Larkspur

Jane Abbott was an American author who authored over 35 books. She began writing children's books when her own children were young and moved on to write adult novels. Many of her books were primarily created for females, although they appealed to the entire family. Jane Ludlow Drake was born on July 10, 1881, in Buffalo, New York, to Captain Marcus Motier Drake and Mary A. Ludlow, his second wife. Her family was active in shipbuilding and sailing, so Jane spent a lot of her childhood on and near the Great Lakes. She attended Cornell University from 1899 to 1902 and spent two years on the editorial staff of the graduate publication. Jane married Frank Addison Abbott on December 21, 1902, a former Cornell student and Buffalo lawyer who eventually served as Erie County District Attorney (1906-1908). They have three children. Jane Abbott began writing children's books before branching out into adult literature. She wrote roughly twenty books for boys and girls and fifteen novels for adults. Many of her tales were created particularly for girls, but they had wide appeal, mixing "fun, family life, adventure, and mystery in just the right proportions". They were lauded for being "natural," "good, wholesome books," and "brimming with life, but clean in conception and language."