British literature Series", A. A. Milne, "Winnie-the-Pooh", and P. L. Travers' "Mary Poppins". Prolific children's author Enid Blyton chronicled the adventures of a group of young children and their dog in "The Famous Five". T. H. White wrote the Arthurian fantasy "The Once and Future King", the first part being "The Sword in the Stone" (1938). Mary Norton wrote "The Borrowers", featuring tiny people who borrow from humans. Inspiration for Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel "The Secret Garden". In Kent. Hugh Lofting created the character Doctor Dolittle who appears in a series of twelve books, while Dodie Smith's "The Hundred and One Dalmatians"
Frances Hodgson Burnett stressed the age difference—Townsend was ten years younger than she—and she referred to him as her secretary. Biographer Ann Thwaite doubts he loved her. She claims at that time the 50-year-old Burnett was "stout, rouged and unhealthy". Thwaite believes Townsend needed her to help with his acting career and support him financially. Within months, in a letter to her sister, she admitted the marriage was in trouble. She described Townsend as scarcely sane and hysterical. Thwaite argues Townsend blackmailed her into the marriage: he wanted money from her and he wanted to control her as a husband. Unable to bear