Abstract
The article examines the life and works of the famous children' s author Frances Hodgson Burnett, whose stories – Little Lord Fauntleroy, A Little Princess, The Secret Garden – oscillate between high and low, between rags and opulence, "between the stars and the stables." The article considers the Cinderella Theme and the different protagonists of her novels in their various meanings, from the figure of the Beautiful Child to the spoiled and petulant anti-heroine. Special attention is devoted to women's roles present in her famous arcadian work The Secret Garden, specifically the concept of female childhood and the representations of family in the Victorian Age, both of which emerge through the author's stories. From the ancient relationship with the benign and motherly nature, we see that only children - often orphaned - have the ability to bring a new light in the family circle, becoming an integral part, which is essential to a new rebirth.