Christina Rossetti

One of four children, Rossetti was born on December 5, 1830 in London, England.  Taught at home by her mother, Rossetti later suffered from a nervous breakdown at age 14 when her father faced severe financial and medical problems.  During her time of depression and illness, Rossetti reached out to the Church of England's Anglo-Catholic movement.  Religion became a significantly large part of her life and twice influenced her decisions on marriage.  At age 31 she saw her collection Goblin Market and Other Poems published, and she continued to pursue a lifetime of writing on devotional themes and children's poetry.  Toward the end of her life she was stricken with Graves disease and in 1893 developed the cancer that led to her death on December 29, 1894.

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