[Maud wrote] 'pious tales inspired by a book she read on Sundays when she was only allowed to read religious works. She loved that book. It was called "The Memoir of Anzonetta Peters" and it was the story of a child who became ill at the age of five, turned to religion, and lived a saintly life until she died when she was twelve. Anzonetta talked only in hymns. For months Maud's life was taken over by this book. She tried valiantly to become as saintly as her idol'.