After training as a teacher, Montgomery worked briefly in journalism before turning to fiction. Her debut novel, "Anne of Green Gables," was an immediate international success, telling the story of an imaginative red-haired orphan adopted by an elderly brother and sister in the fictional village of Avonlea. Its popularity led to several sequels, including "Anne of Avonlea" (1909), "Anne of the Island" (1915), "Anne's House of Dreams" (1917), and "Rilla of Ingleside" (1921).
Montgomery also wrote the Emily trilogy—"Emily of New Moon" (1923), "Emily Climbs" (1925), and "Emily's Quest" (1927)—as well as standalone novels such as "The Blue Castle" (1926) and "Jane of Lantern Hill" (1937). Over her career, she published some twenty novels, hundreds of short stories and poems, and extensive personal journals. Honored as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1935, Montgomery remains one of Canada's most beloved literary figures.