Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery, published as L. M. Montgomery, was best known for a series of novels beginning with Anne of Green Gables. The book was an immediate success. Anne Shirley, an orphaned girl, made Montgomery famous in her lifetime and gave her an international following. Montgomery became the first Canadian woman to be made a member of the British Royal Society of Arts. Was named one of the "Twelve Greatest Women in Canada" by the Toronto Star.