Frances Hodgson Burnett wrote children's fiction and adult novels, but is best known for stories in which neglected or displaced children find new homes and greater independence. The Secret Garden follows Mary Lennox from India to a Yorkshire manor, where discovering a locked garden changes her relationship with the house, her sickly cousin Colin and the people around them. A Little Princess centres on Sara Crewe, whose comfortable life at a London boarding school collapses after her father's death, leaving her dependent on imagination and friendship. Little Lord Fauntleroy follows an American boy who unexpectedly becomes heir to an English aristocratic title. Burnett's children's novels are accessible, domestic and often shaped by dramatic changes in fortune. They belong to classic children's fiction, orphan stories and family fiction alongside writers such as L.M. Montgomery and Louisa May Alcott. Read more Less
