Frances Hodgson Burnett wrote the classic The Secret Garden.  Frances was born on November 24, 1849.  Her hometown was Manchester, England.  Her father's name was Edwin Burnett and her mother's name was Eliza Burnett.  Edwin made his living as a hardware dealer.  Frances's father died when she was only four years old.  It was now Eliza's job to provide for the family.  When Frances was 15 years old, her family decided to move to Tennessee.

In 1867, Frances submitted her first manuscript, Miss Desborough's Difficulties, to a publisher. At 18, Frances was a published writer.  Frances was 36 years old when her classic, Little Lord Fauntleroy, was published.  The story went to Broadway in 1888.  In 1888, Frances' story, A Little Princess, was also published.  The story was about a girl, Sara Crew, who went to boarding school while her father was in a war.

The Secret Garden wasn't published until 1911.  Gardens were always an interest of Frances'.  Frances once wrote, "I love to kneel down on the grass at the edge of a flower bed and pull out weeds fiercely and throw them into a heap by my side.  I love to fight with those who can spring up again with almost in a night and taunt me.  I tear them up by the roots again and again, and when at last after many days, perhaps, it seems as if I had beaten them for a time at least, I go away feeling like an army with banners."

The Secret Garden is still a popular book even though it was published over 90 years ago.  It has been made into movies, cartoons, and even a Broadway musical.