Frances Hodgson Burnett

Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849-1924), English author and playwright wrote The Secret Garden (1911);

Mary Lennox starts out as a spoiled, self-centred child. When she finds the key to a secret garden she embarks on a journey of self-discovery and helps many others including her sickly cousin Colin open the door to happiness. While it was initially written for children The Secret Garden was soon being read by an audience of all ages in North America and Europe. During her lifetime Burnett was a financially successful writer, often supporting the rest of her family with her earnings. Not an easy task when Victorian values looked down on a woman who sought independence in a realm dominated by men. Many female writers of the time including Louisa May Alcott used pseudonyms (A. N. Barnard) or published anonymously at first until their works stood up to scrutiny and they gained respect as writers. At times compared to such authors as Charlotte Bronte and Henry James, many of Burnett’s stories have proven to transcend the bounds of time and changing generations of readers. While much of her adult fiction is not read anymore due to over-sentimentality, many of her works are still in print. They have been translated to dozens of languages and inspired other authors’ writings and television and feature film adaptations.