The Shuttle (novel) lay their coronets, and incidentally their hearts, at the feet of the all-conquering American Girl.’ The building and grounds of ‘Stornham Court’ were modelled after Great Maytham Hall, near Rolvenden in Kent, which had a beautiful garden that Bettina starts restoring in "The Shuttle" and which also inspired the titular garden of "The Secret Garden". Angelica Shirley Carpenter writes in "In the Garden, Essays in Honor of Frances Hodgson Burnett" that Burnett's depiction of Sir Nigel's abuse of Rosalie mirrors the abuse that Burnett herself suffered at the hands of her second husband Stephen: "All the classic signs of abuse,
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