A Little Princess

A Little Princess

by Francis Hodgson Burnett

Illustrated by Tasha Tudor

Summary:

EMILY IS a doll. Sarah Crewe and her father find her one dreary day in a London toyshop, staring at them through the glass window. They’ve traveled very far from India to send Sarah to boarding school away from the heat of the east. Captain Crewe, her father, is very sad to send her to Miss Minchin’s Select Seminary for Young Ladies, but is determined that is “Little Missus” shall have the best education away from conditions that could harm her health. He buys her and her doll an extravagant wardrobe of expensive furs, handmade lace, and beautiful frocks, all ready and waiting to be worn. Miss Minchin is a wordly woman with a cold heart who is ready to do anything-like giving Sarah her own richly furnished room as well as a playroom, french maid, and a pony with a carriage- for her father’s money. 

Of course, Captain Crewe writes to Sarah twice a week to ensure her happiness, and as Miss Minchin and sister Miss Amelia figure, a girl who is continually praised for everything she does, allowed to do whatever she wishes, and in addition to that the head of the class should be happy and complaint-free. If Sarah was more self-centered she would have become extraordinarily spoilt, but being a wise-beyond-her-years motherly ten-year-old, she understands her teacher’s reasons for treating her differently. Then, the day of her extravagant birthday party, she -as well as Miss Minchin- receives a terrible blow. The news that Captain Crewe has died, leaving his daughter penniless after investing all the money he had in diamond mines that seem to not have existed. Infuriated, Miss Minchin takes all her presents back [she paid for them, relying as always on Sarah's father's payment at the end of the month for all her luxuries], as well as her wardrobe and all her worldly goods, demoting her to an under-servant.

This life is something that Sarah’s only ‘pretended’ about, making up plays when she was warm and clothed properly, though now she realizes how bad life really can be. Friends with the scullery girl in the other side of the attic, Sarah manages to get through each day being sustained by visits from two of her friends and Becky, who never being a student, sees Sarah as almost a goddess.

One day the “Princess Sarah” sees a man from India moving into the flat next door, and later in the day meets his servant when his monkey runs across the slates to Sarah. He and his master concoct a plan to transform Sarah’s life in a very unexpected way, for he is unhappy in his search for another little girl. When Sarah wakes up to his surprise, she realizes that life has changed, finally, for the better.

Review:

I really like this book, and have read and re-read it ever since my friend Janet gave it to me for my tenth birthday. Looking through the children’s section of a bookstore, you probably won’t find many stories with this sort of plot line, partly why I enjoy this book. The way the characters interact with each other is also a point of interest, Sarah acting as a child and adult, I assume trying to bridge the [fairly large] age and maturity gap between herself and her elders. Burnett’s tale of the little heroine is a little too idealistic for my taste- to create a ten-year-old with perfect manners and good in every way seems just a tad ridiculous. I have never met a child like this, and even if I did, I doubt they would be as normal as Sarah is portrayed, but more like a thirty-year-old. The way she spells “Magic” always with a capital “M” also tends to get on my nerves, using it as almost a person, a physical being that influences events. This may sound nitpicky, but I think it’s unnecessary and esteems this power too highly. A Little Princess earns a 7/10 for character interaction, some realistic aspects, though unrealistic circumstances. Recommended for ages 9+

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