Biographie de Frances Hodgson Burnett
Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett (1849 - 1924) was born in Manchester, England. When she was sixteen, her family went to the USA, and made their home in Knoxville, Tennessee. There, she began to write stories for magazines, because her family was poor and needed the money. She married in 1873, but went on writing, and her first novel, That Lass o' Lowrie's, came out in 1877. After that came more stories for adults and children, but in 1886 she wrote Little Lord Fauntlerov, and this book made her famous.
The character of Cedric was based on her younger son, Vivian, and she read the story tu him while she was writing it. Both Burnett boys called their mother " Dearest ". Mrs Burnett's next famous book was Sam Crewe (1888), and this came out as a longer story called A Little Princess in 1905. There have been three films of this story Little Lord Fauntleroy and A Little Princess are about very nice, good children.
Many parents at the time bought these books because they wanted their children to learn from the little lord and the little princess how tu be good. Mothers in America even dressed their sons in cloches Iike Lord Fauntleroy's. Today, most people think that The Secret Garden (1910) is Mrs Burnett's best book. ln this story the children are more like real children - they are difficult, they get angry, they shout and they scream.
There are many films of this famous and much-loved story. Frances Hodgson Burnett was a very popular writer in her time. She often came pack to visit England, but she died in the USA, in a beautiful house on Long Island.
