Maud: The Early Years of L.M. Montgomery

Born November 30, 1874, L.M. Montgomery spent her childhood in a rural farmhouse, like her beloved character Anne of Green Gables. Raised by strict, elderly guardians, she had an early life full of loneliness and struggle; however, Maud had a secret to become a writer. In fascinating, authentic detail, this biography follows life on turn-of-the-century Prince Edward Island, the setting for nearly all of Maud’s stories. The town of Cavendish, so much like the Avonlea of the Anne books, is where Maud began writing, at the age of nine. In Cavendish she grew into a vibrant and attractive young woman. Yet Maud Montgomery never wed the one man she truly desired; when she finally did marry at the age of thirty-five, it was to someone she respected but did not love. Whether teacher in a one-room schoolhouse, becoming one of the first Canadian women journalists, or, finally, trapped in her hometown taking care of her aging grandmother and running the local post office, Maud was not only the responsible individual who accepted her fate but also a woman of stormy moods and unshakable ambition. Drawn extensively from L.M. Montgomery’s own journals, this colourful biography vividly portrays a woman ahead of her time, a remarkable author who gave the world a unique character named Anne of Green Gables.