The writer's climb

I've been reading the 'Emily' books by L.M. Montgomery and am enjoying her portrayal of the aspiring author's struggle and climb to 'greatness' (however one defines it for themselves); it is nice to see an honest description of the trials, frustrations, despair, and triumphs of trying to reach any goal, a nice change from the 'just do it' and 'chase your dreams' rhetoric of the modern West.  Dreams take time, work, and luck to become realized and some of them never come to fruition and sometimes what we think we want most isn't all that great when we actually achieve it.  A lovely exploration of what it means to be an aspiring creative genius and also a glimpse at the struggles of a woman choosing ambition over love, very timely for the modern woman though it was written nearly a century ago!