L.M. Montgomery | |
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L.M. Montgomery ca. 1935
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Born |
Clifton, Prince Edward Island |
November 30, 1874
Died | April 24, 1942 Toronto, Ontario |
(aged 67)
Occupation | Fiction writer |
Nationality | Canadian |
Education | Prince of Wales College, Dalhousie University |
Period | 1890–1940 |
Genre | Canadian literature, children's novels, short fiction, poetry |
Notable works | |
Spouse | Ewen ("Ewan") Macdonald |
Children | Chester (1912–1963) Hugh (1914–1914) Stuart (1915–1982) |
Lucy Maud Montgomery OBE (November 30, 1874 – April 24, 1942) 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.
She was born Lucy Maud Montgomery in Clifton (now New London) in Prince Edward Island on November 30, 1874. Her mother, Clara Woolner Macneill Montgomery, died of tuberculosis when Montgomery was twenty-one months old. Stricken with grief over his wife's death, Hugh John Montgomery gave custody to Montgomery's maternal grandparents. Later he moved to Prince Albert, North-West Territories (now Prince Albert, Saskatchewan) when Montgomery was seven. She went to live with her maternal grandparents, Alexander Marquis Macneill and Lucy Woolner Macneill, in the nearby community of Cavendish and was raised by them.
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, in which she created many imaginary friends and worlds to cope with her loneliness, with developing her creativity. The Maritimes were mostly Protestant region at the time, and Montgomery inherited the values of the Protestant work ethic, emphasizing thrift, modesty and hard work.