author
Virginia W. (Virginia Wales) Johnson
1849–1916
An American novelist who moved from writing for young readers to fiction for adults, she also brought the places she knew best into her books, especially Italy and its history. Her work has a gentle nineteenth-century charm, with stories that range from fairy tales to travel writing and social fiction.
1 Audiobook
The Cricket's Friends: Tales Told by the Cricket, Teapot, and Saucepan
by Virginia W. (Virginia Wales) Johnson
About the author
Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1849, Virginia Wales Johnson was an American novelist. Available sources agree that she was educated at home, and that after 1875 she lived in Florence, Italy, a setting that would shape much of her later writing.
Her early books were written mainly for young people, but she later published fiction for adults as well. She is especially associated with works such as The Catskill Fairies, along with books connected to Italian places and culture, including The Lily of the Arno; or, Florence, Past and Present and Genoa the Superb.
Johnson died in 1916. While she is not widely known today, her writing still appeals to readers who enjoy nineteenth-century fiction, older children's literature, and books that blend storytelling with a strong sense of place.