The son of English parents, Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay, India, on December 30, 1865. He and his sister Alice ("Trix") were sent to England for their schooling at an early age, residing with a foster family at Lorne Lodge, a place later immortalized by Kipling in the House of Desolation. Kipling's separation from his parents might account for his later interest in children's stories. He attended the United Services College (boarding school) until 1882. He returned to India in 1882 and began to write stories for two newspapers, the Civil and Military Gazette and the Pioneer. His initial success inspired him to return to England and launch a literary career.

In London, Kipling met Wolcott Balestier, a literary agent from America, and eventually married Balestier's sister Caroline (who was given away at the wedding by the author Henry James). Her estate in Vermont served as the couple's first...