Frances Hodgson Burnett
This allegorical tale of a saintly king who moves heaven and earth for the good of his people is another winner for young audiences from Frances Hodgson Burnett, the author of the beloved children's book The Secret Garden. Easy to understand and full of inspiring messages about doing the right thing, The Land of the Blue Flower is a wonderful and memorable read.
3) My Robin
Fans of Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel The Secret Garden will relish this charming anecdote that further expands upon the robin that features in that book. In response to a reader's letter, Burnett reminisces about her love of English robins—and one in particular that changed her life forever.
This charming and uplifting novella is the basis for a later, novel-length version that author Frances Hodgson Burnett eventually published under the title The Little Princess. The daughter of a prominent captain, Sara is enrolled at a boarding school while her father sails the seas. When tragedy strikes, Sara's world is turned upside down, but in the end, she finds a way to triumph over adversity.
Left to her own devices after her husband's death, Robin's vain, scatterbrained mother is wholly incapable of taking care of herself, much less her young daughter. Amidst this tumultuous environment, does Robin stand a chance of growing up to be a fully functioning adult? Read Frances Hodgson Burnett's gripping domestic drama The Head of the House of Coombe to find out how this tale unfolds.
Sara Crewe's young but doting father sends her to a London boarding school when she is seven. On her eleventh birthday her life of luxury comes to an abrupt end when she receives news that her father has died, shortly after losing his entire fortune. The school-mistress turns Sara into a servant to pay off her debts, and though Sara uses the entire force of her imagination and her good heart to remember who she is and keep starvation from the door,
...Readers who enjoyed Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Lady of Quality, a tale about a spunky girl named Clorinda who uses her wiles to triumph over adversity, will love His Grace of Osmonde, a sequel of sorts that retells the story at the heart of A Lady of Quality from the perspective of the Duke who plays a central role in the previous novel.
10) Vagabondia
Have you ever fantasized about giving up your day job and living a life of blissful creativity, unhampered by the demands of the rat race? That's exactly what the quirky family at the center of Vagabondia does. Though their bohemian lifestyle has its ups and downs, it's a charming tale from the author of The Secret Garden that's a pure pleasure to read.
Lancashire laborer Tim Hibblethwaite has a bad reputation, and employers around town have started to talk about his grumpy disposition and unwillingness to cooperate. Is there anyone who is willing to overlook his past and give him a chance at a fresh start? This short story from The Secret Garden author Frances Hodgson Burnett will resonate with any reader who has ever tried to put a rough patch behind them.
12) Louisiana
Two young women are sent to a North Carolina resort to recover after illnesses. One is a cultured New Yorker, and the other—the Louisiana of the book's title—is a beautiful but unpolished country girl. Both find themselves out of their element at the resort, so they band together and become fast friends—and learn a lot about what it means to be different in the process.
13) One Day at Arle
Author Frances Hodgson Burnett spent several years living in Paris as a young wife and mother, and her own life experiences and observations heavily influenced the series of stories that Burnett set in France, including the novella Le Monsieur de la Petite Dame. This tale examines the cultural differences between Americans and the French through the lens of a newly arrived American family and the French grand dames they encounter.
15) The White People
Though different in many respects, The White People bears a few key similarities to the novel for which author Frances Hodgson Burnett is best remembered, the childhood classic The Secret Garden, including immersion into the private, dreamlike world that young people often construct for themselves. Set amidst the misty moors of Scotland, The White People tells the tale of a thoughtful, solitary little girl with extraordinary
...16) Seth
Seth is a deeply moving short story by Frances Hodgson Burnett, the author of many beloved childhood classics, including Little Lord Fauntleroy, The Secret Garden and A Little Princess. A young Englishman walks into a down-on-its-luck Tennessee mining town, and at first the locals are reluctant to accept him. But before long, Seth's selflessness has made him an important part of the community.
17) The Shuttle
If you're tired of Victorian heroines who are weak-willed, simpleminded, and utterly incapable of looking out for themselves, you simply must make the acquaintance of Bettina Vanderpoel, the refreshingly shrewd, independent, and level-headed protagonist of Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel The Shuttle. In the early twentieth century, America's nouveau riche families began to marry off their daughters to British aristocrats, and many of these
...18) Lodusky
Born in England, Frances Hodgson Burnett emigrated to Knoxville, Tennessee with her family at the age of 16. Faced with financial hardship, she began to write fiction and non-fiction pieces as a means of making money. Eventually, she emerged as a popular writer of children's literature, penning such classics as The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, and Little Lord Fauntleroy. Lodusky, a short story set in the American
...This fascinating historical novel from The Secret Garden author Frances Hodgson Burnett explores the lives of an often-overlooked group: female miners in nineteenth-century England. Joan Lowrie, the main focus of the novel, is a strong-willed lass who has struggled with a life of poverty and now works punishing hours in a Lancashire mine. Is there any hope for her to rise above her trying circumstances and find true happiness?
In this romantic tale from the author of The Secret Garden, a pair of star-crossed lovebirds stuck in a seemingly hopeless situation try valiantly to forget about their profound feelings for one another. Should they do what's right according to society's standards, or risk it all for a chance at true love?