"The best version of the Cinderella story in modern idiom that exists" is how Marghanita Laski describes Frances Hodgson Burnett's Little Lord Fauntleroy. It is the charming story of a seven-year-old American boy, Ceddie Errol, who lives on the edge of poverty in New York. One day he is visited by a gruff lawyer at the tiny house he shares with his widowed mother, and his life is never to be the same: for waiting in England is Dorincourt Castle, where Ceddie is to reside as the sole living heir to the irascible, proud, and selfish Earl of Dorincourt. It will be up to this virtuous boy to capture and warm the Earl's heart and transform him into a doting grandfather and responsible landlord.

FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT (1849-1924) was an English-born author of romances and books for children. After moving to America in 1865 she established a popular reputation with the publication of That Lass o’Lowries in 1877. She is best known for such stories as Little Lord Fauntleroy, The Little Princess, and The Secret Garden.