Frances Hodgson Burnett

F. H. Burnett was born in 1849 in Manchester, England. She belonged to a relatively well-off family with four other children. After her father's death, the family moved to America. She married Dr. Swan Burnett, and together they had two children. She returned to England after separating from her first husband, but her second marriage also failed, and in 1890, her eldest son passed away. After 1901, she lived in Bermuda and Long Island, where she engaged in gardening, theosophy, and Christian Science. She first gained public and critical acclaim with her novel "That Lass O' Lowries" (1876-7) and established her literary reputation with a series of popular novels and plays. "Little Lord Fauntleroy" (1886) was her most successful work, but today she is more admired for her classic children's books "A Little Princess" (1905) and "The Secret Garden" (1911). She continued writing until her death in 1924.