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.
5) 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.
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.
Though she is today best remembered for her contributions to the canon of young adult literature, which include the classic The Secret Garden, author Frances Hodgson Burnett also penned a number of novels intended for adult audiences. The complex family drama In Connection with the De Willoughby Claim follows several families that have been rent asunder by various forces—some avoidable, some inescapable—and the steps they
...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?
10) 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
...11) T. Tembarom
If you love to read inspiring stories about dedicated, hard-working types who pull themselves up by their own bootstraps, you'll get a kick out of Frances Hodgson Burnett's T. Tembarom. Our eponymous hero emerges from a wretched childhood to finally realize his dream of making it as a newspaper columnist. When circumstances take him to England, Tembarom finds love—and uncovers some family secrets that change his life in ways he never
...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.
13) 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.
14) One Day at Arle
In this gripping short story from The Secret Garden author Frances Hodgson Burnett, unspeakable tragedy befalls Arle, a small, tight-knit fishing community on England's coast. Will the town be able to pick up the pieces and start over? One Day at Arle is a moving tale that will linger on in readers' minds.
In this moving short story from Frances Hodgson Burnett, author of The Secret Garden, a French family finds its social status zooming upward due to a daughter's marriage into an upper-class clan. But the salt-of-the-earth friends and neighbors of the Giraud family are deeply skeptical of what they see as brazen social climbing—and they aren't shy about expressing their displeasure.
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.
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.
18) A Fair Barbarian
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?
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.