The cover was the first thing that caught my attention- "A little princess?" How could someone be a princess and wear such clothings? Where was her tiara? I thought and that thought led me to Sara Crewe who speaks with such refined grace that you'd think she was initially born in England and educated there, her father Captain Ralph Crew who loved and cared for his daughter so dearly and Miss Minchin who has a large cold fishy eyes and large cold fishy smile as Sara had thought on the first day they met in Miss Minchin select seminary for young ladies in London.
The story begins with Sara and her father on their way to Miss Minchin school where Sara is to be taught things she didn't know and grow up in order to take over her father's wealth and be with her father. Sara loved that. Anything that would make her be able to be with her dear Papa as quickly as possible, she was willing to do anything.
Her father had always spoken of the place(Miss Minchin school) because many Indian children had gone there and had become better. It's not like Sara was dull or couldn't speak or read. That was far more than the reason she was there. It is believed that the air in India at that time wasn't too good for children, so they needed to go to England to learn.
Learning is what Sara did. From the moment she arrived in her new school, words spread around the children in the seminary of a rich Indian girl whose father spoils endlessly with clothes of high value and now a doll which Sara had always thought about for years and had named Emily which she finally got in a small England store having gone to countless big ones whose doll didn't give Emily's vibe- a curly golden brown hair, eyes deep clear grey blue with soft thick eyelashes that were real and not mere painted lines.
Naturally, everyone expected her to be a spoiled little brat who looked down on others lower than herself, but Sara was the opposite of that. Instead, she welcomed everyone into her big room, which was well decorated and treated her servants with absolute respect. She made friends easily with her story telling and became closer with Ermengarde who doesn't remember things despite having an intelligent father who loved books, could speak more than six languages and expected his daughter to be the same.
Sara also met Lottie, who loved throwing tantrums because she doesn't have a mama and believes everyone should pity her.
Sara was only seven when her dad left her at the seminary school, though they did write to each other. However, tragedy struck when Sara celebrated her eleven years' birthday as news of her father's death hit her.
Her life drastically changed from a rich girl to a pauper when Miss Minchin found out Sara's dad left her with nothing after putting all his fortune in a diamond mine with his friend and had lost them which caused his death. Sara knew what that meant for her. With this, Miss Minchin didn't waste time making Sara a scullery maid who worked tirelessly day and night both in cold and hot weather and lived in the attic with Becky who was also a scullery maid and a rat Sara named Melchisedec.
what she told Miss Minchin years after her father's death
Despite the hunger that held her every night, being spoken to rudely by Miss Minchin, the cooks and being told not to interact with other children, Sara was positive minded and was kind. She thought and would tell herself stories. She would imagine positive things when her body hit her now stony bed, unlike the fluffy(hehe according to @tengolotodo ), one she was used to.
Sara still believed she was a princess and treated people with respect. She looked out for others that everyone got to know her and that... that was got her to briefly meet Ram Dass and the new English gentleman who lived in India and was met with great misfortune after putting his money in diamond mine and almost died of brain fever when he heard of the death of his friend, Ralph Crewe and was now in search of his daughter Sara Crewe who was told to be in a school in Paris.
Hehe.. this is my first time writing a review in many, many years, and I don't know if I still got it.
Sara Crewe's story was an interesting piece that kept me glued on my device from morning till dusk when I finished reading it.
The first image was made with Canvas The second image was a screenshot from my ebook.
Still yours truly, Balikis.
Thanks for reading.
Peace be unto those who crave it and more to those who chase it away.