Frances Hodgson was born in Manchester, England, in 1849. Like the characters in her story, Mary Lennox from "The Secret Garden" and Sara Crewe from "A Little Princess", Frances lost her father when she was very young. His death was hard on the family, and they became quite poor. They left England when Frances was 16 years old, moving to an uncle's small farm near Knoxville, Tennessee. Frances knew early in her life that she wanted to be a writer. She began publishing stories in magazines while still in her teens. These sales helped support her family. In 1873, she married Dr. Swan Burnett and lived in Washington, Dc, and then in England. They had two sons named, Lionel and Vivian.
Frances Hodgson Burnett wrote many plays and more than 40 novels for adults. Her most famous and beloved books, however, were three that she wrote for children which are "Little Lord Fauntleroy"(1886) , "A Little Princess"(1905) , and "The Secret Garden"(1911). Burnett became an American citizen, but still traveled and lived at times in England. She spent her later years in New York , and died in 1924.