Monday 15 February 2016

A Little Princess: What Makes a Real Princess?

Long time no see. Let's not get there. *sob internally*

I have long wanted to review a book I read some months ago. It's another book by ‎Frances Hodgson Burnett. After my experience with her other children book, I expected a lot from A Little Princess - and the author surely delivers.

A Little Princess is about a girl named Sara Crewe. She was left at the boarding school of Miss Minchin by her beloved father. Thanks to her father's riches, her clever mind and lovely personality, her life in the boarding school was amazing. She was allowed to have a personal luxurious room, a maid, and a horse. She befriended many people, among them Ermengarde, Lottie, and Becky. She was hailed as a Princess and school, which she accepted gladly.

But her father's sudden death and business failures turned her life upside down. The Headmistress, who had long envied her and resented her, abused her - turning her into an unpaid maid and teacher-assistant. She was often left half-starved and cold in the attic, now serving as her room. Being all poor and lonely now, could she still be a princess? What makes a princess?
It would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed in cloth of gold, but it is a great deal more of a triumph to be one all the time when no one knows it.
This book really brings me back to my childhood. I feel as if I were 7, and I can enjoy everything that Sara does and says in the book. Although written for kids, I am not ashamed to say that this book brought me to tears. Sara's struggle to stay strong, noble and kind under most trying circumstances really moves me. But do not think that she will be a Mary Sue - all kind and naive. On the contrary, Sara's personality is really believable.

The only downside that I can say of this book is its portrayal of foreigners. Some people may find it hard to let their kids read a book that describes people from India only as pagans and servants. But apart from that, I have nothing to complain.

Have you read A Little Princess? I would love to know your opinion on this book.