Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849-1924) was an American novelist. Burnett was born in Manchester, England but immigrated to the United States in 1865, 11 years after her father died. Her family settled in New Market, TN. In 1868, Burnett managed to place a story with Godey’s Lady’s Book.

The collection includes an original unbound and incomplete holographic manuscript. The manuscript is missing the first half of the story and starts with chapter 20, which corresponds to chapter 21 in the published book. The material is written in both pen and pencil and contains Burnett’s edits. There are also some duplicate typescript chapters. The novel is about a young woman's love for a soldier in England during World War I and is a sequel to Burnett's The Head of the House of Coombe (MS 028).