Jessica's First Prayer; and, Jessica's Mother

Hesba Stretton

Hesba Stretton was the pseudonym of Sarah Smith, an evangelical English author of highly popular religious books for children. By the late 19th century Jessica's First Prayer had sold a million and a half copies – ten times more than Alice in Wonderland. She concocted "Hesba Stretton" from the initials of herself and four surviving siblings, along with the name of a Shropshire village she visited, All Stretton, where her sister Anne owned a house, Caradoc Lodge.