The latest Canadian Heritage Minute marks International Women’s Day by focusing on the life of Lucy Maud Montgomery. The Minute, produced by Historica Canada, is set on Prince Edward Island with an actress playing Montgomery, while a narrator reads passages from the author’s journals. It touches on Montgomery’s struggles with depression and rejection, and her feelings about her most famous character, Anne of Green Gables. “I’m possessed body and soul by this oppression. They say women shouldn’t write, some days I almost give up. But I cannot contain my imagination. I made Anne real. I gave her my love of nature, my love of books and my childhood dreams.”

Anne of Green Gables has been in print for more than a century, translated into at least 36 languages, has inspired many screen and stage adaptations. Interest in Montgomery’s life remains popular as well. A new biography, House of Dreams, by Liz Rosenberg and Canadian illustrator Julie Morstad, will be published by Candlewick Press in June.

“Lucy Maud Montgomery exemplified the importance of determination,” said Anthony Wilson-Smith, president and CEO of Historica Canada. “While millions are familiar with Anne of Green Gables, the obstacles she had to overcome to become a successful author aren’t nearly as well known or understood. We hope this new Heritage Minute will change that.”