Emily Byrd Starr

She starts out a small, dark-haired child with a vivid imagination and passion for writing, and the series closes on her as an adult woman and professional writer.

Emily enjoys the stimulating friendship of Dean Priest, a distant relative and former schoolmate of her father, and they are briefly engaged during the final volume of the series.

Living up to her place as a Murray and a woman of New Moon, she often acts to protect her pride and reputation rather than her happiness.

Emily Starr is described as slender, tall, and pale, with black hair and grayish-purple[broken anchor] ('smoke-purple') eyes.

At school, Emily meets Ilse Burnley, a neighbour, distant relative, and unconventional tomboy, and they are fast friends throughout the series.

She also meets Perry Miller, the hired chore boy at New Moon, and Frederick Kent, known as Teddy, who lives nearby.

Each of the central foursome has dreams toward which he or she is working: Emily, to be a famous writer, Ilse, an elocutionist, Teddy, an artist, and Perry, a business man and/or politician.

Emily makes new friends and enemies, endures various scandals, and experiences many triumphs (including having her first 'pieces' of writing published).

The novel closes on the central foursome graduating and making plans for their futures: Emily is to go home to New Moon and settle down to her writing career, Ilse and Teddy are going to Montreal, to study elocution and art respectively, and Perry has a job as a law clerk for a big firm in Charlottetown where he expects to be (and ultimately becomes) successful.

Emily spends much of her time trying to gain Dean Priest's blessing on her writing; she values his opinion above all others, as he is intelligent, witty, and well-travelled.

In April 2007, the novels were adapted into a 26-episode animated television series in Japan called Kaze no Shoujo Emily.