Who is L.M. Montgomery?

Lucy Maud Montgomery was born in Clifton, Prince Edward Island, Canada on November 30, 1874. During her lifetime, L.M. Montgomery wrote 20 novels, over 500 short stories, one book of poetry, an autobiography, a life's worth of journals, approximately 500 poems, and a nonfiction book called Courageous Women. Of her work, L.M. Montgomery is best known for writing the novel Anne of Green Gables and giving the world the beloved literary character Anne Shirley, an imaginative, intelligent, loving, red-haired orphan in search of a home.

Image credit:
Photograph of L.M. Montgomery, 1930. Toronto Public Library from the Toronto Star Photograph Archive, Public Domain.

Purchase and read L.M. Montgomery's journals to learn more about her life:

Created February 10, 2002. Re-posted online March 24, 2021. Last updated March 24, 2021.
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The Doctor's Sweetheart and Other Stories

The Doctor's Sweetheart and Other Stories is a book of short stories by L.M. Montgomery that was published in 1979. It includes short stories found in old magazines and periodicals by Catherine McLay. The collection contains 14 tales, many of which are romantic stories of courtships and reconciliations, as well as stories of orphans and spinsters. The short stories included in this volume and their original publication dates are listed below:

"Kismet" (1899)
"Emily's Husband" (1903)
"The Girl and the Wild Race" (1904)
"The Promise of Lucy Ellen" (1904)
"The Parting of the Ways" (1907)
"The Doctor's Sweetheart" (1908)
"By Grace of Julius Caesar" (1908)
"Akin to Love" (1909)
"The Finished Story" (1912)
"My Lady Jane" (1915)
"Abel and his Great Adventure" (1917)
"The Garden of Spices" (1918)
"The Bride is Waiting" (1932)
"I Know a Secret" (1935)

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Created July 11, 2003. Re-posted online March 23, 2021. Last updated March 23, 2021.
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Across the Miles: Tales of Correspondence

Across the Miles: Tales of Correspondence was published in 1995 and contains 20 of L.M. Montgomery's stories that were rediscovered and edited by Rea Wilmshurst. It was special to read Rea Wilmshurst's account of how she discovered these stories in her afterward. Each story in some way involves a note, journal, letter, or some form of writing that leads the plot along. The stories contained in the volume are listed below with their original publication dates in parentheses:

"A Correspondence and a Climax" (1905)
"Cyrilla's Inspiration" (1905)
"Miss Sally's Letter" (1910)
"The Understanding of Sister Sara" (1905)
"Aunt Caroline's Silk Dress" (1907)
"The Old Fellow's Letter" (1907)
"The Promissory Note" (1907)
"Anna's Love Letters" (1908)
"At Five O'Clock in the Morning" (1905)
"The Letters" (1910)
"A Fortunate Mistake" (1904)
"The Growing Up of Cornelia" (1908)
"Aunt Susanna's Birthday Celebration" (1905)
"Miss Madeline's Proposal" (1904)
"The Girl and the Photograph" (1915)
"The Jest that Failed" (1901)
"A Millionaire's Proposal" (1907)
"Our Runaway Kite" (1903)
"The Schoolmaster's Letter" (1905)
"The Revolt of Mary Isabel" (1908)

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Created January 1, 2003. Re-posted online March 22, 2021. Last updated March 22, 2021.
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Spring Song by L. M. Montgomery

Spring Song
by L.M. Montgomery

O gypsy winds that pipe and sing
In budding boughs of beech,
I know I hear the laugh of spring
In all your silver speech.

O little mists that hide and curl
In hollows wild and green,
I know you will come in gauze and pearl
To wait upon your queen.

O little seed of mellow earth
Where rain and sunshine kiss,
I know the quivering joy of birth
Throbs in your chrysalis.

O Hope, you blossom on my way
Like violet from the clod,
And Love makes rosy all the grey
When spring comes back from God.

Poem published in Verse and Reverse by Members of the Toronto Women's Press Club (1922).

Image Credit:
Illustration of Violets by Louis-Aimé Martin in Nouveau langage des fleurs, ou, Parterre de flore : contenant le symbole et le langage des fleurs, leur histoire et leur origine mythologique, ainsi que les plus jolis vers composés a ce sujet (1832). From Biodiversity Heritage Library. Public Domain.

Created February 19, 2002. Re-posted online March 21, 2021. Last updated October 8, 2022.
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The Story Girl

Published in 1911, The Story Girl was L.M. Montgomery's favorite novel. In it, she captures the delight of youth and the joy of storytelling. The novel may have been so dear to her heart because she used it as a showcase for her own childhood experiences and to retell her personal family folklore and stories.

The Story Girl tells the tale of a group of children in Carlisle, Prince Edward Island. The narrator of the story, Beverly King, looks back with his adult eyes on a summer he and his brother Felix spent away from Toronto on P.E.I. with their relatives while their father was away on business. Bev and Felix spend time with their cousins Dan, Felicity, and Cecily King, as well as Sara Ray, Peter Craig, and the novel's namesake, Sara Stanley⁠—the "Story Girl."

The children's minor adventures are interwoven with Sara's fearsome, mythological, humorous, and human tales that mesmerize her young audience. She is the main character, though, unlike Montgomery's other protagonists, she does not have a driving plot line. It is the narrator Bev, who directs our attention to Sara's talents and charms throughout the story.

The Story Girl is followed by its sequel The Golden Road.

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Created May 27, 2002. Re-posted online March 16, 2021. Last updated March 16, 2021.
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Publication Sequence of the Anne of Green Gables Series

It might surprise you that L.M. Montgomery did not write the eight novels of the Anne of Green Gables series in the order we generally read them today.

Introducing Anne Shirley

L.M. Montgomery introduced Anne Shirley to the world when she published Anne of Green Gables in 1908. Its sequel Anne of Avonlea followed shortly thereafter in 1909. After completing these first two novels about Anne Shirley, Montgomery focused on publishing other novels and short story collections before revisiting Anne.

Anne Shirley Grows Up

Between 1915 and 1921, L.M. Montgomery wrote another four books about Anne Shirley and Anne's children. Anne of the Island (1915) tells the story of Anne's college years, Anne’s House of Dreams (1917) begins with Anne's wedding and describes the early years of Anne's marriage to Gilbert Blythe, Rainbow Valley (1919) tells the stories of Anne Blythe's young children, and Rilla of Ingleside (1921) focuses on Anne Blythe's youngest daughter Rilla Blythe.

Revisiting Anne Shirley

Following a long gap of 15 years, L.M. Montgomery revisited a younger version of Anne Shirley and wrote about her years as a high school principal in Anne of Windy Poplars (1936). Today, this novel is considered Book 4 of the Anne of Green Gables series if we read the novels in the chronological order of Anne’s life. The storyline of Anne of Windy Poplars falls between Anne of the Island (1915) and Anne’s House of Dreams (1917).

Returning to Anne

Thirty-one years after publishing Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery wrote Anne of Ingleside in 1939. According to the timeline of Anne’s life, Anne of Ingleside is considered Book 6. Its storyline falls between Anne’s House of Dreams (1917) and Rainbow Valley (1919), both of which were written 20 years earlier.

What order were the Anne of Green Gables books published in?

In summary, here is the publication sequence of the Anne of Green Gables novels. The order we generally read the books in today is listed to the right.

Publication Sequence	Chronology of Anne's Life
1) Anne of Green Gables (1908)	Book 1
2) Anne of Avonlea (1909)	Book 2
3) Anne of the Island (1915)	Book 3
4) Anne's House of Dreams (1917)	Book 5
5) Rainbow Valley (1919)	Book 7
6) Rilla of Ingleside (1921)	Book 8
7) Anne of Windy Poplars (1936)	Book 4
8) Anne of Ingleside (1939)	Book 6

Have you ever read the books in order by their publication dates, or have you always read the novels in the chronological order of Anne Shirley’s life? What are your thoughts on reading the novels of the Anne of Green Gables series in different orders?

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Created September 1, 1999. Re-posted online March 15, 2021. Last updated April 28, 2022.
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Magic for Marigold

Magic for Marigold was published by L.M. Montgomery in 1929. It is the story of young Marigold Lesley and is set on Prince Edward Island. The tale begins as the Lesley family gathers to celebrate Old Grandmother's birthday and to name the newest addition to the Lesley clan: Lorraine Lesley's baby. After a series of complications and clan machinations, the baby is finally given the name Marigold after four months. The story follows Marigold's imaginative adventures as she grows up.

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Created March 21, 2002. Re-posted online March 14, 2021. Last updated March 14, 2021.
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Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island (PEI) is a province located in the Gulf of St Lawrence in Eastern Canada. The island's scenery is beautiful with a striking contrast between the red roads and cliffs, deep blue water, and rich green landscape. In 1874, L.M. Montgomery was born in Clifton, PEI, and she used the island as the geographical location for many of her stories. Today, PEI is recognized around the world as the setting of L.M. Montgomery's novel Anne of Green Gables (1908).

Learn more about Prince Edward Island:



Created March 13, 2021.
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