Sara Crewe, the daughter of a widowed officer stationed in India, has come to London to attend a boarding school. A thoughtful and serious child, she is blessed with both an abundance of kindness and imagination, and her father's wealth. But not everyone in her new life appreciates Sara for who she is, as she discovers when her circumstances abruptly change. "Sara Crewe" was originally a short story, serialized in a children's magazine. Its popularity led the author to expand it into an equally successful stage play, and from there it became this full-length novel. Much like Burnett's later children's book The Secret Garden , dramatic events and sharply defined characters give A Little Princess the qualities of a modern fairy tale. Frances Hodgson Burnett (died 1924) was a major literary figure of the early 20th century. Their work has endured across generations and continues to be read and studied worldwide. As a work of classic literary fiction, A Little Princess exemplifies the narrative craft and social insight that defined great storytelling of its era. Literary fiction of this period was characterized by careful attention to character psychology, social milieu, and the moral questions that animated public discourse.