Emily's Quest by L.M. Montogmery

This trilogy by the author of Anne of Green Gables was quite reminiscent of the Anne series-- an orphan girl about age 10 is sent to live with older people who don't really want her. She is a lively, poetic budding author. She gets into scrapes and mischief. There is a more dark, visceral thread to the Emily books, though. I would have to say I prefer Anne to Emily.

This last book is about Emily as an adult, and much of the book is about her process of finding a husband that will help her find true happiness and fulfillment within herself, not just someone so she will be married and acceptable to society as well as family. As I went on this journey with Emily, I was honestly disappointed. It seemed obvious to me from early on in the series that she would marry her childhood friend Teddy. However, the process to get there is quite tedious with both of them almost marrying someone else, and their marriage not happening until they were probably around 30. This happy ending left me frustrated and disappointed in the conclusion of this story.

So why did the author do this? What is the underlying message she was trying to convey through the medium of this story? I thought back to the theme throughout about pride. Murray pride was mentioned repeatedly. Because of the Murray pride we have to do things this way or that way. Because of Murray pride we are standoffish and can't let our feelings show. We must not let anyone see our weaknesses or humanity because of Murray pride. And ultimately it is pride and an unwillingness to be honest with Teddy that kept her from happiness all those years.

This holds true to those who aren't Murrays as well. Pride is a natural human tendency. It is there as a defense mechanism in some ways, to protect us from hurt. But we must be vulnerable to develop meaningful relationships with others and to connect with ways to truly be happy. Pride is the universal sin, and one that we must be vigilant to stamp down within ourselves. While this is a difficult, life-long process, it will lead us to true happiness.