Publisher, Tantor Media (December 2008)

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In Frances Hodgson Burnett's 1905 classic tale, Sara Crewe, a pampered little rich girl who suddenly finds herself poor and fatherless, learns that deep down, being a real princess is an attitude of the heart.

Sara Crewe is a gifted and well-mannered child, and Captain Crewe, her father, is an extraordinarily wealthy man. So Miss Minchin, headmistress of Sara's new boarding school in London, is pleased to treat Sara as her star pupil---a pampered little princess.

But one dreadful day, Sara's father dies, and her world suddenly collapses around her. All of her lovely things are taken from her, and she is forbidden to associate with her friends. Miss Minchin can now show her greedy and mean-spirited nature to its fullest. The little princess is reduced to a shabby drudge.

But Sara does not break, and with the help of a monkey, an Indian lascar, and the strange, ailing gentleman next door, she not only survives her sufferings but helps those around her.

About the Author: English born novelist Frances Hodgson Burnett was best known for her children’s stories, particularly Little Lord Fauntleroy, The Secret Garden, and A Little Princess. Many of her works have been, and continue to be dramatized in film and video.

Frances Eliza Hodgson was born in Manchester England on November 24, 1849. When she was four, her father died, leaving her mother with five children and little money. They moved to America when she was sixteen and settled on a farm in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The family financial situation did not improve and Frances felt that she had the ability to earn money from writing, so as a teenager, she sent a story to an editor. Frances paid for the paper and postage stamps with money she had earned picking and selling wild grapes. She began with short stories based on her childhood days in Manchester. After Surly Tim’s Trouble premiered in Scribner’s Magazine in 1872, publishers pursued Frances and one successful story led to another.

Frances married Dr. Swan M. Burnett in 1873 and they had two sons. They traveled extensively throughout Europe and subsequently took up residence in Washington, DC. Later in life, reporters criticized her lifestyle and turned public sentiment against her, despite attempts to stay out of the public eye. Frances Hodgson Burnett died October 29th, 1924, at the age of 74.