Lucy Maud Montgomery was born in 1874 on Prince Edward Island. When she was less than two years old, her mother died of tuberculosis, and Montgomery was brought by her father to live with her maternal grandparents in Cavendish. She spent much of her time reading, exploring the nature surrounding her, and visiting nearby family. This simple life stimulated and nurtured Montgomery’s sensitive, intelligent nature. She began writing poetry at the age of nine, her first work being published when she was only sixteen years old. This upbringing in Cavendish was central to the shaping of Montgomery’s life and eventually influenced her most celebrated novel, Anne of Green Gables. She drew from her own childhood to tell the story of a spirited orphan taken in by an elderly couple. Montgomery first penned the novel in 1905, but after being rejected by multiple publishers, she set the story aside. She dusted it off again years later, and the novel was published in 1908. It was met with quick success, allowing Montgomery to spend the rest of her life as a novelist.
Montgomery spent most of her adult life in Ontario with her husband, Ewen, and three sons. There, she continued her career as a writer while also helping her husband with his pastoral duties. She died in 1942 at the age of 67 and was returned to Cavendish to be buried close to her childhood home. It is only fitting that she was laid to rest among the same countryside that gave such vibrancy to her life, and her work.