A Little Princess - Frances Hodgson Burnett

Last week I read Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess. Burnett also wrote The Secret Garden (which was the only book of Burnett's I'd read previously) and Little Lord Fauntleroy. I was unsurprised by the virtuous nature of Burnett's heroine Sarah Crewe; she decides that she will act like a princess even in adversity - and she does face adversity, despite starting the book as the rich daughter of a widower who buys her everything. Interestingly, Sarah isn't a spoilt brat, even when faced with her father's lavish generosity. When she is at Miss Minchin's Select Seminary, she goes out of her way to befriend the girls who are despised and looked down on, including the scullery maid, Becky. For all its Victorian didacticism, however, I found myself intrigued and in suspense over how the story would end, and I now have copies of both The Secret Garden and Little Lord Fauntleroy on my library TBR (To Be Read) pile !