity, helping them find home or belonging in themselves and their communities, in their experiences of food preparation (cooking), food distribution rituals, and eating. The Anne novels reveal that food preparation duties are a core aspect of the identities of Montgomery’s female characters. Montgomery portrays some of these duties as restrictive in terms of their rules and gendering, but also demonstrates that they can be a tool for female empowerment and agency. The plethora of mealtimes depicted in detail in Montgomery’s fiction allows readers to trace the socialisation of characters, especially Anne Shirley, helping them find acceptance and belonging in the culture of Avonlea or Glen St. Mary. For children such as Anne, learning to cook – or for Davy, learning to eat in an appropriate manner – marks maturation into socially connected people. Especially for Montgomery’s girls and women, cooking, and eating together helps them to establish deep intra- and intergenerational social connections, creates companionship, and facilitates emotional relationships and shared experiences. Finally, food facilitates identity formation by providing characters with physical, emotional and creative nourishment within the specific cultural space of Prince Edward Island in the late 1800s and early 1900s. This analysis demonstrates that belonging can be found in the kitchens and around the dining tables of Montgomery’s Anne series.