This week, I saw an adorable Google doodle:
When I rolled my mouse over it, I saw that it was for Lucy Maud Montgomery’s 141st birthday. To be honest, I had no idea who she was. After reading about her, I knew I had to highlight her on Her’s Day Thursday!
Lucy Maud Montgomery is the author of the Anne of Green Gables series! Born in Canada on November 30, 1897, Maud (as she preferred to be called) had a rather sad upbringing. Her mother died of tuberculosis when she was very young and her father sent her to live with her maternal grandparents. Her grandparents were very formal and strict, leaving a sensitive Maud to seek solace in reading, writing, and her own imagination.
She wrote numerous poems and became a published author at the age of sixteen when a newspaper ran her poem: On Cape LeForce. When Maud finished her schooling, she began to teach and went for an advanced degree in English literature at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia.
While studying at the university, she received word that her grandfather had passed away. She rushed home to care for her grandmother, leaving only for a brief period to work as a copy editor for The Daily Echo in Halifax. Maud wrote poems and short stories, earning a nice income through her writing.
In 1905, she wrote her first novel, Anne of Green Gables. She sent it to many publishing companies and was rejected. Because of this, Maud put her manuscript in a hat box and forgot all about it. One day, Maud came across the novel and decided to try to get it published again.
Three years later, The Page Company published Maud’s book! It became an instant best-seller. Maud eventually married a Presbyterian minister and had three sons. She helped her husband with his pastoral duties, raised kids, and continued to write books about Anne of Green Gables. Maud passed away in 1942, but left a lasting legacy of literature.