Kilmeny of the Orchard, By

Lucy Maud Montgomery, OBE (November 30, 1874 - April 24, 1942), published as L.M. Montgomery, was a Canadian author best known for a series of novels beginning in 1908 with Anne of Green Gables. The book was an immediate success. The central character, Anne Shirley, an orphaned girl, made Montgomery famous in her lifetime and gave her an international following. The first novel was followed by a series of sequels with Anne as the central character. Montgomery went on to publish 20 novels as well as 530 short stories, 500 poems, and 30 essays. Most of the novels were set in Prince Edward Island, and locations within Canada's smallest province became a literary landmark and popular tourist site - namely Green Gables farm, the genesis of Prince Edward Island National Park. She was made an officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1935. Montgomery's work, diaries and letters have been read and studied by scholars and readers worldwide. Early life: Lucy Maud Montgomery was born in Clifton (now New London) in Prince Edward Island on November 30, 1874. Her mother, Clara Woolner Macneill Montgomery, died of tuberculosis when Lucy was twenty-one months old. Stricken with grief, her father, Hugh John Montgomery, placed Lucy in the custody of her maternal grandparents. When Lucy was seven, he moved to Prince Albert, North-West Territories (now Prince Albert, Saskatchewan). From then on Lucy was raised by her grandparents, Alexander Marquis Macneill and Lucy Woolner Macneill, in the nearby community of Cavendish. Montgomery's early life in Cavendish was very lonely. Despite having relatives nearby, much of her childhood was spent alone. Montgomery credits this time of her life, during which she created imaginary friends and worlds to cope with her loneliness, with developing her creativity. The population of Prince Edward Island was nearly evenly split between Catholics and Protestants. Montgomery inherited her ancestors' Protestant values of hard work, thrift, and modesty. In 1887, at age 13, Montgomery wrote in her diary that she had "early dreams of future fame." She submitted a poem for publication, writing, "I saw myself the wonder of my schoolmates - a little local celebrity." Upon rejection, Montgomery wrote, "Tears of disappointment would come in spite of myself, as I crept away to hide the poor crumpled manuscript in the depths of my trunk." She would later write, "down, deep down under all the discouragement and rebuff, I knew I would 'arrive' some day." After completing her education in Cavendish, Montgomery spent one year (1890) in Prince Albert with her father and her stepmother, Mary Ann McRae.While in Prince Albert, Montgomery's first work, a poem entitled "On Cape LeForce,"was published in the Charlottetown paper, The Daily Patriot. She was as excited about this as she was about her return to her beloved Prince Edward Island in 1891. Before returning to Cavendish, Montgomery had another article published in the newspaper, describing her visit to a First Nations camp on the Great Plains. The return to Cavendish was a great relief to her. Her time in Prince Albert was unhappy, for she did not get along with her stepmother. According to Lucy, her father's marriage was not a happy one. In 1893, she attended Prince of Wales College in Charlottetown and obtained a teacher's license. Montgomery loved Prince Edward Island, writing that she was "very near to a kingdom of ideal beauty. Between it and me hung only a very thin veil." During solitary walks through the peaceful island countryside, Montgomery started to experience what she called "the flash" - a moment of tranquility and clarity when she felt an emotional ecstasy, and was inspired by the awareness of a higher spiritual power running through nature.