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    A Little Princess
    A Little Princess
    A Little Princess
    Ebook320 pages5 hours

    A Little Princess

    By Frances Hodgson Burnett

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.

    “Whatever comes," she said, "cannot alter one thing. If I am a princess in rags and tatters, I can be a princess inside”

    A Little Princess tells the story of Sara Crewe, beloved daughter of the revered Captain Crewe. Sent to board at Miss Minchin's Select Seminary for Young Ladies, Sara is devastated when her adored father dies. Suddenly penniless, Sara is banished to an attic room where she is starved, abused, and forced to work as a servant. How this exceptionally intelligent girl uses the only resources available to her, imagination and friendship, to overcome her situation and change her fortunes is at the centre of this enduring classic.

    First published in 1905, ‘A Little Princess’ is a heart-warming tale of hope, hardship and love set against a backdrop of Victorian England, and is one of the best-loved stories in all of children’s literature.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins UK
    Release dateJan 30, 2014
    ISBN9780007557998
    Author

    Frances Hodgson Burnett

    Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849–1924) was an English-American author and playwright. She is best known for her incredibly popular novels for children, including Little Lord Fauntleroy, A Little Princess, and The Secret Garden.

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    Reviews for A Little Princess

    4.5/5

    68 ratings87 reviews

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    • 5/5
      One of my favorite childhood books, about the daughter of a British soldier who was raised in India, but is sent to a British boarding school when her father is sent to war.
    • 4/5
      Ich habe das Buch zufällig bei Projekt Gutenberg gesehen und war leicht besorgt: Einerseits mochte ich zwar Der geheime Garten von der selben Autorin, hasste aber (und das nicht mal leidenschaftlich) den Anime Kleine Prinzessin Sara, den es früher gab. Oder vermutlich gibts ihn immer noch, zum Glück wird er aber nicht mehr gezeigt. Auf jeden Fall war meine Sorge unbegründet: Das Buch A Little Princess war toll.

      Ich konnte es kaum aus der Hand legen. Es war eins dieser Bücher, die einen fühlen lassen, als wäre man gefüllt mit warmer Schokolade während man in einem Haufen Welpen und Zuckerwatte liegt.

      “I liked you to listen to it,” said Sara. “If you tell stories, you like nothing so much as to tell them to peolpe who want to listen. I don’t know why it is. Would you like to hear the rest?”

      Einen Kritikpunkt habe ich: Sara war zu perfekt. Wie der Prototyp einer Mary Sue. Alles was sie tat, alles, was sie sagte, alles war perfekt. In ihrer allererste Unterrichtsstunde verkündet der Lehrer, dass er ihr nichts mehr beibringen könne, weil ihr Französisch vollendet sei. Und so geht es gerade weiter. Also ja. Mir sind Charakter mit einem kleinen Fehler natürlich lieber, auch bei Kinderbüchern. Es wäre zumindest schöner gewesen, wenn es nicht auf jeder Seite 10 mal erwähnt würde, wie toll Sara ist. Nach 5 Seiten dachte ich mir dann doch: Okay, jetzt weiß ichs. Muss man mir nicht mehr sagen.

      Als Sara dann jedoch zur Sklavin wurde ist das viel, viel besser geworden. Und ihr abmühen, sich weiter wie eine Prinzessin zu benehmen, obwohl sie seit 2 Tagen nichts mehr zu essen hatte, lässt sie dann doch viel menschlicher erscheinen.

      Ein echter Pluspunkt ist, dass Sara ein Buch nach dem anderen verschlingt. Wie ein Buchwurm wühlt sie sich durch jedes Buch, das sie in die Finger bekommt. Sie fiebert auf Neuerscheinungen hin. Und sie wäre generell ein Buchblogger, wenn sie heute am Leben wäre.

      Never did she find anything so difficult as to keep herself from losing her temper when she was suddelny disturbed while absorbed in a book. People who are fond of books know the feeling of irritation which sweeps over them at such a moment. The temtation to be unreasonable and snappish is one not easy to manage.

      Von daher ist es ein echtes, flauschig-warmes, Wohlfühlbuch.
    • 4/5
      Such a cute little book of Sara Crewe, whose father, stationed in India, sends her to boarding school in England. When she starts there she has lots of income which satisfies the insecure, jealous matron of the school. However, when things go downhill for Sara's father and his fortune, Sara's daily life takes a landslide downward. However, she is a very mature child and tries to act like she thinks a princess would act, with a fortune or without. And therein lays the story of her reaction to her situation and her encouragement of others. There is also an ongoing search for a mystery child which culminates at the end of the book. I enjoyed this children's book very much, and think it would be a wonderful book to read along with a child and discuss how he/she might react in a similar situation. I highly recommend this book :)
    • 5/5
      ara Crewe is a child gifted with a remarkable imagination, intelligence and a doting father. When her father dies, her intelligence is useful certainly, but it is her imagination that really pulls her through the tough times. She wonders in the beginning of the book whether she is actually nice or not, because she has never experienced a hardship. I really loved that when hardship came, she struggled to maintain her princess demeanor. She got angry and wanted to respond spitefully to ill treatment, but made the conscious decision to rise above. This makes Sara feel like a real girl, not like some absurd Pollyanna.

      I am always happy to find another book lover, and such is Sara Crewe. One of the most trying moments of the book for her in her battle to keep her temper is when her reading is interrupted: "Never did she find anything so difficult as to keep herself from losing her temper when she was suddenly disturbed while absorbed in a book. People who are fond of books know the feeling of irritation which sweeps over them at such a moment." Delightful.

      There was one element of the story that is a bit...odd...from a modern perspective. That is that the Indian servant, Ram Dass, watches Sara while she is inside and even comes into the room while she is sleeping. His intentions are entirely noble and he is doing good. Still...it's hard not to be at least a wee bit creeped out by that these days.

      Although a children's book, this classic loses nothing when read by an older audience. I highly recommend this to anyone who believes in magic! Also, if you haven't seen it, definitely check out the 1995 film version, because it manages to capture the magic of the book and even improve upon the story (in my opinion)!
    • 5/5
      One of my favorite books when I was young, along with The Secret Garden.
    • 5/5
      Probably the most touching book I have ever read, Frances Hodgson Burnett`s best book.
    • 5/5
      The imagination of Sarah, the princess, is what makes this book so amazing. Even though her life has been completely turned upside down, Sarah uses her imagination and the idea of 'What if she really were a princess' to keep her going through hard times. It's an incredible story with a main character that all girls can look up to. I would recommend this book to any girl, young and old.
    • 5/5
      Rags to riches stories are a common enough trope, but A Little Princess turns that narrative on its head. Little Sara Crewe, who has been given everything by her dear papa, is sent to a London board schooling, as was the custom amongst the wealthy in England at the time. There, everyone - children and adults alike - marvel at her beautiful things and declare her "a little princess." Contrary to the stereotype about rich children, Sara is not spoiled and bratty, but rather is considerate and polite. She makes friends with the other children at school, particularly with those who are overlooked by others - slow Ermengarde, tantrum-throwing little Lottie, and scullery maid Becky - instead of aligning herself with the school "mean girls" Lavinia and Jessie. Sara is also clever and imaginative, which sometimes causes others to view her as a bit peculiar, although overall she is well liked. She has a tendency to become solemn and philosophical, and sometimes wonders if she would be so nice if circumstances had been different and she had been born without wealth and privilege. Perhaps, she surmises, she is only kind because when you have everything, there is no reason to be unkind.One day, everything changes for small Sara, and she is given the opportunity to see just what sort of person she is when the tangible goods are taken from her life. On her 11th birthday, news reaches the boarding school that her beloved father has died and due to his unwise business investments, she is now not only orphaned but also penniless. The boarding school headmistress, Miss Minchin, who never really liked Sara as a person but only for her money, is apoplectic with having Sara's care foisted upon her. She responds by taking all of Sara's possessions away from her and forcing her to become a servant at the school.But all is not lost. Sara's cleverness and kindness served her well in the past and continue to do so, even in her reduced circumstances. Those who loved her for these qualities continue to do so and look out for her well-being to the best of their ability. Little Sara is indeed a model for us all with her kindness even in the face of destitution and misuse. Still, at times it becomes a tragedy of error, almost Shakespearean with mistaken identities and just missed opportunities for enlightenment, as Sara and her father's friend/business partner Mr. Carrisford are literally next door from one another but kept apart due to their ignorance of each other's significance. Meanwhile, poor Sara suffers the ill effects of poverty and misuse while Mr. Carrisford is wracked with guilt over not being able to find Sara. The narrative makes this time period seem to past relatively quickly but at the end it is noted more than once that the full time period is two years. This is hard, long time indeed for this poor little girl. In true fairy tale like fashion, Sara's fortunes eventually reverse and turn out for the better while Miss Minchin and the mean girls of the school get the chance to re-evaluate their actions. While this isn't the reality I've known, it's nice to live in this world for a little while, imagining that all good people eventually get their just desserts and those unkind people will eventually be reprimanded. It was perhaps for this reason that this book was a childhood favorite of mine. Re-reading this book as an adult, I did notice that there are some troubling depictions of people of lower classes, non-Anglo ethnic backgrounds, and less than ideal body figures. But these aren't overwhelming and you have to take the book as a product of its time. Ram Dass talking about he was always watching the child as she sleeps, peering in through her window, and knowing her every coming and going, is also a bit creepy to re-read as an adult but his intentions are the best as he does this to learn what she needs. This ends up being of great benefit to Sara during the worse of her troubles. One final note: Although I still own my hard copy of this book from childhood, I opted to re-read the book as an audio version this time. The audio narrator, Justine Eyre, was stupendous and I highly recommend this version for the audiophile.
    • 4/5
      A Little Princess was one of my favorite movies growing up but I had never read the book. I enjoyed it but I think I prefer the movie just to see her stories come to life.
    • 5/5
      That one should never see a film adaptation of a book, without first having read the original, is an idea so unconsciously accepted in my circle of family and friends that it usually admits no debate. But for every rule there are exceptions, and happily for my childhood, Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess was one of them. I had little taste for sentimental fiction as a child (oh, the irony!), and might have remained indifferent to Burnett's work, had I not seen the brilliant Wonderworks television adaptation of the novel. Released in 1987, it is the only decent film version ever made, and prompted me to read the book, followed in quick succession by The Secret Garden and Little Lord Fauntleroy. Re-read countless times since, they have given me many hours of pleasure, winning a permanent place among my favorite books...The story of a young girl who comes face to face with the cruel, mercenary side of society, A Little Princess has always struck me as a tale of moral courage, simultaneously conventional and subversive. Sara Crewe is the daughter of privilege, despite her temporary poverty and genuine suffering, but she also exhibits a very democratic sensibility, and her behavior is not dictated by monetary concerns. She is as much a friend to poor Becky before the loss of her fortune, as she is afterward; just as she is with Ermengarde. She is, moreover, somewhat disdainful of adult authority, as exemplified by her relationship with Miss Minchin, whose initial "friendliness" she (rightfully) mistrusts. Successful as a portrait of a particular time and place, Burnett's A Little Princess also has qualities that give it a decidedly modern feeling...Addendum: Having just reread this childhood favorite, for our January discussion over at A Thrilling Term at Goodreads: The Girls' School-Story Group, I was struck by the many plot elements that are common in the genre, from the central conceit of a student whose circumstances are greatly reduced, and must work at the school (think Juliet Carrick, in The School at the Chalet, although Madge Bettany is no Miss Minchin), to the idea of one girl who plays "mother" to the younger ones (think L.T. Meade's The Little School-Mothers: A Story for Girls). My new-found familiarity with the genre definitely increased my appreciation of Burnett's classic, which now seemed, not only to be an immensely satisfying story, in its own right, but an interesting example of its genre.
    • 3/5
      This was a different sort of story than most of what I read and the age of text makes for some interesting differences in social norms and socially acceptable terminology, but the plot left me satisfied. At least those who were cruel didn't get what they wanted and those who were kind recieved what they deserved and far more. Sarah was an interesting main character despite the over-the-top extravagance that she had bestowed upon herself. I don't know. The book was satisfying and for its time it was quite good, but it seems to have lost something in the past century or so.
    • 3/5
      Do I really need to review this? You can tell perfectly well from the title whether it's something you're interested in reading or not.Anyway, there's absolutely no character arc and relatively little in the way of a plot but the novel will draw you along through it by sheer force of charm anyway. You cannot hope to beat Sara Crewe in princess-off. She is simply the best there is.
    • 4/5
      Thoughts: This story is a good story about love and loss. I liked this book because it shows a way to cope with the loss of a loved one and how even though the girl lost everything she was still able to be kind to others. This book has great values that children should learn when growing up. I enjoyed this book very much I thought that is shows how resiliant children are. When I was reading this book it was like a was there in the school experiencing everything with Sarah. Summary: A young girl who grew up in India and moves to France to go to school while her father goes to war. To keep herself intertained she makes up stories to tell the other girls at the school. One day a message comes that her father has been killed in the war. She has nowhere else to go, so the owner of the school makes her a house maid. She has to clean the other girls rooms and take wood to there fireplaces. Eventually some of the girls start to speak to her again and she tells them more stories of India.Classroom Extensions:1) I would have this book on my self so that my students could read it on their own time. After the student read the book I would have him/her do a story map. 2) I would have my student write out what the main idea of the story, and how their thinking changed through the book.
    • 5/5
      While I love this story, there is a reference to "magic" and "the magician" which needs explaining. It is not true magic, but the man who gives the girls presents during the night while they sleep which they wake up and think it is magic.
    • 4/5
      Pretty sickly sweet kind of children's book. I'm sure that Sara was just that perfect, right? But all children can have a goal and I suppose it is a good goal. Very similar to the film with Shirley Temple, except for the ending. Since I'd already seen the film, I pretty much knew what was coming up. Cute read.
    • 5/5
      I must have read this book at least half a dozen times as a child. It had my childhood self imagining vividly the happenings, and cheering for Sarah to overcome what tragedies had befallen her. A perfect book for a imaginative young girl,one just past American Girl book reading age.
    • 5/5
      Sara Crewe lives in India with her father, but is moved to a boarding school in England when he is convinced it will be best for her. She is very rich and is treated very well until her father dies after losing all of his money. She is banished to the attic and forced to work as a servant. She is treated horribly and is close to starving and freezing all the time, but she remains kind, thoughtful, and graceful. She catches the attention of a rich neighbor who she discovers is her father's business partner. He takes her in and she takes the other servant girl with her.I adore Frances Hodgson Burnett books, and A Little Princess in particular. I think Sara Crewe is a wonderful role model for children. She is unwavering in her belief in right and wrong and will not be bullied by anyone. She is open and honest and cares deeply about everyone, including the mice who infest the attic. I will never forget the part where she buys some bread and gives it to a starving girl outside, even though she is malnourished herself, which inspires the baker to hire that girl. I think the lesson, about doing what is right no matter what and caring about others, is a beautiful one. I also think the old-fashioned writing, though difficult, would be perfect for expanding kids' vocabulary and sentence structure, and fits right in the the Common Core Standards.
    • 2/5
      Why did I read this? I'm not a girl. I'm not eight years old. I'm not living in the turn of the century. Well, I decided to read a little young adult fiction aimed at females, just to see what it was like. I'd just read "Jungle Book" and "Just So Stories", so I wanted to see how the other half lives. It apparently lives in a great deal of warm and fluffy feelings. Burnett must have been a genius to stretch this story out as long as she did. Talk about your Mary Sues. The "little princess" in question is a precocious girl from a colorful background traveling in mysterious India, who's dropped off at a girl's school. Everyone loves her, except for the trunchbull Miss Minchin. She spends half the time being the Jesus-figure for her obnoxious spoiled classmates, and the other half being a poor ragamuffin once her fortune's lost and she's relegated to scullery-maid (what is a scullery? And are they so dirty they need maids?). Then she uses her *imagination* (sparklies!) to rise above her poverty and remain a "princess".Anyway, I got an interesting glimpse of female characters during this time, and what they were into. Good thing we got out of that era.
    • 4/5
      This is the book that epitomizes the magic of reading for me. When I think back to childhood days curled up and reading for hours, very few characters drew me in as completely and utterly as Sara Crewe.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book. Frances Hodgson Burnett has writen a heartwarming story of a young girl. Losing her father. And being placed in a school for little girls. It is here where she learns the truth about some people and their hard ways. She learns to act like a little princess. She learns about caring for others and others learn to care about her.
    • 5/5
      This is a book that teaches a fundamental lesson: to never, ever, lose hope.
    • 5/5
      One of my favorite childhood books, about the daughter of a British soldier who was raised in India, but is sent to a British boarding school when her father is sent to war.
    • 4/5
      My mother gave me my copy of this book when I was in third grade. I can remember carrying the book with me everywhere, reading it over and over. I think the story still stands up as classic "girl's" literature. (Side note: The image of London both in this story and in all of Dickens' novels was so vivid in my mind that when I finally got to London as an adult, I was almost shocked that there weren't horse drawn carriages and gaslights on all the streets.)
    • 4/5
      a very special book, one which i felt sad about when it ended.
    • 5/5
      I read this book every year. It's about Sarah, doted upon by her father, who gets sent to England to boarding school. While there, her father invests all his fortune in diamond mines, contracts a fever and dies thinking everything is lost. Sarah then becomes an poor orphan until her father's friend finds her and returns her fortune.
    • 5/5
      Sara Crewe is a very rich little girl.But her father dead,she was poor.I was impressed with Sara's kindness and humility.
    • 5/5
      A riches to rags to riches story, this great children's classic is about a privileged girl who is able to hold on to hope through imagination despite terrible circumstances. Beautifully written, charming story set in Victorian England.
    • 4/5
      When faced with adversity, a little rich girl (Sarah Crewe), manifests the noblest characteristics of a princess. Happy ending.
    • 5/5
      I love love love this story! Such a beautiful tale of a young girl! Of course, the fatherdaughter relationship made me sob in parts, but I loved it! So beautiful, pretty and innocent! A little slow at times, but still amazing!
    • 4/5
      Lovely classic.

    Book preview

    A Little Princess - Frances Hodgson Burnett

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    CONTENTS

    Cover

    Title Page

    History of Collins

    Life & Times

    Chapter 1: Sara

    Chapter 2: A French Lesson

    Chapter 3: Ermengarde

    Chapter 4: Lottie

    Chapter 5: Becky

    Chapter 6: The Diamond Mines

    Chapter 7: The Diamond Mines Again

    Chapter 8: In the Attic

    Chapter 9: Melchisedec

    Chapter 10: The Indian Gentleman

    Chapter 11: Ram Dass

    Chapter 12: The Other Side of the Wall

    Chapter 13: One of the Populace

    Chapter 14: What Melchisedec Heard and Saw

    Chapter 15: The Magic

    Chapter 16: The Visitor

    Chapter 17: It Is the Child!

    Chapter 18: I Tried Not to Be

    Chapter 19: Anne

    Classic Literature: Words and Phrases adapted from the Collins English Dictionary

    Copyright

    About the Publisher

    History of Collins

    In 1819, millworker William Collins from Glasgow, Scotland, set up a company for printing and publishing pamphlets, sermons, hymn books, and prayer books. That company was Collins and was to mark the birth of HarperCollins Publishers as we know it today. The long tradition of Collins dictionary publishing can be traced back to the first dictionary William published in 1824, Greek and English Lexicon. Indeed, from 1840 onwards, he began to produce illustrated dictionaries and even obtained a licence to print and publish the Bible.

    Soon after, William published the first Collins novel, Ready Reckoner; however, it was the time of the Long Depression, where harvests were poor, prices were high, potato crops had failed, and violence was erupting in Europe. As a result, many factories across the country were forced to close down and William chose to retire in 1846, partly due to the hardships he was facing.

    Aged 30, William’s son, William II, took over the business. A keen humanitarian with a warm heart and a generous spirit, William II was truly Victorian in his outlook. He introduced new, up-to-date steam presses and published affordable editions of Shakespeare’s works and The Pilgrim’s Progress, making them available to the masses for the first time. A new demand for educational books meant that success came with the publication of travel books, scientific books, encyclopedias, and dictionaries. This demand to be educated led to the later publication of atlases, and Collins also held the monopoly on scripture writing at the time.

    In the 1860s Collins began to expand and diversify and the idea of books for the millions was developed. Affordable editions of classical literature were published, and in 1903 Collins introduced 10 titles in their Collins Handy Illustrated Pocket Novels. These proved so popular that a few years later this had increased to an output of 50 volumes, selling nearly half a million in their year of publication. In the same year, The Everyman’s Library was also instituted, with the idea of publishing an affordable library of the most important classical works, biographies, religious and philosophical treatments, plays, poems, travel, and adventure. This series eclipsed all competition at the time, and the introduction of paperback books in the 1950s helped to open that market and marked a high point in the industry.

    HarperCollins is and has always been a champion of the classics, and the current Collins Classics series follows in this tradition—publishing classical literature that is affordable and available to all. Beautifully packaged, highly collectible, and intended to be reread and enjoyed at every opportunity.

    Life & Times

    About the Author

    Frances Hodgson Burnett was born in 1849 into an impoverished family in the slums of Manchester, England during the Industrial Revolution. Her father died when she was five years old, leaving the family in dire straits. Her mother was struggling to raise Frances and her four siblings when a considerate uncle urged them to emigrate to the USA. When her mother died, Frances was left to care for her siblings at the age of 18.

    Frances turned to writing with the very specific idea of making money to feed the family. Within a year she had managed to sell her first story to a monthly magazine and begun to establish herself as a professional author. She published her first novel in 1877 and by 1886 she had written a number of novels. Her best seller, Little Lord Fauntleroy sold so well that it quickly made her a lady of independent means.

    In the late 1890s Hodgson Burnett returned to England and took up residence in Great Maytham Hall, in the county of Kent. On exploration of the grounds of the property she discovered a walled garden untended for a number of years. She took it upon herself to restore the garden to floral splendour and then used the space as a place to sit and write. It was here that she conjured the idea for her children’s novel The Secret Garden, which was published in 1911.

    The Secret Garden

    In The Secret Garden, Hodgson Burnett imagined her home of Maytham Hall to be populated by other people. She herself claimed that a robin had shown her where to find the key for the real walled garden, so she used this as a device to allow her protagonist to discover her way into the secret garden in the story. The heroine of the narrative is an orphaned girl named Mary Lennox, who finds herself living at the home of her uncle. The girl is lonely and inquisitive, leading her to find the secret garden. She soon realises that there is another child living in the manor house; her cousin Colin Craven.

    Colin is a sickly child, confined to his bedroom, but slowly a friendship forms between them and Mary begins to open up Colin’s world by taking him outside to visit the garden she has discovered. It turns out that Colin’s father is overly protective and has kept him shut away for the good of his health. He is initially displeased to discover that his son has been venturing outside, but he is soon overcome with joy at seeing his son’s subsequent recovery to good health and grateful to Mary for her part.

    The theme of the book is essentially about the restorative properties of nature. On her arrival at Maytham Hall Mary was an ill-tempered and neglected child, but the garden soothes her and helps her to piece her life back together again. It has a similar calming affect on Colin, who suffers from psychosomatic illness partly brought about by the obsessive nature of his father. His father remains in mourning for his late wife, but he too eventually finds solace and happiness through the garden.

    Little Lord Fauntleroy

    The phrase ‘Little Lord Fauntleroy’ has become a byword for a boy who is spoilt and has a sense of entitlement. This idea is completely at odds however with the true nature of the child described in Hodgson Burnett’s Little Lord Fauntleroy (1886). It seems that this misapprehension must have come from people who had never read the book or else missed the point entirely.

    The boy in the story is, in fact, an American named Cedric Errol, who has lived his life so far with his mother in a downtrodden neighbourhood of New York City. He discovers that he is the next in line to become Lord Fauntleroy in England and reluctantly goes to live with his grandfather, the Earl of Dorincourt, who is an indefensible snob. In fact, the Earl refused to have anything to do with Cedric’s mother because she was an American. Cedric has been raised with the idea that his grandfather is a philanthropist and benefactor, when in fact he is a misanthrope and a miser. However, the old man soon falls for the child and has no wish to disappoint him and to the amazement of others, he begins to show generosity and concern for their wellbeing. Ultimately the Earl learns that his idea of aristocratic behaviour was at fault and that the boy has taught him the importance of compassion and empathy. He accepts Cedric and his mother, having realised the value and importance of tolerance and connection. So, Cedric is anything but the conceited character that the phrase ‘Little Lord Fauntleroy’ is used to imply.

    Following the release of the novel there was a curious fashion amongst the aspiring classes for dressing young boys in ‘Little Lord Fauntleroy’ outfits – velvet jumpsuits with lace collars. It seems that this image persisted in the public consciousness though few ever read the story, and this led to the misconception that the character was pompous and demanding, based simply on appearance. The author was keenly aware of the differences between cultures in England and America, because she had emigrated to the US at the age of 16. The idea that Americans were brash and uncouth was commonplace among the English upper class, because the US was founded on the notion that anyone had the right and opportunity to succeed – The Land of the Free. Hodgson Burnett was evidently keen to express her view that it was the intrinsic qualities of a person that mattered and not perceived etiquette and affectations designed to divide society.

    A Little Princess

    In the world of schooling, books for advanced readers are known as ‘chapter books’ since they are divided into manageable chapters. A Little Princess has garnered a reputation as one of the best chapter books for children since its initial publication in 1905. Aside from Burnett’s accessible writing style, one of the reasons for this novel’s popularity is its theme of human virtue and subsequent reward that still strikes a chord over a century later.

    The central character is a young girl, Sara, who is left at boarding school while her father seeks his fortune abroad. Unfortunately her father dies and the girl, unable to pay her fees, is entered into service at the school. As a result she has to deal with poor treatment and squalid conditions, yet she still manages to keep a smile on her face and show kindness to others. Eventually a friend of her father’s comes to the rescue and her fortunes change once more for the better.

    In essence Burnett had written a morality play in the story of Sara. This was a common theme at the turn of the twentieth century; as the modern world was emerging from the Victorian era, there was much debate about the true nature of humanity. In Sara, Burnett demonstrates that empathy for others cannot be eroded by circumstance – she is a fundamental humanitarian, expressing affection and generosity regardless of her own situation. This is a grand moral virtue that survives as one of the cornerstones of civilized society, and this gives the story a timeless quality despite its period setting.

    The Edwardian Era

    The Secret Garden was written in the Edwardian era, just before the outbreak of World War I. Queen Victoria had died at the turn of the 20th century and the British Empire covered an astonishing quarter of the globe. Hodgson Burnett was a working-class Mancunian, but she also had a worldly view because of her time spent in the States. Consequently, she had cultivated a romanticised and slightly bittersweet view of English aristocracy.

    Her heroine Mary had been cruelly neglected by her well-to-do parents living in colonial India and then orphaned by their deaths from cholera. Her uncle was also rather remote from his son Colin, demonstrating Hodgson Burnett’s view of the upper-class English as being stiff and lacking in emotional connection. She uses the secret garden as a form of therapy for the children, indicating that she recognises the value in keeping one’s feet on the ground, literally as well as metaphorically. The children are also helped in their recuperation by the working-class staff at the manor.

    This idea of the importance of socially connecting is paralleled in Howards End, written by E. M. Forster and published the year before The Secret Garden, in 1910. Forster’s book addresses relationships between people of different classes and cultures, as the central characters are Germans living in pre-war England. Following World War I, the world was left a very different place. The British Empire had had its foundations shaken and was about to be razed to the ground. Similarly the class structure in England was eroding with the redistribution of wealth and opportunity.

    Hodgson Burnett had already moved back to America by 1909, having secured US citizenship. She lived in New York State for the remainder of her life, where she continued to write. In The Secret Garden she had experimented with ideas about curing ailments through mind over matter, and this became something of central interest in her autumn years. This was expressed in her practising theosophy, which was essentially a blend of religion and philosophy. It seems that her mind required a belief system, but she was reluctant to think of herself as religious and invest her entirety in religion alone.

    Hodgson Burnett was also a playwright, but she is best known as a children’s writer and fantasy novelist. The Secret Garden has become a staple of English literature because it is the kind of story that can be enjoyed by both child and adult together. Moreover, many children grow into adults with a fondness for the story and then introduce their own offspring to its charm. For that reason, the book has remained popular for a century.

    CHAPTER 1

    Sara

    Once on a dark winter’s day, when the yellow fog hung so thick and heavy in the streets of London that the lamps were lighted and the shop windows blazed with gas as they do at night, an odd-looking little girl sat in a cab with her father and was driven rather slowly through the big thoroughfares.

    She sat with her feet tucked under her, and leaned against her father, who held her in his arm, as she stared out of the window at the passing people with a queer old-fashioned thoughtfulness in her big eyes.

    She was such a little girl that one did not expect to see such a look on her small face. It would have been an old look for a child of twelve, and Sara Crewe was only seven. The fact was, however, that she was always dreaming and thinking odd things and could not herself remember any time when she had not been thinking things about grown-up people and the world they belonged to. She felt as if she had lived a long, long time.

    At this moment she was remembering the voyage she had just made from Bombay with her father, Captain Crewe. She was thinking of the big ship, of the Lascars passing silently to and fro on it, of the children playing about on the hot deck, and of some young officers’ wives who used to try to make her talk to them and laugh at the things she said.

    Principally, she was thinking of what a queer thing it was that at one time one was in India in the blazing sun, and then in the middle of the ocean, and then driving in a strange vehicle through strange streets where the day was as dark as the night. She found this so puzzling that she moved closer to her father.

    Papa, she said in a low, mysterious little voice which was almost a whisper, papa.

    What is it, darling? Captain Crewe answered, holding her closer and looking down into her face. What is Sara thinking of?

    Is this the place? Sara whispered, cuddling still closer to him. Is it, papa?

    Yes, little Sara, it is. We have reached it at last. And though she was only seven years old, she knew that he felt sad when he said it.

    It seemed to her many years since he had begun to prepare her mind for the place, as she always called it. Her mother had died when she was born, so she had never known or missed her. Her young, handsome, rich, petting father seemed to be the only relation she had in the world. They had always played together and been fond of each other. She only knew he was rich because she had heard people say so when they thought she was not listening, and she had also heard them say that when she grew up she would be rich, too. She did not know all that being rich meant. She had always lived in a beautiful bungalow, and had been used to seeing many servants who made salaams to her and called her Missee Sahib, and gave her her own way in everything. She had had toys and pets and an ayah who worshipped her, and she had gradually learned that people who were rich had these things. That, however, was all she knew about it.

    During her short life only one thing had troubled her, and that thing was the place she was to be taken to some day. The climate of India was very bad for children, and as soon as possible they were sent away from it—generally to England and to school. She had seen other children go away, and had heard their fathers and mothers talk about the letters they received from them. She had known that she would be obliged to go also, and though sometimes her father’s stories of the voyage and the new country had attracted her, she had been troubled by the thought that he could not stay with her.

    Couldn’t you go to that place with me, papa? she had asked when she was five years old. Couldn’t you go to school, too? I would help you with your lessons.

    But you will not have to stay for a very long time, little Sara, he had always said. You will go to a nice house where there will be a lot of little girls, and you will play together, and I will send you plenty of books, and you will grow so fast that it will seem scarcely a year before you are big enough and clever enough to come back and take care of papa.

    She had liked to think of that. To keep the house for her father; to ride with him, and sit at the head of his table when he had dinner parties; to talk to him and read his books—that would be what she would like most in the world, and if one must go away to the place in England to attain it, she must make up her mind to go. She did not care very much for other little girls, but if she had plenty of books she could console herself. She liked books more than anything else, and was, in fact, always inventing stories of beautiful things and telling them to herself. Sometimes she had told them to her father, and he had liked them as much as she did.

    Well, papa, she said softly, if we are here I suppose we must be resigned.

    He laughed at her old-fashioned speech and kissed her. He was really not at all resigned himself, though he knew he must keep that a secret. His quaint little Sara had been a great companion to him, and he felt he should be a lonely fellow when, on his return to India, he went into his bungalow knowing he need not expect to see the small figure in its white frock come forward to meet him. So he held her very closely in his arms as the cab rolled into the big, dull square in which stood the house which was their destination.

    It was a big, dull, brick house, exactly like all the others in its row, but that on the front door there shone a brass plate on which was engraved in black letters:

    MISS MINCHIN,

    Select Seminary for Young Ladies.

    Here we are, Sara, said Captain Crewe, making his voice sound as cheerful as possible. Then he lifted her out of the cab and they mounted the steps and rang the bell. Sara often thought afterward that the house was somehow exactly like Miss Minchin. It was respectable and well furnished, but everything in it was ugly; and the very armchairs seemed to have hard bones in them. In the hall everything was hard and polished—even the red cheeks of the moon face on the tall clock in the corner had a severe varnished look. The drawing room into which they were ushered was covered by a carpet with a square pattern upon it, the chairs were square, and a heavy marble timepiece stood upon the heavy marble mantel.

    As she sat down in one of the stiff mahogany chairs, Sara cast one of her quick looks about her.

    I don’t like it, papa, she said. "But then I dare say soldiers—even brave ones—don’t really like going into battle."

    Captain Crewe laughed outright at this. He was young and full of fun, and he never tired of hearing Sara’s queer speeches.

    Oh, little Sara, he said. What shall I do when I have no one to say solemn things to me? No one else is as solemn as you are.

    But why do solemn things make you laugh so? inquired Sara.

    Because you are such fun when you say them, he answered, laughing still more. And then suddenly he swept her into his arms and kissed her very hard, stopping laughing all at once and looking almost as if tears had come into his eyes.

    It was just then that Miss Minchin entered the room. She was very like her house, Sara felt: tall and dull, and respectable and ugly. She had large, cold, fishy eyes, and a large, cold, fishy smile. It spread itself into a very large smile when she saw Sara and Captain Crewe. She had heard a great many desirable things of the young soldier from the lady who had recommended her school to him. Among other things, she had heard that he was a rich father who was willing to spend a great deal of money on his little daughter.

    It will be a great privilege to have charge of such a beautiful and promising child, Captain Crewe, she said, taking Sara’s hand and stroking it. Lady Meredith has told me of her unusual cleverness. A clever child is a great treasure in an establishment like mine.

    Sara stood quietly, with her eyes fixed upon Miss Minchin’s face. She was thinking something odd, as usual.

    Why does she say I am a beautiful child? she was thinking. I am not beautiful at all. Colonel Grange’s little girl, Isobel, is beautiful. She has dimples and rose-colored cheeks, and long hair the color of gold. I have short black hair and green eyes; besides which, I am a thin child and not fair in the least. I am one of the ugliest children I ever saw. She is beginning by telling a story.

    She was mistaken, however, in thinking she was an ugly child. She was not in the least like Isobel Grange, who had been the beauty of the regiment, but she had an odd charm of her own. She was a slim, supple creature, rather tall for her age, and had an intense, attractive little face. Her hair was heavy and quite black and only curled at the tips; her eyes were greenish gray, it is true, but they were big, wonderful eyes with long, black lashes, and though she herself did not like the color of them, many other people did. Still she was very firm in her belief that she was an ugly little girl, and she was not at all elated by Miss Minchin’s flattery.

    I should be telling a story if I said she was beautiful, she thought; and I should know I was telling a story. I believe I am as ugly as she is—in my way. What did she say that for?

    After she had known Miss Minchin longer she learned why she had said it. She discovered that she said the same thing to each papa and mamma who brought a child to her school.

    Sara stood near her father and listened while he and Miss Minchin talked. She had been brought to the seminary because Lady Meredith’s two little girls had been educated there, and Captain Crewe had a great respect for Lady Meredith’s experience. Sara was to be what was known as a parlor boarder, and she was to enjoy even greater privileges than parlor boarders usually did. She was to have a pretty bedroom and sitting room of her own; she was to have a pony and a carriage, and a maid to take the place of the ayah who had been her nurse in India.

    I am not in the least anxious about her education, Captain Crewe said, with his gay laugh, as he held Sara’s hand and patted it. "The difficulty will be to keep her from learning too fast and too much. She is always sitting with her little nose burrowing into books. She doesn’t read them, Miss Minchin; she gobbles them up as if she were a little wolf instead of a little girl. She is always starving for new books to gobble, and she wants grown-up books—great, big, fat ones—French and German as

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