Frances Hodgson Burnett and "A Little Princess". Burnett enjoyed socializing and lived a lavish lifestyle. Beginning in the 1880s, she began to travel to England frequently and in the 1890s bought a home there, where she wrote "The Secret Garden". Her oldest son, Lionel, died of tuberculosis in 1890, which caused a relapse of the depression she had struggled with for much of her life. She divorced Swan Burnett in 1898, married Stephen Townsend in 1900, and divorced him in 1902. A few years later she settled in Nassau County, New York, where she died in 1924 and is buried in Roslyn Cemetery.
Frances Hodgson Burnett frilly dresses for herself. She allowed her sons' hair to grow long, which she then shaped into long curls. After two years in Paris, the family intended to move to Washington, D.C., where Swan, now qualified as a doctor, wanted to start his medical practice. However they were in debt, so Frances was forced to live with Swan's parents in New Market while he established himself in D.C. Early in 1877 she was offered a contract to have "That Lass o' Lowrie's" published, which was doing well in its serialization, and at that point she made her husband her business