A Tangled WebReview posted October 11, 2025.
Bantam Books, 1989. Originally published in 1931. 257 pages.
Review written June 20, 2025, from my own copy.
Starred Review
Back in 2019, I got to visit Prince Edward Island, and attempted to reread all of L. M. Montgomery's books in the order she published them before I did. I did not finish that project, but I did reread fourteen of her twenty novels. However, it's only now in 2025 that I got back to that project with the joy of rereading A Tangled Web as the perfect diversion on a flight that ended up much longer than planned because of storms.
A Tangled Web begins some of L. M. Montgomery's more mature novels. Technically, it was published for adults, and the characters featured are almost entirely adults and young adults. But as with all of her books, there's a wide appeal from preteens through adults, and you'd better believe that in 1931, she would not have written any sexual content.
A Tangled Web is about two large entwined (by intermarrying) families, the Darks and the Penhallows, living on Prince Edward Island. Aunt Becky is the owner of the famous clan heirloom, the Dark jug. She has gathered all the clan as she knows her time is coming - to tell them who will inherit the old brown jug.
All the family comes. Either because they're desperate to own the jug, or because they want the entertainment of watching Aunt Becky make everyone squirm with all the secrets she knows about everyone. Well, she makes hints and threats - but announces that they will have to meet again on a certain day more than a year away, when the one family member who can keep a secret will announce who gets the jug.
And almost no one in the family is unaffected by the meetings and the jug. The book covers several of those life-changing events. This book reminds me greatly of L. M. Montgomery's short story collections - but the stories are tangled together by somehow relating to the family jug.
And I'm afraid Maud Montgomery seems more cynical than in her youth. Yes, there is some love at first sight - some that even works out in the end - but there's a theme running through of the wisdom of taking a second look at your passions to see if they stand the test of time. (And some do, some don't.) Yes, there are a bunch of happy marriages that happen in this book - but there are also some painful course corrections for the people involved. And I love that at least one happily ever after happens when the course correction goes away from marriage. And that at least one legacy from Aunt Becky brings great good to a couple people who richly deserve it.
But you absolutely cannot go wrong with L. M. Montgomery. She is a master of making quirky characters come alive and revealing the vagaries of human nature. If you haven't read her books yet, this isn't necessarily the one I'd start with - but anyone who's read and loved any of her books will be happy to find out there's more.