A Little Princess

I grew up watching A Little Princess. So when I found the novel at a used book store for $0.50, I really had no choice but to pick it up. I just had to know how the book went, what changes they had made for the movie.

A lot of the changes were superficial. The book takes place in London while the movie is set in New York. In the book Sara lives at the school for several years before her father dies in the book, as opposed to what seems like a few months in the movie. Lavinia has a much larger role in the movie while Ermengarde is more prominent in the book.

The biggest change is that Sara's father actually dies in the book. It's his friend that comes to find Sara and holds her fortune for her (actually multiplying it by ten in the meantime. Which made me realize that I don't know what comes after quintuple. Would this be dectuple?)

The book also makes a big deal in Sara being unique in her princess status. Where the movie makes it clear that any girl and every girl is a princess, the book claims that this is a trait special to Sara. She never loses her temper or her nerve. She never complains to anyone, even when it's been a day since she had anything to eat. She's perfect in every way, and it's clear that she gets her fortune back because she's such a good little girl. But I think that's just a sign of the times.

Either way, I think I ultimately liked the movie better. But that's probably only because I grew up with it.

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