Two of my favorite books growing up were by the same author. Frances Hodgson Burnett. Frances Hodgson Burnett was a British woman, whose socially prominent family, fell on hard financial times. In an effort to support the family, Burnett took to writing.
Born in 1849 she grew up during the Victorian era of England. Her stories were a reflection of the lives of Victorian children.
My favorite book, was "A Little Princess". I read it for the first time at age 11. This was the story of Little Sara Crew, whose father was an officer for the British Army stationed in India. Sara's mother died in her infancy, leaving Sara to her father's care. He eventually decides to send her to school in England. The school he enrolls her in is owned by Miss Minchin. Miss Minchin, and her sister are greedy, hard hearted women, but are careful to put their best foot forward when a rich young British officer leaves his daughter with them. Sara, who is very clever becomes the star pupil of the Seminary. She is shown off to any visiting dignitaries as a shining example of the school. Luckily Sara is a kind, sensible child who doesn't allow all the attention to go to her head.
One day, on her 11th birthday, word reaches Miss Minchin, that Sara's father has died in India after losing all his money in a bad investment. Angry, because she was owed money, Miss Minchin threatens to throw Sara out, but is advised against it. Instead she decides to keep her as a servant, although Sara is more a slave than servant. Sara is expected to be up well before dawn, and be in bed no earlier than midnight. She has to clean, run errands, and be at the beck and call of the entire school. Her only friends are Becky, another scullery maid that Sara befriended while her fortunes were up, and 2 little pupils from the school.
Eventually, Sara's fortunes again turn, but the how's and why's of that make for an exciting story.
"A Secret Garden" has some similarities, but also some basic differences. The heroine of the story is kind of an anti Sara. Sara tries to act her best no matter what. But in the "Secret Garden" Mary Lennox, is a spoiled, self centered brat. Mary was also born in India, to an Indian officer and his wife, a flighty socialite. The wife hands the child over to native servants to raise. The only rule regarding the raising of the baby is that she not disturb the lady of the house. So the servants do everything they can to keep the baby quiet by spoiling her. Mary is allowed to run roughshod over the servants, slapping, kicking, and screaming at will. One day she is playing out in the garden, when she overhears her mother talking to someone. Through the conversations Mary finds out that Cholera has broken out in their area. As the adults are talking, a wailing breaks out from the servant's living areas. That is when Mary and her mother find out that cholera has broken out in their own household.
The adults are terrified, but no one gives a thought to the child. Mary is left all alone. Eventually, she is hungry, and goes into the dining room where it looks like a dinner party was started, but then abandoned. Mary eats the leftovers, then drinks the wine she finds on the table. The wine puts her to sleep, and she sleeps until she hears voices in one of the outer rooms. It turns out that while she slept, her parents died of the cholera. Those still alive ran off, leaving her behind.
Mary is discovered by some army officers. They investigation turns up a relative in England. Her uncle takes her in. In England, Mary finds adventures, and in the process discovers that while being a spoiled brat, may not be the best thing in the world, sometimes it helps to get the job done.
Both these books are very reflective of the times. In the 1800s, children who were orphaned, even tiny ones, were often left on the streets. There were very few social services available. There were orphanages, but they were overcrowded, filthy places. Even young children preferred to take their chances on the streets rather than staying in places like that.
Although those books were originally written for young girls, around 8 and up, nowadays I don't believe children that age would be able to comprehend the concepts set forth in the books. The vocabulary alone might cause some confusion in a younger child. I would recommend these stories for a ten and above on the basis of the vocabulary alone. Odds are, the girls will enjoy these stories more than boys, although certainly in "The Secret Garden" there are many strong male characters. Still all in all, the style is more geared to girls.
As I said at the beginning, these two books were my favorites growing up. Try to find the copies illustrated by Tasha Tudor. Her illustrations are beautiful, seeming to capture the look of Victorian England better than any artist I've ever seen. Including some Victorian ones!
If your girls enjoy the American Girl series of books, I'd recommend "A Little Princess" and "A Secret Garden". It will give them a view of Victorian times as it was seen through the eyes of a Victorian woman.
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