With the success of Anne of Green Gables in 1908 and Anne of Avonlea in 1909, Lucy Maud Montgomery's publisher, The L.C. Page Company wanted another book ready for a waiting public as soon as possible. They suggested printing an expanded version of a Montgomery story titled "Una of the Garden," which had appeared in a magazine in the winter of 1908. Maud began re-writing and revising Una, whose name she changed to “Kilmeny,” in the middle of November 1909, hoping to finish by a January 1 deadline. It was a difficult time for writing. Her obligations to her aging grandmother were frustrating -- even her fame and new fortune did not allow her the authority to fix up her home, get domestic help, travel or even entertain friends. She was depressed, cold, suffering from bad dreams, sleeplessness and illness. Nonetheless, Kilmeny, which reflected "very little out of {her} own experience," was completed on time., Source type: Print(0)
