Frances Hodgson Burnett was born in Manchester in 1849.Some years after her farther's death,all her family moved to United States.
Her reputation as a novelist was made with her story of Lancashire life,That Lass o' Lowrie's (published in 1877),Burnett's first novel,which had been serialized in Scribner's.The book already showed her talent to portray realistic working-class scenes,mixed with a romantic and most improvable plot.Later on,she had other novels published,like Haworth's (1879),Louisiana (1880),A Fair Barbarian (1881),and Through One Administration (1883),as well as a play,Esmeralda (1881).
But all these books were not to be her most successful work.In 1886,she published Little Lord Fauntleroy,a children's book which fascinated mothers,for they began dressing their sons in velvet suit with lace collar,like the main character of this book.
Her later books include Sara Crew (1888),later rewritten as A Little Princess for drama,and her marvelous Secret Garden (1909).Both were children's books,and thanks to them,Burnett is quite well-known now-a-days.