Born at Clifton, Prince Edward Island, Canada, Lucy Maud Montgomery was born on November 30, 1874. Her mother died of tuberculosis when she was two years old. Her father remarried and moved away, leaving Montgomery to be cared for by her maternal grandparents in Cavendish. Her childhood was filled with strict discipline.
Montgomery enjoyed school and was an avid reader. She started writing at an early age. At the age of 15 she had a poem published in a local newspaper. She attended Prince of Wales College and became a teacher. She taught in Bideford and Lower Bedeque.
She had moved in 1890 to Saskatchewan to live with her father and stepmother. Her stepmother treated her poorly, and used her almost as a slave to take care of her step-family. She continued to write, but grew tired of the treatment and moved back to Prince Edward Island in 1891.
When she was 21 years old she studied literature at Dalhousie University in Halifax. Montgomery then received news that her grandmother was ill and returned to Cavendish to take care of her. She worked at a local post office. While taking care of her grandmother, she wrote the first book in the Anne of Green Gables series. The book was inspired from her own childhood memories. In 1911 her grandmother died.
Later that same year, she married Rev. Ewen Macdonald. They moved to Leaskdale, in rural Ontario where he oversaw two churches, namely St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church, Leaskdale, and St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church, Zephyr. They had three children.
Montgomery wrote over ten books while living in Leaskdale. Her most famous work was the Anne of Green Gables series, a series of seven books. The series features a red-haired orphan girl, who is taken in by an elderly brother and sister. The series tells the story of Anne from childhood all the way into adulthood and raising her own family.
Rev. Macdonald suffered from depression and that affected Montgomery and her writing. Montgomery also had a long drawn out dispute with her publisher that lasted some nine years. The last book in the Anne of Green Gables, “Anne of Ingeside” published in 1939 reflected the disappointment that Montgomery had suffered.
“Anne of Ingeside” is a story of Anne after she married Gilbert Blythe, a doctor, and loses her first child. The story tells about the struggle and grief of her lost but then continues with the birth of Little Jem. Little Jem fills the void that was there after the loss of her first child.
Montgomery wrote several series of stories and two books that were written for adults. Her characters were well defined including her famous Anne Shirley, but also Emily and Pat. Anne Shirley with her red hair gave up her teaching career when she got married but is many times irritable. When Montgomery wanted a change and got tired of Anne Shirley, she introduces Emily who has dark hair, loves to write and loves nature and ends up marrying an artist.
In 1925 the Macdonald family moved near Toronto and then 10 years later the family moved to Toronto where Rev. Macdonald retired. He died in December 1943. Montgomery had a breakdown and she was despondent from the late 1930’s until she died on April 24, 1942.
When she died she had ten personal diaries that were unpublished. They were printed and published starting in 1985. She had written all throughout her life including her disappointments and her feelings about her husband’s experiences with depression.
Montgomery’s “Anne of Greene Gables” was her biggest success. The first book had been made into several films, adapted into a stage play and the book has been translated into over 40 languages. The book has been warmly received around the world.
She received many honors for her writing. She was made a Fellow of the British Royal Society of Arts in 1923. She was also named a Companion of the Order of the British empire in 1935, the same year she was named a member of the Literary and Artistic Institute in France.
The Avonlea books have a long history in film and television. In 1919, the foremost female screenwriter in Hollywood, Frances Marion, scripted a silent film of Anne of Green Gables to wide audience acclaim. In the 1990’s, Canadian television produced a series based on the books. It was called “Avonlea” and ran for five years.
Today, both Montgomery and her character Anne are very well represented on Prince Edward Island, a mark of the love held for both the author and her character. She was buried in Cavendish cemetery and nearby there is now the Avonlea Village. It is a replica village with stores and shops just like there would have been in their time. There are numerous festivals held yearly in honor of them both.
