Fern's Hollow

Hesba Stretton (1832-1911) was the pen name of an English gentlewoman named Sarah Smith. She became a contributor to All Year Round when her sister, without Sarah’s knowledge, submitted a piece that Dickens accepted for publication. She is most well known for having written a book in 1866 called Jessica’s First Prayer, which had sold by the end of the 19th century over a million and a half copies! She died in 1911.