The Secret Garden

Famous as the author of the children's novels The Secret Garden and Little Lord Fauntleroy, Frances Hodgson Burnett also wrote the popular stage works Esmeralda and The Lady of Quality. Born in England, she emigrated to the United States in 1865 only to find herself with no means of support; she began selling stories to magazines in order to pay the bills. Following the publication of Little Lord Fauntleroy, she won a copyright lawsuit over the British dramatization rights - setting a legal precedent that still stands today.