Author Discussion: Frances Hodgson Burnett

[nocowardsoul]

Frances Hodgson Burnett was born in Manchester, England and emigrated to Tennessee as a teenager. Her first novel was That Lass o' Lowrie's (1877), set in a Lanchashire mining town. She's best known for Little Lord Fauntleroy, A Little Princess, and The Secret Garden, which has a new movie coming out in August.

Comments

[nocowardsoul]

I loved this fic about Sara and Becky's further education.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/21829267

[sawthefaeriequeen]

She was such an interesting person! I read a biography about how she wrote a ton of plays and oversaw them to their production, and she was very ambitious and meticulous about them. She even got ticked off that a royal’s birthday interfered with the opening of one of her plays, heh.

There’s a biography about her written by her son, Vivian, but that sadly doesn’t seem in print anymore.

The Secret Garden is pretty much my favorite book ever.

Colin’s “miracle cure” isn’t seen as a good trope these days, but it’s worth seeing the roots of how she came up with it and how she was also subverting another belief at the time:

By showing a young female healer curing hysterical males, Burnett inverted the gender politics of the rest cure. She also contradicted some of its key principles. Instead of benefiting from continuous bed rest and isolation, Colin languishes without exercise and social contact. Established medical authority has nothing positive to offer him, as the family doctor does him more harm than good. This chimes with Christian Science beliefs and with Burnett’s own attitude towards mainstream medicine.
source

[nocowardsoul]

I read Ann Thwaite's biography of her, Waiting for the Party, and it was very interesting. I had no idea she got divorced twice.

I loved The Secret Garden. The food sounded good and the house and gardening sounded fun. I also read A Little Princess but only once because I didn't own a copy.

I'm reading that article right now.

[sawthefaeriequeen]

That's the one I read! I forgot how she was divorced. And one of her sons died as a young teen - so sad.

I really loved the detail of how they had a hollow rock in the garden that they could use to roast food! I believe her phrase was "fit for a woodland king".

[nocowardsoul]

Oh yes! Who wouldn't want their own little outdoor stove?

[feather_ghyll]

I've read A Little Princess and The Secret Garden (both of which are influences on twentieth century British children's literature, think of Noel Streatfeild's 'The Painted Garden' about a film adaptation of the book, of Katherine L. Oldemadow's earlier Princess books. Later, she was also a definite influence on Eva Ibbotson.) I prefer The Secret Garden, myself, but I recently bought a copy of 'That Lass o'Lowrie's' so it'll be interesting to read when I get round to it.