R E K. (bigstone) - , reviewed on + 1436 more book reviews
Each year I try to read classics that I have not read including a children's classic or two. This is one of my choices for the year. A charming tale, I couldn't help wondering if today's children whose engagement with internet games and a totally different life could connect with Sarah Crewe so I shared the novel with a family member to read to her young daughter to find out.
Yes, this story is about Sarah Crewe whose only parent, her beloved Papa, dotes on her showering her with every imaginable gift he can buy. He enrolls her in a boarding school for young ladies as was the custom of the time for English parents stationed in India. Even there she is to have everything her heart desires but what Sarah wants is the presence of her Papa whose love and attention she misses so much. She is bright, thoughtful and kind and shares her treasures with the other students. All goes well until her father loses his fortune and dies, leaving Sarah destitute and alone.
As a penniless orphan, the matron of the school decides that Sarah must earn her keep so she becomes a servant doing whatever is needed in all weather. Her treasures vanish with the exception of her plainest clothing. Sarah finds herself housed in a drab attic with another servant girl and only her fertile imagination for comfort. Only two of students remain her friends but they must sneak into the attic to visit her. As she outgrows her clothing her dresses become shorter and shorter and her shoes develop holes in the soles. Will this be her life forever? How can she survive these circumstances?
One must read this children's classic to discover what happens to this orphaned little girl who is coping as best she can. An interesting sidebar is that the mother I shared the novel with asked if the book had a happy ending. What do you think?
Yes, this story is about Sarah Crewe whose only parent, her beloved Papa, dotes on her showering her with every imaginable gift he can buy. He enrolls her in a boarding school for young ladies as was the custom of the time for English parents stationed in India. Even there she is to have everything her heart desires but what Sarah wants is the presence of her Papa whose love and attention she misses so much. She is bright, thoughtful and kind and shares her treasures with the other students. All goes well until her father loses his fortune and dies, leaving Sarah destitute and alone.
As a penniless orphan, the matron of the school decides that Sarah must earn her keep so she becomes a servant doing whatever is needed in all weather. Her treasures vanish with the exception of her plainest clothing. Sarah finds herself housed in a drab attic with another servant girl and only her fertile imagination for comfort. Only two of students remain her friends but they must sneak into the attic to visit her. As she outgrows her clothing her dresses become shorter and shorter and her shoes develop holes in the soles. Will this be her life forever? How can she survive these circumstances?
One must read this children's classic to discover what happens to this orphaned little girl who is coping as best she can. An interesting sidebar is that the mother I shared the novel with asked if the book had a happy ending. What do you think?
