The Little City of Hope

F. Marion Crawford (1854-1909), an American writer born in Italy, was a world-traveler, linguist, yatchsman, and bestselling author, who specialized in contemporary or historical novels set in exotic places. Among his best-known titles are Mr. Isaacs, Dr. Claudius, A Roman Singer, Zoroaster, With the Immortals, The Cigarette-Maker's Romance, The Witch of Prague, Don Orisino, The Children of the King and many others. Among lovers of fantasy and the macabre, he is best remembered for his Arabian Nights novel Khaled and his supernatural collection, The Complete Wandering Ghosts. The Little City of Hope is one of his most charming works, a book to sit on the same shelf with the Christmas stories of Charles Dickens.