Lucy Maud Montgomery (November 30, 1874 - April 24, 1942), publicly known as L. M. Montgomery, was a Canadian author best known for her 1908 novel Anne of Green Gables. The book was an immediate success. The central character, Anne Shirley, an orphaned girl, made Montgomery famous in her lifetime and gave her an international following. Montgomery went on to publish 20 novels as well as 530 short stories, 500 poems, and 30 essays. Most of the novels were set in Prince Edward Island, and locations within Canada's smallest province became a literary landmark and popular tourist site-namely Green Gables farm, the genesis of Prince Edward Island National Park. She was made an officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1935. Since then, Montgomery's work, diaries and letters have been read and studied by scholars and readers worldwide.