Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings was born in 1896 in Washington, D.C., to Arthur Frank Kinnan, an attorney for the US Patent Office, and Ida May Traphagen. Rawlings spent her early years in Wisconsin and Washington, D.C., before her family moved to Rochester, New York, in 1903. It was there that she developed a love for nature and literature, which would later become the dominant themes in her writing.
Rawlings is best known for her novel The Yearling, which was published in 1938. The book is set in rural Florida and tells the story of a boy who adopts an orphaned fawn. The novel explores the relationship between humans and nature, as well as the challenges of growing up in a harsh environment. The Yearling won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1939 and was later adapted into a successful movie.
Rawlings' writing is known for its vivid descriptions of the Florida wilderness and its exploration of the human condition. In addition to The Yearling, she wrote several other novels and short stories, many of which are set in rural Florida. Her work often features strong female characters and examines the complexities of human relationships. Rawlings' writing has had a lasting impact on American literature and continues to be read and studied today.