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A Little Princess

frances hodgson burnett u.c. knoepflmacher

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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.

This unique and fully annotated edition appends excerpts from Frances Hodgson Burnett 's original 1888 novella Sara Crewe and the stage play that preceded the novel, as well as an early story, "Behind the White Brick," allowing readers to see how A Little Princess evolved. In his delightful introduction, U. C. Knoepflmacher considers the fairy-tale allusions and literary touchstones that place the book among the major works of Victorian literature, and shows it to be an exceptionally rich and resonant novel.

242 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1905
Places
london england, england, united kingdom, 

This edition

Format
242 pages, Paperback
Published
February 26, 2002 by Penguin Books
ISBN
9780142437018
ASIN
0142437018
Language
English
Characters More characters

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About the author

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frances hodgson burnett

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Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett was a British-American novelist and playwright. She is best known for the three children's novels Little Lord Fauntleroy (1886), A Little Princess (1905), and The Secret Garden (1911).
Frances Eliza Hodgson was born in Cheetham, Manchester, England. After her father died in 1853, when Frances was 4 years old, the family fell on straitened circumstances and in 1865 emigrated to the United States, settling in New Market, Tennessee. Frances began her writing career there at age 19 to help earn money for the family, publishing stories in magazines. In 1870, her mother died. In Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1873 she married Swan M. Burnett, who became a medical doctor. Their first son Lionel was born a year later. The Burnetts lived for two years in Paris, where their second son Vivian was born, before returning to the United States to live in Washington, D.C. Burnett then began to write novels, the first of which (That Lass o' Lowrie's), was published to good reviews. Little Lord Fauntleroy was published in 1886 and made her a popular writer of children's fiction, although her romantic adult novels written in the 1890s were also popular. She wrote and helped to produce stage versions of Little Lord Fauntleroy and A Little Princess.
Beginning in the 1880s, Burnett began to travel to England frequently and in the 1890s bought a home there, where she wrote The Secret Garden. Her elder son, Lionel, died of tuberculosis in 1890, which caused a relapse of the depression she had struggled with for much of her life. She divorced Swan Burnett in 1898, married Stephen Townesend in 1900, and divorced him in 1902. A few years later she settled in Nassau County, New York, where she died in 1924 and is buried in Roslyn Cemetery.
In 1936, a memorial sculpture by Bessie Potter Vonnoh was erected in her honor in Central Park's Conservatory Garden. The statue depicts her two famous Secret Garden characters, Mary and Dickon.

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Community Reviews

Rating(4.1 / 5.0, 98 votes)
5 stars
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98 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
ZXRProductions
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Tenía tantas ganas de leer esta historia, y no me decepcionó.
La forma de escribir de la autora es muy linda y me encanta tener la oportunidad de conocerla ahora en esta travesía de Sara, que de paso es de mis películas favoritas.
Dulce, muy muy mágica a su manera y llena de ese sentimiento igual de agradable que tiene el jardín secreto.
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Lindle
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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This story is very near and dear to my heart. I grew up watching the movie on repeat and when I found out it was a book as a teen, I was ecstatic. And the story only grows better with age for me. Something about it just speaks to my heart and it makes me incredibly happy. I do have to admit though, this is one of the very rare cases where I enjoy the movie more than the book. I think that may be just a case of childhood nostalgia though, I was absolutely enthralled by that movie!
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Tessa
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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One of my favorite books as a child. I didn't like it as much as "A Secret Garden," but it's still an amazing read.
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pikawho
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Downloaded this one in audio form from Librivox as well.

This is one of my all time favourite books. I first read it when I was thirteen years old and a bit of an outcast at my school and it gave me strength to move on. Her way of pretending things was very familiar to me and I got so sucked into the magic of the story.
Hearing it now, I was afraid it would prove childish, as childhood favourites often do. But to my delight it didn't. Sarah was a bit naive at times, which doesn't conflict with the fact that she's a little girl, and the story was as charming as I remembered it.

There's a lot of moral and reproach in the book, but the author manages to keep it lighthearted, and to make you yourself wish to become a better person. This book and 'The secret garden' are much better in that way than 'Little Lord Fauntleroy', which is absolutly awful, and which I haven't even been able to finish. Here, the people are not perfect, but each is good in his own way.

And of course there's the magic transformation of the attic, which I'll always remember, but which has somehow made less of an impression on me this time than it did last.

The only thing which disturbed me was, as another person mentioned here, the hints of orientalism. But you have to remember that that was the way people thought in those times in England. You can compare in to the fact that in the 19th century most of the writers were vaguly antisemetic - you can find it in Dickens, in Verne. So just keep in mind that it was the norm at the time.

14.7.07
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rawrsaysno
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Amé este libro. Cuantas virtudes encontré en él. Amor, bondad, perseverancia, amistad, compasión y muchas más.

Sara es una niña rica que llega a un instituto de Inglaterra para continuar con sus estudios. A pesar de su fortuna la niña es noble y de gran corazón. Su padre parte hacia la India a continuar con sus negocios y deja a Sara en manos de la directora Minchin, una mujer déspota que solo le interesa la reputación de su instituto.

Sara es una sensación entre las alumnas, pues viste los mejores trajes y tiene los mejores juguetes. Aparte de que habla perfectamente el francés y tiene una gran imaginación para crear historias. Aún con todas esas cualidades, Sara se hace amiga de aquellos niños desvalidos y que se sienten solos.

Sara es respetada, admirada y odiada por muchas chicas en el instituto. Hasta que su vida da un giro inesperado. Su padre muere en la India y queda en bancarrota por unas malas inversiones que hizo en una mina de diamantes. A partir de entonces, Sara tiene que renunciar a su vida de lujos y trabajar para poder sobrevivir.

Una historia hermosísima con un gran mensaje. Este libro será de los primeros que le daré a mi hija cuando aprenda a leer.


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flameon122
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I really enjoyed this one! I thought it was very uplifting, and I loved the message behind it. I would definitely recommend this book to people of all ages.
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DnTizzet
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Sara Crewe has had every advantage in life when she arrives at Miss Minchin’s school, notably vast wealth and a loving father. However, even with all her riches, Sara is still a kind and giving person.

“Perhaps I’m a hideous child, and no one will ever know, just because I never have any trials.”

Sara suffers a reversal of fortune, losing both her wealth and family. She is reduced to being a pauper in rags and barely having enough to eat.

“If Nature has made you for a giver, your hands are born open, and so is your heart; and though there may be times when your hands are empty, your heart is always full, and you can give things out of that – warm things, kind things, sweet things – help and comfort and laughter – and sometimes gay, kind laughter is the best help of all.”

In the grimmest of circumstances, Sara still comports herself as a “princess” would. Others in her position would become cruel or cynical, but Sara manages to maintain her values.

I loved this story as a child, and I enjoyed my rereading experience as an adult, which was especially enhanced by reading the edition with Tasha Tudor’s charming illustrations.
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miyukipapa
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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One of my favorite books of all time.

Okay, this needs an update. I love magical realism and as far as I can tell, this is one of the first books that I read about magical realism. This book moved me so much. The world seems to crumble around the 'little princess', but she keeps her hope that things are better with story and imagination, no matter the real world. She uplifts those girls around her.

She is left at a boarding school for girls while her father goes to be in a war. He sets her up with the best room and things and he does his best to spoil her from afar. She is kind to the girls around her and spins fabulous tales that change the lives of the girls around her. It gives them strength and hope and a sense of belonging, of home.

Then, her father goes missing and the money stops and the head mistress who put up with the girls shenanigans lets her hatred out and the girl has to become a servant in the school. She continues to help the girls around her, she continues to spin tales.

Our perspective in life really does define our reality. I love this story because I strive to be this way, but I fall so short. I want to be able to live this so much. When life gets difficult, I tend to give up and shrink away. Then I have to build myself up all over again. I want to be more like Sarah and able to withstand tough times.

This would be a desert island book for me. I need that romantic view of life. I'm also a 4 on the enneagram which is the romantic and I just see the world through that romantic lens, so it makes sense stories about romantic ideals will speak to me. This is the best of the best.
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