author
Lela Horn Richards
b. 1870
Best known for early 20th-century girls' fiction, this American writer created lively series such as the Blue Bonnet, Caroline, and Henrietta books. Her stories followed young women through school, friendship, and growing independence.
1 Audiobook
Blue Bonnet in Boston; or, Boarding-School Days at Miss North's
by Caroline Elliott Hoogs Jacobs, Lela Horn Richards
About the author
Lela Horn Richards was an American author born in 1870 in Kansas. Records for her books at the Library of Congress and other library catalogs identify her as the writer of several popular girls' novels published in the 1910s and 1920s, including Blue Bonnet: Debutante, Then Came Caroline, Caroline at College, Caroline's Career, and Only Henrietta.
Her fiction fits squarely into the warm, character-driven tradition of juvenile series books from the early 20th century. The titles linked to her name suggest a strong interest in young women's lives at turning points—boarding school, college, family expectations, and first steps into adult life.
A later archival note from the University of Utah also shows that Richards wrote a fiftieth-year history of the Neighborhood House and Day Nursery Association in 1944, hinting that her writing extended beyond fiction. Find a Grave records list her as Lela Horn Richards, born April 15, 1870, and died May 29, 1953, in Utah.