Review: A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: borrowed
First Publication Date: 1905
POV: 3rd person
Pacing: okay
Genres & Themes: Classic, Historical Fiction, Children, Friendship, Family, Love.

BLURB:

Sara Crewe, an exceptionally intelligent and imaginative student at Miss Minchin’s Select Seminary for Young Ladies, is devastated when her adored, indulgent father dies. Now penniless and banished to a room in the attic, Sara is demeaned, abused, and forced to work as a servant. How this resourceful girl’s fortunes change again is at the center of A Little Princess, one of the best-loved stories in all of children’s literature.

REVIEW:

The movie based on this classic was the first one ever gifted to me and that when I was eight years old. I’ve always had a thing for princess stories. They’re usually so beautiful and this is no exception.

Although, Sara is not really a princess. But, seeing the way she acts with others, you may possibly think she is. She is kind, generous, and very mature for her age. When I first saw the movie, I was shocked. It was beautiful yet so sad and poignant and the little eight-year-old girl that I was did not understand everything. To be honest, the ending of the movie is quite abrupt and not very well-explained while in the book it is.

That said, reading the book was way better than watching the movie, as it usually is with classics and books in general. Everything is clear and explained and you get to see, even more, how Sara is one admirable girl and that she is someone people don’t forget after crossing her path. The things she does are impressive and the fact that she thinks about others before herself even more. She’s the kind of person I wish to become one day.

Every sort of character is included in this story from the kindest to the coldest one. Miss Minchin was quite something. I rarely see such a woman that can be so cruel and cold-heartened. It’s very hard to like her but that doesn’t mean that her character was a weakness to the story since we need villains. The world and people living in it aren’t perfect and she, and some others, are the proof of it.

The story was wonderful and sad but it wasn’t what you may call a masterpiece. It was a good one, even though the plot has some repetitiveness. That’s why I can’t bring myself to give it a five star rating. Have I read this book when I was younger, I probably would have loved it even more but the seventeen-year-old that I am has read many other classics and must admit that this wasn’t comparable to Pride and Prejudice’s or Of Mice and Men’s plot quality for example (even though I know those are very different stories.) Although, the reason why I still liked this so much is because of all the beautiful themes that are included in the story. They can be heart-warming and at the same time heart-breaking but definitely definitely beautiful.

The writing was very good and the atmosphere powerful. I’ve also read, by this author, The Secret Garden which I enjoyed although not as much as this one. Still, I can tell that this author had such a talent in creating and writing stories. I wish she was still alive for someone that has written such a story sure must be a kind and intelligent person.

By the way, a reason why I don’t hurry to read every classic existing is because I want to still have some to read when I’ll be sixty years old for they are, each one of them, precious and there aren’t that many of them, sadly.

A Little Princess deserves, in my opinion, to be read by every person in this world, boy or girl, man or woman. It is for everyone. If you’re looking for another classic with similar themes, you might want to check out Little Women as well, which was wonderful wonderful wonderful.

My review on Goodreads.

Advertisement