A World of Girls, The Story of a School by L.T. Meade was first published in 1886. We did a bit of research and Goodreads tells us that Mrs. L.T. Meade (Elizabeth Thomasina Meade Toulmin Smith), was a prolific children's author of Anglo Irish extraction. Born in 1844, Meade was the eldest daughter of a Protestant clergyman, whose church was in County Cork. Moving from Ireland to London as a young woman, after the death of her mother, she studied in the Reading Room of the British Museum in preparation for her intended career as a writer, before marrying Alfred Toulmin Smith in September 1879.
The author of close to 300 books, Meade wrote in many genres, but is best known for her girls' school stories. She was one of the editors of the girls' magazine, Atalanta from 1887-93, and was active in women's issues. She died in 1914.
Goodreads Synopsis:
This early school story tells of the boarding-school life of Hetty Thornton, a studious, proud girl, and her various associates, most notably: warm-hearted, mischievous, lazy Annie Forest, the favorite of the school, and Hester's enemy.Author of "the Palace Beautiful", "The Bashful Fifteen", "A Sweet Girl Graduate" Etc.
Illustrations: M. E. Edwards
Published: Cassell and Company, La Belle Sauvage, London, Paris, New York & Melbourne, 1901 (The first edition was published 1886)
