Frances Hodgson Burnett

Born Frances Eliza Hodgson in Manchester, England, she emigrated to the United States after the death of her father in 1854. In 1868 Hodgson had a story published in Godey's Lady's Book[?]. Soon after she was being published regularly in Godey's, Scribner's Monthly[?], Peterson's Ladies' Magazine[?] and Harper's Bazaar[?]. Her main writing talent was combining realistic detail of of working-class life with a romantic plot.

She married Dr. L. M. Burnett of Washington, D.C. in 1873.

Her first novel was published in 1877; That Lass o' Lowrie's[?] was a story of Lancashire life.

After moving with her husband to Washington, D.C., Burnett wrote the novels Haworth's[?] (1879), Louisiana[?] (1880), A Fair Barbarian[?] (1881), and Through One Administration[?] (1883), as well as a play, Esmeralda (1881), written with William Gillette[?].

In 1886 she published Little Lord Fauntleroy. It was originally intended as a children's book, but had a great appeal to mothers. It created a fashion of long curls (based on her son Vivian's) and velvet suits with lace collars (based on Oscar Wilde's attire). The book sold more than half a million copies. In 1888 she won a lawsuit in England over the dramatic rights to Little Lord Fauntleroy, establishing a precedent that was incorporated into British copyright law in 1911.

In 1898 she divorced Dr. Burnett. She later re-married, this time to Stephen Townsend (1900).

Her later works include Sara Crew[?] (1888) - later rewritten as A Little Princess[?] (1905); The Lady of Quality[?] (1896) - considered one of the best of her plays; and The Secret Garden[?] (1909) - for which she is probably best known today.

In 1893 she published a memoir of her youth, The One I Knew Best of All[?]. From the mid-1890s she lived mainly in England, but in 1909 she moved back to the United States.

After her first son's death, Burnett delved into spiritualism and apparently found this a great comfort in dealing with her grief. During World War I, Burnett put her beliefs about what happens after death into writing with the novella: The White People[?].

Frances Hodgson Burnett died in Plandome, New York

External Links e-texts of some of Frances Hodgson Burnett's works:

• A Lady Of Quality (http://www.abacci.com/books/book.asp?bookID=1084)
• Little Lord Fauntleroy (http://www.abacci.com/books/book.asp?bookID=1174)
• A Little Princess (http://www.abacci.com/books/book.asp?bookID=1179)
• The Lost Prince (http://www.abacci.com/books/book.asp?bookID=1201)
• The Secret Garden (http://www.abacci.com/books/book.asp?bookID=2101)
• The Shuttle (http://www.abacci.com/books/book.asp?bookID=2219)
• T. Tembarom (http://www.abacci.com/books/book.asp?bookID=2150)
• The White People (http://www.abacci.com/books/book.asp?bookID=1792)