These questions accompany The Novel Envelope, Vol. 2, July 2025.

I can’t wait for you to read this hilarious story about a wedding nearly thwarted. 

After you’ve read it—not before to avoid spoilers—use these questions for personal reflection, class discussion, or a book club chat. 

1. Okay, first things first. Go ahead and complain about the opposite sex. Generalize and stereotype. Get it off your chest. You know you want to.
2. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, what did you think of the story? What emotions did you feel while reading?
3. This is one of those easy, comfortable slice-of-life stories. You get a feel for a singular place and a handful of distinctive characters at a given moment in time. What’s the point of this type of story? 
4. Tell me about Aunt Philippa. How would you describe her? Do you like her or dislike her?
5. What are Aunt Philippa’s strengths and weaknesses? Or, what are her positive and negative traits?
6. How is Ursula affected by her visit to Aunt Philippa’s? How do Ursula’s feelings about Aunt Philippa change several times over the course of the narrative? Pay special attention to how Ursula chooses to describe her aunt. Also, notice the parallel aspects of the two scenes at the train station.
7. What do you make of the fire during the wedding? I’m honestly not sure why Montgomery chose to include that detail. 
8. Do any of these characters remind you of characters from Avonlea or other stories by L. M. Montgomery?
9. This story deals with regret. Aunt Philippa says she regrets not running away with a man from her past. But then, she also says that if she had run away with him, she’d probably regret that, too. This suggests that Aunt Philippa is one of those folks who can’t escape regret, no matter what she chooses. Why do you think that is? Do you know someone who is never satisfied?
10. Do you know the history of Saint Ursula? Do you see any overlap between her story and our narrator’s? I’m not sure if Montgomery meant to invoke the saint or not, but Ursula is quite an uncommon name. Philippa, on the other hand, was common during this period. It means “lover of horses.”

Photo Credit: “Miss Merriam at Sherman’s Point, 1900.” Camden Public Library / Flickr: The Commons