L.M. Montgomery’s Short Story, ‘The Finished Story’

A long-lost diary gives a spinster closure on a seemingly unrequited love.

“Woman Reading in a Landscape,” circa 1869, Camille Corot. A young man helps a spinster find love. Public Domain

Love, one of the most long-lasting and powerful emotions in the world, not only endures, but it also harbors hope in any time of life.

L.M. Montgomery contemplates such a love in her short story “The Finished Story,” in which she relates the sad history of Miss Sylvia. Through Miss Sylvia, Montgomery inspects a lasting, loyal love that was never believed returned.  

Love Lost

Miss Sylvia, an old spinster, is very popular with young people, who gather around her “in a corner of the west veranda at the hotel.” In her special corner, Miss Sylvia sits, knits her many creations, and listens to the many joys and sorrows of her young admirers.