Montgomery was born on Prince Edward Island and her mother died when she was two. Her father left her to be raised by very strict grandparents while he moved west and started a new family.

She began to write when she was nine and had her first piece published when she was still a teenager. About 1890 she moved to join her father and step-mother, but it broke down, due to the step-mother's cruelty. Her early years and love of PEI shaped her literary life: her most famous character is Anne Shirley, heroine of Anne of Green Gables (published 1908) and its sequels.

Montgomery is probably the most famous novelist in Canadian literature. She worked first as a teacher and then on the staff of the Halifax Daily Echo. In all she published 22 books, over 400 poems and 500 short stories.

References

Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia, 1993-97
Andronik, Catherine M. Kindred Spirit: A Biography of L.M. Montgomery, Creator of Anne of Green Gables. (New York: Atheneum, 1993)
Montgomery, L.M. The Selected Journals of L M. Montgomery, edited by Mary Rubio, et al., 3 vols. (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1985-92)
Rubio, Mary, and Waterston, Elizabeth. Writing a Life: L.M. Montgomery. (Toronto: ECW Press, 1995) (Canadian Biography Series)
Bruce, Harry. Maud: The Life of L.M. Montgomery. (New York: Seal Bantam Books, 1992)
"Lucy Maud Montgomery, 1874-1942." [Includes portrait]. Available at: http://strobe.lights.com/novel/generated/author/125.html

Indexes

European
Canada
19th Century
20th Century
Education, Teaching, Libraries
Literature
Pre-school Years
Unmarried Mother, Single Parent (Mother or Father) Unable to Cope
Grandparents
Child in and out of Care
Parent(s) Died, Disappeared or Became Incapacitated