Frances Hodgson Burnett was a British-American novelist and playwright whose children's books became some of the most enduring works of English-language juvenile fiction. Born in Manchester, England, in 1849, she emigrated with her family to the United States as a teenager and began publishing stories to help support them. Her fiction often combines hardship, imagination, social contrast, emotional transformation, and the moral power of kindness, giving young characters the ability to endure or reshape difficult circumstances.Burnett's best-known children's novels include Little Lord Fauntleroy, A Little Princess, and The Secret Garden. Each became a classic in its own way, but A Little Princess remains especially beloved for Sara Crewe's dignity, generosity, and refusal to let cruelty define her. Burnett's work continues to appeal to readers of classic children's literature, girls' fiction, orphan stories, boarding-school stories, family read-alouds, and novels where inner strength matters more than outward fortune.