A Little Princess

A Little Princess, written by Frances Hodgson Burnett in 1905, is a heartfelt story about kindness, resilience, and the quiet power of imagination. It follows Sara Crewe, a wealthy young girl who seems to have everything - fine clothes, a loving father, and a place at a prestigious London boarding school. But when tragedy strikes, everything she has is taken from her. What makes the story remarkable isn’t just the fall from riches to rags, but how Sara holds onto her inner grace even when the world turns cruel.

At the start, Sara is different from the other girls. She’s not just rich - she’s thoughtful, imaginative, and unusually mature for her age. She reads books, tells stories, and sees the world through a lens of wonder. But when her father dies suddenly, leaving her penniless, her world collapses. The headmistress, Miss Minchin, who once doted on Sara for her wealth, now treats her like a servant. Sara is moved from a luxurious room to a cold attic, forced to work long hours, and given scraps to eat.

And yet, even in the attic, Sara refuses to let bitterness consume her. She continues to act like “a princess,” not because she believes she’s better than anyone, but because she believes that being a princess means behaving with dignity, empathy, and courage - even when no one is watching. She tells stories to comfort herself and others, shares what little food she has, and tries to imagine better days ahead. Her inner world, fueled by kindness and creativity, keeps her spirit alive.

The theme of imagination runs deeply throughout the book. Sara uses it not just as escapism, but as a survival tool. She imagines feasts when she’s hungry and warmth when she’s freezing. She creates entire worlds in her mind and invites others in, especially her lonely friend Ermengarde and the mistreated scullery maid Becky. These moments of shared wonder are small acts of rebellion against the harshness around her.

What makes A Little Princess so moving is its belief in the power of goodness. Sara’s strength eventually catches the attention of others, including a mysterious Indian gentleman living next door. In a twist of fate, he turns out to be her father’s friend and business partner, who has been searching for her. Sara’s fortunes are restored - not through revenge or bitterness, but because of the kindness and humanity she never let go of.

Though written over a century ago, the story still speaks to modern readers. It reminds us that while we can’t always control our circumstances, we can control how we respond to them. Sara teaches us that grace under pressure, empathy in hardship, and imagination in darkness are powerful forms of resilience.

In the end, A Little Princess isn’t just about a girl who lost everything and found it again. It’s about the steady strength it takes to keep believing in beauty and kindness, even when the world gives you every reason not to.

I adore this story!