Front cover of a 1905 US first edition of A Little Princess.
A Little Princess is a children's novel by the British-American author Frances Hodgson Burnett. It was first published in 1905.
Summary[]
Captain Ralph Crewe enrolls his seven-year-old daughter Sara at a boarding school in London. He pays the headmistress, Miss Minchin, for a private room for her with a personal maid and a separate sitting room, a private carriage and a pony. Miss Minchin openly fawns over Sara, but is secretly envious. Sara remains unspoiled, consciously living up to the title “the Princess” with her compassion and generosity. She befriends Ermengarde, the school dunce; Lottie, a four-year-old given to tantrums; and Becky, the scullery maid.
Four years later, at Sara's eleventh birthday party, Miss Minchin learns that Captain Crewe has died penniless of jungle fever, having invested in a friend's diamond mine. In debt to Miss Minchin, Sara is forced for the next two years to live in a cold, bare attic, and to earn her keep as a servant. She continues to be kind and polite to everyone, even students who abuse her, in the belief that conduct makes a true princess. On one occasion, she finds a coin and buys six buns, but gives a beggar-child five of them.
Mr. Carrisford, a wealthy invalid, moves into the house next to the seminary. He is revealed to have been Captain Crewe's partner in the diamond mine venture. Almost dying from the same illness as Sara’s father, Carrisford later found diamonds, and returned to England hoping to find Sara, whom he does not realize is the servant girl next door.
Ram Dass, Mr. Carrisford's servant, meets Sara while catching a pet monkey that has escaped to her attic room. Charmed by her good manners, he tells Mr Carrisford about the "little girl in the attic". Mr. Carrisford secretly and anonymously sends gifts of food, fuel and books to Sara. At last, on one occasion when Sara returns the wandering monkey herself, Carrisford discovers her identity, and Sara discovers she is heir to her father’s shares in the diamond mine.
Miss Minchin tries to retrieve the situation, going so far as to threaten legal action if Sara does not return to the school, and that Sara will never see any of her friends again, but Minchin no longer has authority over Sara. Becky becomes Sara's own servant and, with her newfound wealth, Sara makes a deal with a baker, making bread available to hungry children in the neighborhood.
Recommendations[]
If you enjoyed A Little Princess, you may also like these other novels of spirited young heroines from the same hard times:
- Anne of Green Gables – Anne Shirley, an orphan brought to work on a Canadian farm, finds her true family in the Cuthberts.
- Pollyanna – An orphaned girl transforms her New England town with her “glad game,” teaching even the sternest hearts to find joy in hardship.
- Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm – Rebecca’s spirited imagination and charm breathe life into her aunts’ household as she grows into a kind and witty young woman.
- Sioned - the coming-of-age story of a Welsh farm girl, Janet Hughes (Sioned to her family). Janet is 16-19 in this book, but it's suitable for much younger readers.
External links[]
- Free text of A Little Princess at the Internet Archive.