Black Beauty

Anna Sewell originally from Great Yarmouth, England, and had a sibling named Philip; he was an engineer in Europe. At the tender age of 14, Anna fell while walking from school to her home in the rain and injured both ankles. Due to mistreatment of the injury, she was unable to walk or stand for any period for the rest of her life. Disabled and incapable of walking, she began learning about horses, spending several hours driving her father to and from the location from which he commuted...
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Anna Sewell originally from Great Yarmouth, England, and had a sibling named Philip; he was an engineer in Europe. At the tender age of 14, Anna fell while walking from school to her home in the rain and injured both ankles. Due to mistreatment of the injury, she was unable to walk or stand for any period for the rest of her life. Disabled and incapable of walking, she began learning about horses, spending several hours driving her father to and from the location from which he commuted to work. Her dependency on horse-drawn transportation fostered her respect for animals. Sewell's prelude to writing began in her youth when she edited the works of her mother, Mary Wright Sewell, a deeply religious, favorite author of juvenile best-sellers.Anna Sewell never got married or had children. In visits to European resorts, she met many writers, artists, and philanthropists. Her only book was Black Beauty. During this time, her health was decaying, and she could barely get out of bed. Her mother often had to help her in her illness. The book broke records for selling and is the "sixth best seller in the English language." By telling the narrative of a horse's life in the form of an autobiography and representing the world by the eyes of the horse, Anna Sewell broke new literary ground.Sewell died of hepatitis or tuberculosis, only five months after the novel was released, but she lived long enough to see its opening success. She was buried in the Quaker burial-ground at Lammas near Buxton, Norfolk, where a wall plate marks her resting place. Her house in Church Plain, Great Yarmouth, is now a museum.