Frances Hodgson Burnett, (1849 - 1924) was an English-American playwright and author. She is best known for her children's stories, The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, and Little Lord Fauntleroy. After her father's death in 1854 her family lived in poverty in the Victorian slums of Manchester. After moving to Tennessee her mother died in 1867 which made Frances the sole support of the younger children. It was at this point that she began to write. Sara Crewe or, What Happened at Miss Minchin's was an 1888 serial version of what would later become the novel A Little Princess being the whole story of Sara Crewe now told for the first time. Sara Crewe is brought from India by her captain father to attend Miss Minchin's boarding school. She has everything that a princess could desire until a dramatic change takes place in her life.