The Shuttle

Frances Hodgson Burnett

may 2014 · The Floating Press

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If you're tired of Victorian heroines who are weak-willed, simpleminded, and utterly incapable of looking out for themselves, you simply must make the acquaintance of Bettina Vanderpoel, the refreshingly shrewd, independent, and level-headed protagonist of Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel The Shuttle. In the early twentieth century, America's nouveau riche families began to marry off their daughters to British aristocrats, and many of these matches were doomed before they even began by intractable cultural differences. When Betty sets off across the pond to rescue her sister Rosalie from one such ill-fated match, the novel really kicks into high gear.

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Frances Hodgson Burnett wrote for children and adults, publishing both plays and novels. She was born in Manchester, England, on November 24, 1849. Her father, who owned a furniture store, died when she was only four years old. Her mother struggled to keep the family business running while trying to raise five children. Finally, because of the failing Manchester economy, the family sold the store and immigrated to the United States. In 1865 they settled just outside of Knoxville, Tennessee. Hoping to offset her family's continuing financial troubles, Burnett began to submit her stories to women's magazines. She was immediately successful. In the late 1860s her stories were published in nearly every popular American magazine. Burnett helped to support her family with income from the sale of her stories, even saving enough to finance a trip back to England, where she stayed for over a year. In 1879, Burnett published her first stories for children; two of her most popular are A Little Princess and The Secret Garden. In contrast to an extremely successful career, Burnett's personal life held many challenges. Her son Lionel was diagnosed with tuberculosis at age 15, from which he never recovered. His death inspired several stories about dead or dying children. Burnett lived her later years on Long Island, New York. She died in 1924.