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.
A Little Princess (1917 film) A Little Princess (1917 film) A Little Princess is a 1917 American silent film directed by Marshall Neilan based upon the novel "A Little Princess" by Frances Hodgson Burnett. This version is notable for having been adapted by famed female screenwriter Frances Marion. As described in a film magazine, Sara Crewe (Pickford) is treated as a little princess at the Minchin boarding school for children until it is learned that her father has lost his entire fortune, and she is made a slavey (a household servant). She and Becky (Pitts), another slavey, become close friends who share their joys and