Its mythic plot, rich pastoral imagery, and sensitive portrayal of child character make this book Burnett's masterpiece, and its continuing appeal for readers of all ages has earned it recognition as a classic.
A Little Princess (1905), a version of the Cinderella tale based on Burnett's earlier story and play, completes the trio of books for which Burnett is most often remembered. In addition,
The Lost Prince (1915) remains on children's library shelves; though more flawed than the other books, this adventure romance also deserves attention in assessments of Burnett's contribution to children's literature. Finally, as a pastoral evocation of childhood, the autobiographical
The One I Knew the Best of All (1893) stands up well beside the better-known
The Golden Age (1895) by Kenneth Grahame.
The circumstances of Burnett's childhood are not unlike the radical changes in fortune or situation which many of her fictional characters later experienced. In the first sixteen years of her life, she went from upper-middle-class comfort to genteel poverty, moving from the British Isles to the United States, from crowded city to rural near-isolation. When she was born in Manchester, England, in 1849, her father, Edwin Hodgson, had a successful business selling household furnishings, and he was able to afford a suburban home for his wife Eliza and their five children.
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