Lucy Maud Montgomery was born in Clifton in Prince Edward Island, Canada. At 21 months old, following her mother’s death, she went to live with her maternal grandparents in Cavendish. Living with an elderly couple, she spent much of her childhood alone, creating imaginary friends, reading, and writing. By the age of nine, she kept a journal and wrote poetry, and at 16, she published her first poem, On Cape LeForce, in the Charlottetown paper The Daily Patriot. In 1893, at 18, she attended Prince of Wales College and obtained her teaching license in only one year instead of two. Afterward, she began to work as a teacher in various schools in Prince Edward Island, taking time off to study literature at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She kept writing, and in 1897, at 23 years old, Montgomery began to publish short stories in newspapers and magazines, reaching more than 100 publications in a decade. In 1898, she returned to Cavendish to take care of her widowed grandmother, living there for the next 13 years. In June 1908, she published her first novel and her most known work, Anne of Green Gables, inspired by her childhood experiences in the rural and traditional environment of Prince Edward Island. The book was a best-seller, going through six printings within six months, and later translated to over 36 languages and adapted into dozens of movies, TV series, films, radio, stage, and web production. The book’s success established Montgomery’s career as a novelist. In 1911, at the age of 37, she married Ewen Macdonald, a Presbyterian minister, and the couple moved to Ontario. In addition to her duties as the minister’s wife, she continued to write and publish her work. WW1 had a significant impact on her husband. His religious melancholia caused him to decline mentally, and he ended up hospitalized. While taking care of her husband, she wrote another successful book series, Emily of New Moon, also set on Prince Edward Island. In 1926, Montgomery and her husband moved to a new congregation in Norval, Ontario, where they lived until her husband resigned from the ministry. The stress she experienced influenced her writing, and in 1933, she published the book Pat of the Silver Bush, which was darker an aimed toward adult readers rather than young people. In 1935, they moved to Toronto, where Montgomery had a breakdown that led her to return to her first heroine, Anne, and she published two more books in the series. The outbreak of WW2 had affected her mental and physical health, and by 1941, she did not leave her house. The following year, she died at the age of 67. She is buried in the Cavendish Cemetery on Prince Edward Island. Montgomery published 20 novels, 500 poems, 530 short stories, and 30 essays during her lifetime. Read more...