Because so many "classic" novels are free on the Kindle, I hauled off and downloaded a whole bunch of them back in December when I received the e-reader as a Christmas gift from my family. When I saw that the SBC (see above link) featured a "read a classic" task, I had any number of books on my Kindle to choose from -- many of which I have never read. But I went with an oldie that was a favorite as a kid: A Little Princess, by Frances H. Burnett (author of The Secret Garden).
Sara Crewe, the titular "little princess", is pre-teen royalty at Miss Minchin's Select Seminary for Young Girls, where her wealthy, pampering father leaves her when she is only seven years old. A girl who is used to having everything her little heart desires, Sara is sweet-natured, sympathetic, and generous with her many, many possessions -- qualities that skyrocket her to the coveted position of most popular girl in school. But when Sara is eleven years old, tragedy strikes, leaving her alone, penniless, and entirely dependent on the school's headmistress, Miss Minchin, who has secretly resented and despised her for several years. Her world obliterated, Sara must face up to the lonely, difficult years ahead of her, striving all the time to behave as if nothing ever happened, as if she is still just "a little princess".
I read a scathing review of Princess on Goodreads, stating that Sara Crewe is the original "Mary Sue" -- a disparaging name for a female protagonist who is unnaturally sweet and empty, with little to no character development or negative qualities. I very much disagree. Although Sara remains a gentle, good-natured character throughout the novel, she experiences quite a bit of personal growth. At the beginning of the novel, she is depicted as a feisty child, who enjoys discomforting others who are cruel to her by refusing to stoop to their level of rage and simply staring at them in response. She falls back on this quality throughout her years of tribulation -- admitting, during one particularly dark night of the soul, that it is not always easy to hold in her pain and anger. I feel quite the opposite from the reviewer about Sara Crewe's character -- I think she's a very natural depiction of a little girl.
Burnett's novel, at its core, is the tale of a child who must face a terrible adversity, who squares her shoulders and accepts the burden she is forced to carry, without believing that she will ever have a reversal of fortune, without any hope that her situation will change someday. Warning: if you have seen the Warner Bros. adaptation of the novel, the ending of the book will come as as surprise to you, and possibly not a pleasant one (I read the book before I saw the movie; my sister did not, and she disliked the book as a result). The ending of A Little Princess is fairy-tale like, while retaining some level of believability. The film ending is, well...what we've all come to expect from a typical children's film (re: Disney-esque) ending.
Rating: ****
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