Sara Crewe (1888)

Before there was A Little Princess - that beloved classic of children's literature that has long been one of the cornerstones of girlhood reading - there was Sarah Crewe, a heroine whose story began, not with the publication of the 1903 novel, but with the serialization of a shorter, earlier version of the tale, in 1888. This volume, Sara Crewe: Or What Happened at Miss Minchin's, is a lovely reproduction of that earlier version, which first appeared in the pages of St. Nicholas Magazine. As someone who loved the longer novel as a girl, Sara Crewe is something I've long wanted to read, and what better time than now, shortly before I begin my reread of A Little Princess itself, for our January group discussion in my girls' school story group?

It was a rather surreal experience for me, reading this, as I am so familiar with the later story: everything felt familiar, and yet somewhat strange as well. Almost like seeing a well-known and well-loved image through a distorted lens. Many things were the same: the heroine, the school, the nasty proprietess - and don't we all love to hate Miss Minchin! But there were differences as well, some, like the absence of Becky, immediately noticeable, while others, such as the overall tone, taking a little longer to register. It seemed to me, when reading, that A Little Princess had a far less intrusive narrator than this predecessor, perhaps because Burnett had more space to show, rather than to tell, in her later revision.

It's an interesting thought that, like some of the other reviewers here, I might have preferred this, had I read it first - and it is an enjoyable little period piece - but the reality is that, compared to the fuller version, it felt incomplete and rushed to me. I wanted more! Fortunately, that more exists, as A Little Princess. Recommended primarily to those who are interested in the history of this story, and in reading an earlier version of it. ( )

The story of a young girl who goes from riches to rags and back to riches again, striving to keep her goodness throughout her hardships and being rewarded at the end for her efforts... This review is mostly for anyone who has heard of/read the later version of this same story, A Little Princess.

This book is almost a rough draft of the later version, A Little Princess. Still the same story, still many of the same details, just much less fleshed out, less rich in detail. Becky, Melchisedec, Lottie? Nonexistent. Ermengarde? Less a faithful friend than a convenient accident of acquaintance. Many characters are named or hinted at but never given voices or personalities as they are in the later version (Amelia, for instance, and some of the other students). There is less back-story here, less of the fond relationship between Sara and her papa (we never actually meet him in this version), and it is therefore less of a jolt in this book when he rather distantly and matter-of-factly dies. Sara, too, undergoes changes from this version to the next. She is not so vibrant and solid in this earlier composition, and a trifle less likable, even. We see her giving abrupt answers early on, and watch her determine to be good and polite in spite of all of it, while in A.L.P. we get to see her exhibiting her kindness and quirks before the disaster occurs and see her strive valiantly to maintain her goodness. I'm also very glad to see that the whole sequence of events with the monkey in the attic/introduction to the Indian Gentleman and the Lascar/transformation of the garrett/discovery of her true identity was reworked in the later version - the order of events here seemed clunky, contrived and at times illogical. Finally, the peak of the story was not hit as satisfyingly as it is in A.L.P., and the denouement was fairly tedious.

This is not to say that I didn't enjoy it. On the contrary, I found it very interesting to see where the story began, and to get a peek into the earlier forms of the characters and story lines that I so enjoyed in A Little Princess! It has always been one of my favorite stories (in fact, as a child reading A.L.P. I was always quite taken by Sara's ability to behave so nobly in the face of her hardships and quite determined to adopt her attitude. This only ever lasted for a few hours after each reading, but was a favorite fantasy all the same.) In summary I'd suggest that if you're unfamiliar with, but interested in, the story, to get a copy of A Little Princess and read it. But if you already love A.L.P. and want to see where it came from, this is definitely worth a read!

A few favorite quotes, both by Sara, the tale's heroine:
p. 21 - "When people are insulting you, there is nothing so good for them as not to say a word - just to look at them and think. ... They know you are stronger than they are, because you are strong enough to hold in your rage and they are not, and they say stupid things they wish they hadn't said afterward. There's nothing so strong as rage, except what makes you hold it in - that's stronger."
p. 41 - "I am a princess in rags and tatters," she would think, "but I am a princess, inside. It would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed in cloth-of-gold; it is a great deal more of a triumph to be one all the time when no one knows it." ( )