This is a lovely, timeless book. Beloved by many of all ages. I recently re-read it and found that it is still one of my favorites.
Beautiful seven year old Sara has been raised in India by her father and is on her way to London to live in an all girls elite boarding school that her mother had attended. She and her father are very close and he dotes on her and purchases many beautiful dresses, books and a special doll for her to take with her to school.
You would think that someone so beautiful and with so many riches would be a snob, but Sara was just the opposite. She was friendly, generous, kind and had a magical imagination that she shared with her friends in the form of stories. She was well liked by most of the girls, except for the snobs that were jealous of her beauty and riches.
On her birthday, a solicitor shows up at the school to inform the stern headmistress of the school that Sara's father has been killed and nothing was left to little Sara, who also has no relatives. She is now homeless and penniless. The surly headmistress takes all of Sara's belongings to sell to repay herself for the cost of Sara's education and moves Sara from her lovely room to the cold and dirty attic to live as a servant rather than be thrown into the streets.
Devastated, Sara learns to use her imagination, not just for stories, but to make her life miserable surroundings tolerable. A few of the girls still visit, but she is lonely and befriends a rat and his family as well as a small monkey that creeps into her room occasionally from the roof.
This monkey belongs to the house next door that has recently been occupied by a mysterious and sickly man who is on a desperate mission to right a wrong.
In what could only be described as a minor miracle, this man's mission not only involves Sara, but it changes her life forever.
I highly recommend this book!
In 1995, a movie adaptation was made and directed by Alfonso Cuaron. While significantly altering some of the story, it was beautifully made, and captures the magic that surrounds this wonderful story that I also recommend.
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