Judy Plum: Character Connection


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Don’t you just love larger-than-life characters? The ones who jump off the page and grab you? Whether you love them or hate them, you can’t be indifferent to them.

I would love to know about the characters who just won’t leave you! Most of you will probably post about how much you love (or loathe) each character, but this is a great place for the more creative ones among you to let go and have fun! Write yourself into a scene with Anne and Diana. Write a love poem in elvish for Aragorn. Draw a picture of Harry obliterating Voldemort. The possibilities are endless.

Be sure to post the book’s title and author, and be very careful not to give away spoilers while talking about how much you love your characters.

Mr. Linky will be posted here on The Introverted Reader every Thursday.

Cover of Pat of Silver Bush by L. M. Montgomery

With a name like Judy Plum, you know you have stumbled on a great character. A character with character, let’s say.

Judy is obviously not the main character in L. M. Montgomery’s Pat of Silver Bush, but she is the heart of the book and the Gardiner family. I suppose she would technically be the maid, but she’s really an adopted member of the family. Originally from Ireland, she traveled around a bit with her brother before settling in Prince Edward Island in Canada. Her Irish brogue is still thick, as evidenced by statements like, “‘Tis hardly a civil question that, but ye’re too young to know it. I do be as old as me tongue and a liddle older than me teeth. Marrying’s a trouble and not marrying’s a trouble and I sticks to the trouble I knows.” Judy obviously has a knack for laying out maxims in unusual ways.

Her Irishness also means that she is one heck of a storyteller and she loves to talk about fairies, witches, and all kinds of supernatural folk. She’s very careful to only say good things about them though, because you never know when one of them might be listening.

Judy is a garrulous old soul who loves her adopted family and most people in general. “Judy’s Bible lay there, too, and a fat little brown book of ‘Useful Knowledge’ out of which Judy constantly fished amazing information. It was the only book Judy ever read. Folks, she said, did be more interesting than books.” I don’t if most of us would would go that far, but I do have to say that folks generally are interesting.

She’s always ready with a story or a bit of a snack or whatever anyone in search of comfort needs. And I guess that sums up Judy: she’s a comfort to her fictional friends and family as well as those of us reading about her.

Who did you connect with this week? Link your post on Mr. Linky, then be sure to go check out the other Character Connections!

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2 Comments

  1. You know, as much as I love Anne and read her over and over, and loved LMM, I have never picked this one up. Think I might have to rectify that…

  2. +JMJ+

    Judy sounds especially interesting when you recall that Montgomery characters traditionally love books and occasionally prefer them to real people. I guess there's a good point to be made here: the best stories don't always come in print. And really, Montgomery has given us lots of gifted storyteller characters in the "oral tradition," so Judy actually fits right in. =)

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