What do you think?
Rate this book
Mistress Masham's Repose
"She first, a square opening, about eight inches wide, in the lowest step...finally she saw that there was a walnut shell, or half one, outside the nearest door...she went to look at the shell—but looked with the greatest astonishment. There was a baby in it."
So ten-year-old Maria, orphaned mistress of Malplaquet, discovers the secret of her deteriorating on a deserted island at its far corner, in the temple long ago nicknamed Mistress Masham's Repose, live an entire community of people—"The People," as they call themselves—all only inches tall. With the help of her only friend—the absurdly erudite Professor—Maria soon learns that this settlement is no less than the kingdom of Lilliput (first seen in Gulliver's Travels ) in exile. Safely hidden for centuries, the Lilliputians are at first endangered by Maria's well-meaning but clumsy attempts to make their lives easier, but their situation grows truly ominous when they are discovered by Maria's greedy guardians, who look at The People and see only a bundle of money.
So ten-year-old Maria, orphaned mistress of Malplaquet, discovers the secret of her deteriorating on a deserted island at its far corner, in the temple long ago nicknamed Mistress Masham's Repose, live an entire community of people—"The People," as they call themselves—all only inches tall. With the help of her only friend—the absurdly erudite Professor—Maria soon learns that this settlement is no less than the kingdom of Lilliput (first seen in Gulliver's Travels ) in exile. Safely hidden for centuries, the Lilliputians are at first endangered by Maria's well-meaning but clumsy attempts to make their lives easier, but their situation grows truly ominous when they are discovered by Maria's greedy guardians, who look at The People and see only a bundle of money.
260 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1946
53 people are currently reading
1943 people want to read
About the author
T.H. White
108 books1,478 followersBorn in Bombay to English parents, Terence Hanbury White was educated at Cambridge and taught for some time at Stowe before deciding to write full-time. White moved to Ireland in 1939 as a conscientious objector to WWII, and lived out his years there. White is best known for his sequence of Arthurian novels, The Once and Future King, first published together in 1958.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 224 reviews
December 29, 2017
Maria is a 10 yr old orphan living in a dilapidated mansion several times the size of Buckingham palace. Maria has guardians who are plotting to steal her inheritance, when these unscrupulous people discover Maria has small Lilliputian friends they vow to stop at nothing to capture some of her friends to sell to the circus.
We really enjoyed the descriptions of life experienced from a six inch tall persons perspective. There were lots of interesting philosophical thoughts, moral dilemmas of power, friendship, punishment and the definition of right and wrong. There were some parts that dealt with hunting and killing, some parts that made uncomfortable reading but obviously wildlife poses daily threat to the small people so perhaps talk of destroying young of wildlife has to be considered from the view of a six inch person.
There was some very funny parts in the story. Maria realising she was being followed, leads her guardians on a wild goose chase, this part was written with great wit. Even more hilarious was the repetition of the Lieutenant's horse themed gadgets, as each one was introduced it became more and more funny. Although the Lieutenant is obsessed with the hunt he does question changing ideas of what is cruel to animals and values his horses and hounds above anyone.
We thought the part where a dog is speaking in his head about his love for his owner was beautifully observed and touching. The same dog is involved in a lovely scene where he finds an unwilling surrogate puppy.
Although in places the writing did seem to be heavy going, especially as a read aloud it had alot going for it. Lots to think about and a great action packed story.
We really enjoyed the descriptions of life experienced from a six inch tall persons perspective. There were lots of interesting philosophical thoughts, moral dilemmas of power, friendship, punishment and the definition of right and wrong. There were some parts that dealt with hunting and killing, some parts that made uncomfortable reading but obviously wildlife poses daily threat to the small people so perhaps talk of destroying young of wildlife has to be considered from the view of a six inch person.
There was some very funny parts in the story. Maria realising she was being followed, leads her guardians on a wild goose chase, this part was written with great wit. Even more hilarious was the repetition of the Lieutenant's horse themed gadgets, as each one was introduced it became more and more funny. Although the Lieutenant is obsessed with the hunt he does question changing ideas of what is cruel to animals and values his horses and hounds above anyone.
We thought the part where a dog is speaking in his head about his love for his owner was beautifully observed and touching. The same dog is involved in a lovely scene where he finds an unwilling surrogate puppy.
Although in places the writing did seem to be heavy going, especially as a read aloud it had alot going for it. Lots to think about and a great action packed story.
November 19, 2024
Although it’s now billed as a children’s story, T. H. White’s novel was originally marketed to adults. First published in America in 1946 it was a huge success. Like its inspiration Gulliver’s Travels, it’s part fantasy, part political/social satire. White’s narrative centres Maria an orphan living on a large country estate in a once-stately home that’s slowly crumbling from lack of funds. Maria’s guardian’s the ‘repulsive’ vicar Mr Hater and her everyday companion’s equally ‘repulsive’ governess Miss Brown. Both vicar and governess are united in a conspiracy to embezzle Maria’s inheritance. Maria’s only friends are her cook Mrs Noakes and an impoverished scholar the Professor who tutors her from time to time – his attitudes on a variety of subjects often resemble White’s own including more than a dash of intellectual snobbery. But then Maria makes an amazing discovery, hidden away in a particularly neglected region of the estate are the ancestors of a group of Lilliputians. Tiny people stolen from their home country Lilliput – featured in Swift’s novel - and brought to England to be exhibited for profit. Somehow, they escaped captivity to establish their own society. White’s plot hinges on Maria and the Professor’s efforts to keep the Lilliputians out of the clutches of the avaricious vicar and governess who’d undoubtedly sell them off to the highest bidder.
Despite a few dry passages I found this incredibly compelling, funny and inventive. There are numerous arresting images of nature and White’s adept at creating a real sense of peril. As the villainous Hater and Brown came closer to uncovering and exploiting Maria’s secret I was overwhelmed by anxiety. But White goes beyond plot here, gradually constructing a convincing critique of imperialism. When she first encounters the Lilliputians, Maria’s consumed by a desire for possession, swayed by her sense of power over these tiny people. But her discussions with the Professor lead her to reconsider her behaviour, to think about the Lilliputians’ right to self-determination, to social and cultural independence. In addition, White takes aim at religious hypocrisy through his portrayal of Hater and Brown, and at the British class system via fumbling, local landowner the Lord Lieutenant – although White’s take on the British establishment isn’t entirely consistent.
White dedicated his novel to the daughter of his agent Edward “Bunny” Garnett. Garnett was a close friend, as was Sylvia Townsend-Warner, all three united in their interest in fantasy as a tool for exploring broader questions about British society – I’d love to know how far they influenced each other’s fiction. White’s meticulously-detailed portrait of Maria’s house and land builds on stately home Blenheim Palace, and on Stowe the public school where White once taught. White wrote this alongside research into aspects of eighteenth-century English culture. He peppers his story with references to figures and events from that era from the March of Mind to the battle known as the Glorious First, smuggling in allusions to writers like Addison and Alexander Pope. White’s story was a favourite of writers like Anne Fine and Terry Pratchett – who may have based his Pictsies on White’s version of Lilliputians. It’s also more than likely White’s narrative influenced Mary Norton’s later Borrowers’ series. But despite surface similarities, and the fact that Hater and Brown read like Roald Dahl characters, White makes few concessions for potential child readers. At one point he carefully fills in the background to a macabre array of torture instruments found in the house’s dungeon, as well as reflections on the history behind the blood-splattered executioner’s block tucked away in its recesses. White’s ongoing interest in natural history is evident but he blends an appealing emphasis on animal sentience – there’s a wonderful passage where Mrs Noake’s dog muses on her suitability as a pet – with a less attractive pragmatic rural sensibility revolving around hunting and the harnessing of animals for human needs. Not desperately subtle, a little overly didactic at times, but, overall, a fascinating piece. The NYRB edition’s worth tracking down for the inclusion of the original illustrations by Fritz Eichenberg, a German Jewish artist who left Germany in 1933 and focused on projects that connected to his own pursuit of social justice.
Note: I don't think it's essential to be familiar with Swift to read this but it's worth knowing a little about Lilliput especially the War of the Eggs!
Despite a few dry passages I found this incredibly compelling, funny and inventive. There are numerous arresting images of nature and White’s adept at creating a real sense of peril. As the villainous Hater and Brown came closer to uncovering and exploiting Maria’s secret I was overwhelmed by anxiety. But White goes beyond plot here, gradually constructing a convincing critique of imperialism. When she first encounters the Lilliputians, Maria’s consumed by a desire for possession, swayed by her sense of power over these tiny people. But her discussions with the Professor lead her to reconsider her behaviour, to think about the Lilliputians’ right to self-determination, to social and cultural independence. In addition, White takes aim at religious hypocrisy through his portrayal of Hater and Brown, and at the British class system via fumbling, local landowner the Lord Lieutenant – although White’s take on the British establishment isn’t entirely consistent.
White dedicated his novel to the daughter of his agent Edward “Bunny” Garnett. Garnett was a close friend, as was Sylvia Townsend-Warner, all three united in their interest in fantasy as a tool for exploring broader questions about British society – I’d love to know how far they influenced each other’s fiction. White’s meticulously-detailed portrait of Maria’s house and land builds on stately home Blenheim Palace, and on Stowe the public school where White once taught. White wrote this alongside research into aspects of eighteenth-century English culture. He peppers his story with references to figures and events from that era from the March of Mind to the battle known as the Glorious First, smuggling in allusions to writers like Addison and Alexander Pope. White’s story was a favourite of writers like Anne Fine and Terry Pratchett – who may have based his Pictsies on White’s version of Lilliputians. It’s also more than likely White’s narrative influenced Mary Norton’s later Borrowers’ series. But despite surface similarities, and the fact that Hater and Brown read like Roald Dahl characters, White makes few concessions for potential child readers. At one point he carefully fills in the background to a macabre array of torture instruments found in the house’s dungeon, as well as reflections on the history behind the blood-splattered executioner’s block tucked away in its recesses. White’s ongoing interest in natural history is evident but he blends an appealing emphasis on animal sentience – there’s a wonderful passage where Mrs Noake’s dog muses on her suitability as a pet – with a less attractive pragmatic rural sensibility revolving around hunting and the harnessing of animals for human needs. Not desperately subtle, a little overly didactic at times, but, overall, a fascinating piece. The NYRB edition’s worth tracking down for the inclusion of the original illustrations by Fritz Eichenberg, a German Jewish artist who left Germany in 1933 and focused on projects that connected to his own pursuit of social justice.
Note: I don't think it's essential to be familiar with Swift to read this but it's worth knowing a little about Lilliput especially the War of the Eggs!
April 4, 2012
On a tiny, man-made island in the middle of a lake live the descendents of kidnapped Lilliputians. On the shore of the lake stands an ancient manor, now falling into ruin. In the manor live a lonely girl and her evil governess...
Those are the fun parts. Since this is T.H. White there is also much implicit social and political criticism, psychological observation, and tongue-in-cheek humor. Most of that was over my head when I first read this, as were many of the British cultural allusions. I suspect the same is true for most modern American children. Even as an adult with a degree in history I had to look up several references (Alice Kyteler, the misfortunes of Caroline Matilda, et al) but I appreciated the humor much more.
Those are the fun parts. Since this is T.H. White there is also much implicit social and political criticism, psychological observation, and tongue-in-cheek humor. Most of that was over my head when I first read this, as were many of the British cultural allusions. I suspect the same is true for most modern American children. Even as an adult with a degree in history I had to look up several references (Alice Kyteler, the misfortunes of Caroline Matilda, et al) but I appreciated the humor much more.
Read
May 12, 2024Imagine that someone in the 17th century brought back some Lilliputians (yes, the ones from Gulliver’s Travels) from their homeland, depositing them in a forgotten garden behind a ruined estate in Northamptonshire, England? Well, you don’t have to because T.H. White did so in this children’s classic, first released in 1946. (This is T.H. White, author of The Once and Future King, not E.B. White, author of Charlotte’s Web, Stuart Little and The Trumpet of the Swan.)
White describes 10-year-old Maria as “one of those tough and friendly people who do things first and think about them afterward.” Thank goodness her impulse is to do good! When the orphaned girl’s wicked guardian and governess — Vicar Hater and Miss Brown, respectively — try to exploit the Lilliputian expats for gain, you can be sure that Maria and her friends will triumph.
Alas, reader, while I am sure that Maria and Lilliputians triumphed — h0w could they not in a vintage children’s novel? — this book is pretty dated 80 years after publication, and not just because there aren’t so many wealthy orphans with governesses in today’s children’s lit. It was a struggle for me to keep reading this book, as I sought any excuse to set it aside for other reading. White spends page after page on minute descriptions of the Lilliputians in Exile and, really, just about everything else. After checking and re-checking out the ebook from the library, I finally gave up.
White describes 10-year-old Maria as “one of those tough and friendly people who do things first and think about them afterward.” Thank goodness her impulse is to do good! When the orphaned girl’s wicked guardian and governess — Vicar Hater and Miss Brown, respectively — try to exploit the Lilliputian expats for gain, you can be sure that Maria and her friends will triumph.
Alas, reader, while I am sure that Maria and Lilliputians triumphed — h0w could they not in a vintage children’s novel? — this book is pretty dated 80 years after publication, and not just because there aren’t so many wealthy orphans with governesses in today’s children’s lit. It was a struggle for me to keep reading this book, as I sought any excuse to set it aside for other reading. White spends page after page on minute descriptions of the Lilliputians in Exile and, really, just about everything else. After checking and re-checking out the ebook from the library, I finally gave up.
June 17, 2012
What kid, after reading GULLIVER’S TRAVELS, didn’t secretly dream of discovering an abandoned, forgotten colony of Lilliputians? This happy circumstance befalls Maria, an engaging ten-year-old orphan, heiress to the vast, but now-decrepit, estate and palace of Malplaquet (modeled on Churchill’s Blenheim Palace), somewhere in post-World War II England. Maria’s nasty governess and guardian, Miss Brown, abetted -- and often subverted -- by an equally nasty co-guardian, the Vicar, is conspiring to rob Maria of her inheritance. When the two blackguards discover Maria’s secret colony of small minikins, they set a plot in motion to kidnap them, sell them for profit, and, if Maria interferes, do away with her in an insidious fashion.
The evolution of Maria’s involvement with the Lilliputians is delightfully rendered by author T.H. White (THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING), giving the reader both significant and amusing insights into relationships between parents and children and between the powerful and the powerless. White writes, “She wanted to play with them, like lead soldiers…and even dreamed of being their queen.” White continues, “But the Lilliputians were not toys. They were grown up, however short they were, and they were civilized.”
White sets up the initial confrontation between Maria and the Lilliputians in his quintessential, ironic, whimsical style: “However, Maria lost grip of herself and she now proceeded on the road to ruin with the speed of a Rake’s Progress.” This conflict is resolved, following a near-tragedy, and Maria and the Lilliputians develop a relationship of mutual respect and admiration. The plot speeds up exponentially when the evil villains Miss Brown and the Vicar discover the existence of the Lilliputians and decide to use them for their own gain, obviously without the assistance of any moral compass whatsoever. White uses this plot arc to expand on his themes of the importance of resourcefulness, intelligence, loyalty, and kindness.
Upon first picking up this treasured childhood book again after over fifty years, I was struck first by what a nerdy kind I must have been to have loved this book so much! Compared with today’s fast-paced middle grade novels, sadly, MISTRESS MASHAM’S RESPOSE drags a bit in the beginning chapters, with sentences such as, “They looked hopeful but wistful when they heard this from her own mouth, not knowing Maria well enough, as yet, to be sure that her word was her bond.” The missing will of Maria’s deceased parents, one of the key underpinnings of the major plot of the story, isn’t even mentioned until page 63. However, if readers are hooked, as I hope they will be, by the unique concept of tiny Lilliputians needing protection conjoined with Maria’s orphaned plight at the mercy of her cruel, selfish guardians, they will be immensely rewarded by White’s boundless creativity and imagination in his wry and empathetic characterizations, descriptions of Malplaquet’s decayed elegance, and inside jokes sure to be appreciated by nerdy kids, humorists, anglophiles, classicists, and literary enthusiasts.
White treats his young readers as co-conspirators, empowering them by giving them the inside track in the perennial struggles of the smaller and weaker against the larger and stronger, an enduring theme in classic children’s literature. Written in White’s tongue-in-cheek style, scenes such as the hysterically-funny yet frantic search for Maria by her only friends and cohorts, the ever-faithful Cook and the erudite, nerdy Professor, who ultimately free her from the Malplaquet dungeon, thanks to the intrepid Lilliputians, will keep the pages turning, even almost seventy years after its first publication. The proposed murder of Maria by Miss Brown and the Vicar creates tension worthy of today’s middle grade writers, and Maria ultimately solves her own problem with her intelligence and ingenuity, bringing a satisfying and cathartic closing to this classic children’s book. Oh, but wait just a minute here…it’s not really a ‘children’s book,’ is it? Indeed, White quotes people dismissively saying of GULLIVER’S TRAVELS: “Oh, that’s a children’s book, isn’t it?”
If you are a true Nerdy Book Club member, as I suspect you are, or you wouldn’t even be reading this, I encourage you and any of your young reader friends to open up this magical and rewarding middle grade novel to be enthralled by Maria’s adventure, as I was, once again, after so many years. And, who knows, you yourself may even discover a tiny baby, nestled in a walnut shell, lying in the grass….
The evolution of Maria’s involvement with the Lilliputians is delightfully rendered by author T.H. White (THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING), giving the reader both significant and amusing insights into relationships between parents and children and between the powerful and the powerless. White writes, “She wanted to play with them, like lead soldiers…and even dreamed of being their queen.” White continues, “But the Lilliputians were not toys. They were grown up, however short they were, and they were civilized.”
White sets up the initial confrontation between Maria and the Lilliputians in his quintessential, ironic, whimsical style: “However, Maria lost grip of herself and she now proceeded on the road to ruin with the speed of a Rake’s Progress.” This conflict is resolved, following a near-tragedy, and Maria and the Lilliputians develop a relationship of mutual respect and admiration. The plot speeds up exponentially when the evil villains Miss Brown and the Vicar discover the existence of the Lilliputians and decide to use them for their own gain, obviously without the assistance of any moral compass whatsoever. White uses this plot arc to expand on his themes of the importance of resourcefulness, intelligence, loyalty, and kindness.
Upon first picking up this treasured childhood book again after over fifty years, I was struck first by what a nerdy kind I must have been to have loved this book so much! Compared with today’s fast-paced middle grade novels, sadly, MISTRESS MASHAM’S RESPOSE drags a bit in the beginning chapters, with sentences such as, “They looked hopeful but wistful when they heard this from her own mouth, not knowing Maria well enough, as yet, to be sure that her word was her bond.” The missing will of Maria’s deceased parents, one of the key underpinnings of the major plot of the story, isn’t even mentioned until page 63. However, if readers are hooked, as I hope they will be, by the unique concept of tiny Lilliputians needing protection conjoined with Maria’s orphaned plight at the mercy of her cruel, selfish guardians, they will be immensely rewarded by White’s boundless creativity and imagination in his wry and empathetic characterizations, descriptions of Malplaquet’s decayed elegance, and inside jokes sure to be appreciated by nerdy kids, humorists, anglophiles, classicists, and literary enthusiasts.
White treats his young readers as co-conspirators, empowering them by giving them the inside track in the perennial struggles of the smaller and weaker against the larger and stronger, an enduring theme in classic children’s literature. Written in White’s tongue-in-cheek style, scenes such as the hysterically-funny yet frantic search for Maria by her only friends and cohorts, the ever-faithful Cook and the erudite, nerdy Professor, who ultimately free her from the Malplaquet dungeon, thanks to the intrepid Lilliputians, will keep the pages turning, even almost seventy years after its first publication. The proposed murder of Maria by Miss Brown and the Vicar creates tension worthy of today’s middle grade writers, and Maria ultimately solves her own problem with her intelligence and ingenuity, bringing a satisfying and cathartic closing to this classic children’s book. Oh, but wait just a minute here…it’s not really a ‘children’s book,’ is it? Indeed, White quotes people dismissively saying of GULLIVER’S TRAVELS: “Oh, that’s a children’s book, isn’t it?”
If you are a true Nerdy Book Club member, as I suspect you are, or you wouldn’t even be reading this, I encourage you and any of your young reader friends to open up this magical and rewarding middle grade novel to be enthralled by Maria’s adventure, as I was, once again, after so many years. And, who knows, you yourself may even discover a tiny baby, nestled in a walnut shell, lying in the grass….
March 7, 2019
Maria is an orphan, the heir to a huge estate, but with very little money for the upkeep. She is "cared for" by a governess and the local vicar, but sometimes left to her own devices. One day she discovers a fabulous secret — descendants of kidnapped Lilliputians are living on an island in a lake on the estate! Maria's interactions with these diminutive people form the bulk of the story. She makes mistakes, but later redeems them. And when Maria herself is in danger the Lilliputians come to her rescue! Excellent characterization with wonderful tongue-in-cheek humor. Recommended.
December 13, 2025
I didn’t even bother to read the jacket copy when I began this book and what a treat.
Did you know this book is about a girl who lives in a dilapidated manor in England and discovers a small island of tiny people on her ancestral properties? I didn't, because I only looked at T.H. White's name. If I had, I might still have been surprised by which tiny people they are. Tiny people are a mainstay of children's literature, I love a teeny tiny person, be it a flesh and blood tiny person or a doll with feelings. Anyone can invent them and it always feels new. Not for T.H. White, though! His tiny people are Lilliputians, LITERALLY the people of Lilliput of literally, canonically Gulliver's travels. This is so incredibly funny. T.H. White said anyone can make tiny people but I will only accept the famous ones.
Our young heroine, Maria, lives in this dilapidated manor with a cook (nice), a nursemaid (blatantly and murderously evil), who is visited frequently by a bad vicar, and often visits an extremely absentminded professor. The vicar and the nursemaid want Maria's fortune. Maria wants to be friends with the tiny people. The vicar and the nursemaid, knowing the tiny people exist, would surely wish to sell the to a circus. Problems ensue!
What's really striking about this book is that T.H. White is a giant weirdo whose main motivation in writing this book seems to have been to please himself. The plot is almost doggedly standard fare, but the pedestrian story is part of the joke T.H. White is telling himself, which also includes a caricaturish cast and pages-long descriptions of all the famous people who have done famous things at the dilapidated manor, and all of the thousands of comically-named rooms in the dilapidated manor, and all of the statues and fountains and wings and gardens and vestibules and memorials of the dilapidated manor. The professor spends most of the book researching a single latin word and can't eat anything but bread and butter because all his money is in books. The evil nursemaid, another mainstay of children's books, is evil enough to want to murder Maria, which surprises the vicar. The dungeon that the manor has gets an entire page dedicated to six hundred or so years of people adding different locks to the door. Some of these jokes are for children but some of them are for old people who read too much. Luckily I have read too much so his multipage namedropping jokes are funny to me, but WHO are they for?
And then there is the other extremely refreshing element of the book: periodically, with a sort of cleansing and intemperate fire, White puts all his principles on the page, saying particularly nasty things about populists and people who hate learning, injustice, the evils of empire, all with a blazing and angry clarity that hasn't been whittled down for children in any way. It's perfectly good for them because you can tell children important things about the world and that's how they come to know them, but I get the sense that if you walked in on T.H. White throwing a tantrum about his actual hawk he could easily segue in that tantrum into a diatribe about the insidiousness of power (ironic given his situation with the hawk, is my understanding).
Then, also, there's the simple and wonderful fun of having someone describe a lot of very tiny implements and how tiny people use big people items in tiny people ways, and miniature boats and miniature cows and miniature babies and fighting with pins...all the most delicious stuff.
I can't complain, this was really one of the highlights of my year.
Did you know this book is about a girl who lives in a dilapidated manor in England and discovers a small island of tiny people on her ancestral properties? I didn't, because I only looked at T.H. White's name. If I had, I might still have been surprised by which tiny people they are. Tiny people are a mainstay of children's literature, I love a teeny tiny person, be it a flesh and blood tiny person or a doll with feelings. Anyone can invent them and it always feels new. Not for T.H. White, though! His tiny people are Lilliputians, LITERALLY the people of Lilliput of literally, canonically Gulliver's travels. This is so incredibly funny. T.H. White said anyone can make tiny people but I will only accept the famous ones.
Our young heroine, Maria, lives in this dilapidated manor with a cook (nice), a nursemaid (blatantly and murderously evil), who is visited frequently by a bad vicar, and often visits an extremely absentminded professor. The vicar and the nursemaid want Maria's fortune. Maria wants to be friends with the tiny people. The vicar and the nursemaid, knowing the tiny people exist, would surely wish to sell the to a circus. Problems ensue!
What's really striking about this book is that T.H. White is a giant weirdo whose main motivation in writing this book seems to have been to please himself. The plot is almost doggedly standard fare, but the pedestrian story is part of the joke T.H. White is telling himself, which also includes a caricaturish cast and pages-long descriptions of all the famous people who have done famous things at the dilapidated manor, and all of the thousands of comically-named rooms in the dilapidated manor, and all of the statues and fountains and wings and gardens and vestibules and memorials of the dilapidated manor. The professor spends most of the book researching a single latin word and can't eat anything but bread and butter because all his money is in books. The evil nursemaid, another mainstay of children's books, is evil enough to want to murder Maria, which surprises the vicar. The dungeon that the manor has gets an entire page dedicated to six hundred or so years of people adding different locks to the door. Some of these jokes are for children but some of them are for old people who read too much. Luckily I have read too much so his multipage namedropping jokes are funny to me, but WHO are they for?
And then there is the other extremely refreshing element of the book: periodically, with a sort of cleansing and intemperate fire, White puts all his principles on the page, saying particularly nasty things about populists and people who hate learning, injustice, the evils of empire, all with a blazing and angry clarity that hasn't been whittled down for children in any way. It's perfectly good for them because you can tell children important things about the world and that's how they come to know them, but I get the sense that if you walked in on T.H. White throwing a tantrum about his actual hawk he could easily segue in that tantrum into a diatribe about the insidiousness of power (ironic given his situation with the hawk, is my understanding).
Then, also, there's the simple and wonderful fun of having someone describe a lot of very tiny implements and how tiny people use big people items in tiny people ways, and miniature boats and miniature cows and miniature babies and fighting with pins...all the most delicious stuff.
I can't complain, this was really one of the highlights of my year.
October 18, 2019
There are spoilers ahead so beware.
2.5 STARS
When I’m started this book, I thought it had such promise. The first sentences drew me right in and filled me with the giddy excitement of a bibliophile who thinks they’ve found a literary treasure.
”Maria was ten years old. She had dark hair in two pigtails, and brown eyes the color of marmite, but shiny. She wore spectacles for the time being, though sine would not have to wear them always, and her nature was a loving one. She was one of those tough and friendly people who do things first and think about them afterward. ... Unfortunately she was an orphan, which made her difficulties more complicated than they were with other people. She lived in an enormous house in the wilds of Northamptonshire, which was about four times larger than the Buckingham Palace, but was falling down.”
The illustrations are GORGEOUS. Unfortunately, my interest began to wane right around page 50 or so when the Schoolmaster began describing the People’s history of how they came to Mistress Masham’s Repose at Malplaquet. The chapter following the People’s history lesson begins, ”Maria could not help feeling relieved when the History was over. Her head was buzzing with capital letters, and she secretly thought that it as more fun to ask questions, instead of listening to lectures.”
The story steadily grows more ridiculous and hard to follow as time goes on. There were a lot of references to England’s history that I just didn’t understand since I’m from the United States. Maybe I would have enjoyed the story better if I had understood the references, but I doubt it.
The Professor was an interesting character. His forgetfulness and inability to take things seriously was aggravating. Every once in a while he would give Maria good advice, but most of the time he was bogged down with figuring out the meaning of an obscure Latin word “Tripharium” or daydreaming about food. I read on Wikipedia J.K. Rowling loosely based Dumbledore off the Professor’s character. I’m glad she did a much better job creating a like-able character.
As the story progresses, both Maria and the Professor daydream about the People. Maria dreams of providing them a safe place to live and all the ways she can make their lives better. The Professor dreams up a scheme of capturing a Brobdingnagian, which made absolutely no sense to me. In retrospect, it might have behooved me to read “Gulliver’s Travels.” I just have no desire to do so at this time.
The ending felt a bit rushed and the additional characters of the Lord Lieutenant and P.C. Dumbledum were utterly ridiculous. I felt like the story became almost farcical and left me wondering why I had forced myself to continue reading in the first place.
I was so excited about the possibilities of this book and hate that my expectations fell flat.
My review is brutal, so I apologize in advance to all of those who adore “Mistress Masham’s Repose.” Other reviewers do a great job of pointing out the good in this book. I just wanted to shed some light on my disappointment and why this book didn’t win my praises.
2.5 STARS
When I’m started this book, I thought it had such promise. The first sentences drew me right in and filled me with the giddy excitement of a bibliophile who thinks they’ve found a literary treasure.
”Maria was ten years old. She had dark hair in two pigtails, and brown eyes the color of marmite, but shiny. She wore spectacles for the time being, though sine would not have to wear them always, and her nature was a loving one. She was one of those tough and friendly people who do things first and think about them afterward. ... Unfortunately she was an orphan, which made her difficulties more complicated than they were with other people. She lived in an enormous house in the wilds of Northamptonshire, which was about four times larger than the Buckingham Palace, but was falling down.”
The illustrations are GORGEOUS. Unfortunately, my interest began to wane right around page 50 or so when the Schoolmaster began describing the People’s history of how they came to Mistress Masham’s Repose at Malplaquet. The chapter following the People’s history lesson begins, ”Maria could not help feeling relieved when the History was over. Her head was buzzing with capital letters, and she secretly thought that it as more fun to ask questions, instead of listening to lectures.”
The story steadily grows more ridiculous and hard to follow as time goes on. There were a lot of references to England’s history that I just didn’t understand since I’m from the United States. Maybe I would have enjoyed the story better if I had understood the references, but I doubt it.
The Professor was an interesting character. His forgetfulness and inability to take things seriously was aggravating. Every once in a while he would give Maria good advice, but most of the time he was bogged down with figuring out the meaning of an obscure Latin word “Tripharium” or daydreaming about food. I read on Wikipedia J.K. Rowling loosely based Dumbledore off the Professor’s character. I’m glad she did a much better job creating a like-able character.
As the story progresses, both Maria and the Professor daydream about the People. Maria dreams of providing them a safe place to live and all the ways she can make their lives better. The Professor dreams up a scheme of capturing a Brobdingnagian, which made absolutely no sense to me. In retrospect, it might have behooved me to read “Gulliver’s Travels.” I just have no desire to do so at this time.
The ending felt a bit rushed and the additional characters of the Lord Lieutenant and P.C. Dumbledum were utterly ridiculous. I felt like the story became almost farcical and left me wondering why I had forced myself to continue reading in the first place.
I was so excited about the possibilities of this book and hate that my expectations fell flat.
My review is brutal, so I apologize in advance to all of those who adore “Mistress Masham’s Repose.” Other reviewers do a great job of pointing out the good in this book. I just wanted to shed some light on my disappointment and why this book didn’t win my praises.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 9, 2008
I liked this, don't get me wrong. But it's a flawed story, and while I enjoyed it, I found myself skipping or rolling my eyes at chunks.
It reads like an elderly professor telling a story to a favoured niece/nephew, and for all I know it was. It doesn't read like something intended for publication, it's bitty, weirdly paced, very episodic, has sporadic digressions into fairly dry subjects and asides, and then finishes up with a rush of an action adventure ending, as though the author suddenly noticed said niece/nephew falling asleep.
The pace is slow, the people mostly cariacatures outside the two protagonists. It's a dry sort of book, and the disparity between Maria and the Professor's styles as the story switches between their povs is a little disconcerting, particularly when neither of them really listens to or understands the other.
After Gulliver let the story slip, a ship's captain returned to Lilliput and kidnapped a chest full of Lilliputians to display in public. They escaped, and two hundred eyars later are discovered by Maria, and orphan whose guardians have evil designs on her.
But with all that, I enjoyed it, and read straight through in one afternoon.
It reads like an elderly professor telling a story to a favoured niece/nephew, and for all I know it was. It doesn't read like something intended for publication, it's bitty, weirdly paced, very episodic, has sporadic digressions into fairly dry subjects and asides, and then finishes up with a rush of an action adventure ending, as though the author suddenly noticed said niece/nephew falling asleep.
The pace is slow, the people mostly cariacatures outside the two protagonists. It's a dry sort of book, and the disparity between Maria and the Professor's styles as the story switches between their povs is a little disconcerting, particularly when neither of them really listens to or understands the other.
After Gulliver let the story slip, a ship's captain returned to Lilliput and kidnapped a chest full of Lilliputians to display in public. They escaped, and two hundred eyars later are discovered by Maria, and orphan whose guardians have evil designs on her.
But with all that, I enjoyed it, and read straight through in one afternoon.
February 12, 2024
‘”Parents,” says the immortal Richard Hughes, who wrote the best book about children that was ever written, “finding that they see through their children in so many places the child does not know of, seldom realise that, if there is some point the child really gives his mind to hiding, their chances are nil.”‘ — Chapter XVI
T H White’s modern classic, which has as protagonist a particular child, may still appeal to modern children though I suspect it wasn’t necessarily written for children alone.
However, as a child the author Anne Fine felt it was especially written for her, partly because it had everything she could possibly have wanted: “a resourceful orphan heiress, a hidden will, a sneaky and grasping vicar, a spiteful, kitten-drowning governess, dangers and chases, imprisonments and revelations.”
There are all these things in the story, of course, but there’s also much more – literary allusions, historical parallels, Socratic dialogues, parodies of antiquated office holders, critiques of politics and politicians, not always gentle humour directed at absent-minded academics and below stairs staff. Does White manage to square these adult aspects with a simple tale of suspense and derring-do?
‘[H]er nature was a loving one. She was one of those tough and friendly people who do things first and think about them afterward.’
Maria, our ten-year-old protagonist, is heir to the rambling but dilapidated stately pile called Malplaquet Palace. In the absence of parents her guardians are the vicar, the Reverend Hater, and Miss Brown, her governess, but they are intent on swindling the child, and take every opportunity to bully and deny her any home comforts. Maria’s only friends are Mrs Noakes the cook and the Professor, the last tenant on the estate.
In the immediate aftermath of the second world war Malplaquet Palace lacks the resources to prevent it falling down, and the grounds of the estate lack upkeep. On the overgrown island in the middle of the lake called the Quincunx Maria discovers that the classical temple known as Mistress Masham’s Repose – named after Queen Anne’s favourite, and the cousin of Duchess of Marlborough – is the secret home of a population of Lilliputians stranded here since the 18th century.
It turns out therefore, as Maria’s Professor tells her, that Gulliver’s Travels was actually a true account of that person’s voyages in the early 1700s. Maria then learns that the Malplaquet Lilliputians are descendants of those brought to England as exhibits by Captain John Biddel, the very same mariner who’d picked up Gulliver after his sojourn on Lilliput and Blefescu. En route to Northampton they had managed to escape from the extremely inebriated showman and settled on the island.
However, the people of Lilliput-in-exile run the same risks as their forebears had done two and a half centuries before should their presence become generally known, especially where the greedy vicar and governess are concerned; and young Maria has yet to learn how to differentiate between treating the Lilliputians as equals and as toys or pets. She will also have to undergo a lesson concerning the Houyhnhnms and the Yahoos before a possible resolution is in sight.
There are so many intellectual delights awaiting the alert adult reader in White’s fantasy, especially when complimented by the exquisite line drawings of Fritz Eichenberg. For example Malplaquet Palace is – like one of its real-life counterparts, Blenheim Palace – named after a battle in the War of the Spanish Succession in which the Duke of Marlborough took a leading part; in contrast to the overwhelmingly successful outcome of the Blenheim engagement, however, Malplaquet represented a Pyrrhic victory for the Allies. Perhaps White intended this to be a commentary on the dire condition of Maria’s estate.
Interestingly, Mistress Masham’s Repose was published the same year as Titus Groan, the first of Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast novels, and Gormenghast’s decaying castle bears some resemblance to Malplaquet. However, White is known to have drawn his inspiration for the fictional palace from Stowe House, the rambling boarding school in nearby Buckinghamshire where he taught in the early 1930s and where, like the Professor, he was to spend three years in a woodman’s cottage while he wrote The Sword in the Stone.
More delights appear in the fun he has with language, whether it’s the imaginary Lilliputian vocabulary or, more insistently, the Professor’s obsession with the meaning of the Latin word tripharium. White is perhaps being deliberately obscure in this case concerning Dante’s speculations in De Vulgari Eloquentia on the origins of languages after Babel: in this text the poet used the phrase idioma tripharium to refer to three tongues – French, Provençal and Italian – related linguistically to each other like the leaves of a trefoil. Perhaps we’re meant to relate this threefold concept to the three groupings in this story – Maria’s friends, the wicked guardians, and the Lilliputians – but, then again, perhaps not.
Not everything works to perfection here. Sometimes the humour is misplaced, as with the extended parody of the Lord Lieutenant’s idées fixes of horses and hounds, and also the plethora of jokey village names with which White peppers Chapter XVI. But there’s no doubting the insights he demonstrates into one particular preteen’s mentality and psychology, as when she gives way to ill-judged temptation, or when she stands up to her guardians’ hectoring and bullying by declaring “The more you hurt me, the less you’ll hear.”
White dedicated what he calls ‘our simple story’ to the three-year-old Amaryllis Virginia Garnett, daughter of Angelica Bell, herself the daughter of Vanessa Bell; Amaryllis later had a short-lived career as an actress before a tragic early death. Maria is the mainstay of this novel, so it’s sad when we finally have to take our leave of her; I wonder if Amaryllis ever modelled herself on the young Maria, who did things first and thought about them afterward.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 10, 2011
Maria is a 10-year-old orphan who lives on her huge, dilapidated ancestral estate with the vicar Mr Hater as her guardian and Miss Brown as her governess. These are the villians, conspiring to steal Maria’s family fortune, but mainly making her feel alone & unloved.
Neglected she explores and has adventures discovering an ornamental island called Mistress Masham’s Repose, in the middle of one of the lakes in the grounds. The island is occupied by Lilliputians that Maria sees as her secret to protect them but also as her dolls to play with. The people fear her knowledge of their home and feel ill treated by her games.
Neglected she explores and has adventures discovering an ornamental island called Mistress Masham’s Repose, in the middle of one of the lakes in the grounds. The island is occupied by Lilliputians that Maria sees as her secret to protect them but also as her dolls to play with. The people fear her knowledge of their home and feel ill treated by her games.
June 23, 2014
One of the great fantasy novels of all time, and a sequel! What happened after GULLIVER'S TRAVELS? This delightful novel will set your mind at rest. Any time you have a preteen heroine and an elderly hero you know this is not your standard thud and blunder fantasy. This book is not like anything you have read before, promise. And in a good way!
This book should be far better known. I suppose Disney felt that all the talking animals in THE SWORD IN THE STONE were irresistible, but oh please -- some day, somebody dramatize this!
This book should be far better known. I suppose Disney felt that all the talking animals in THE SWORD IN THE STONE were irresistible, but oh please -- some day, somebody dramatize this!
Read
April 6, 2010My thoughtful mother, remembering how much I loved _The Once and Future King_, picked this up for me at a used bookstore. I just grabbed it randomly off my bookshelf and I don't know how it is yet, but it smells heavenly - musty, old, cloth-bound paper smell. Mmmmmm.
January 16, 2021
Delightful book!!
Rereading it for the second or third time, I have enjoyed it just as much as the first time.
Orphaned Maria lives in a crumbling old palace that her ancestors built on an extensive estate full of gardens and obelisks and temples and monuments. But there is no money to repair the palace, and she lives in poverty with her governess and one old cook.
When Maria is exploring around an island in a small lake, she encounters the tiny Lilliputian people who Gulliver brought back to England after his travels. They are in danger of being discovered by Maria's evil guardians, the vicar and governess, and Maria must use all her ingenuity to save them from being kidnapped and sold as slaves.
I love how imaginative this book is. My favorite parts are the scenes that describe how the Lilliputians make their living on the Mistress Masham's Repose island. They fish, and hunt, and train mice as their horses. They have their little homes in the roofs and hollow pillars of the Repose cupola, and keep their tiny farm animals in stables built into the steps of the structure.
Maria is an interesting character with a complex personality for a child. She has moments of immaturity, but she learns from her mistakes and strives to do better. She is really a strong little person for such a young girl of only ten-years-old with the fate of an entire nation of people resting on her shoulders. She is cunning and determined and stubborn. I just love her!
All the supporting characters are vivid and larger than life. The cook, the vicar, the governess, the constable, and lord lieutenant are all hilarious and interesting characters, but my favorite of all the supporting cast is the old professor who befriends Maria. He is scatter-brained and intelligent and philosophical. If you can get his attention, he will give you wise advice, but most of the time his thoughts are lost in ancient texts and archaic etymology.
I like the writing style, and the humor of the prose. But there are some times when the author takes the joke a little too far, and just keeps telling the same punch line again and again until it gets annoying. But those times are few and far between.
Rereading it for the second or third time, I have enjoyed it just as much as the first time.
Orphaned Maria lives in a crumbling old palace that her ancestors built on an extensive estate full of gardens and obelisks and temples and monuments. But there is no money to repair the palace, and she lives in poverty with her governess and one old cook.
When Maria is exploring around an island in a small lake, she encounters the tiny Lilliputian people who Gulliver brought back to England after his travels. They are in danger of being discovered by Maria's evil guardians, the vicar and governess, and Maria must use all her ingenuity to save them from being kidnapped and sold as slaves.
I love how imaginative this book is. My favorite parts are the scenes that describe how the Lilliputians make their living on the Mistress Masham's Repose island. They fish, and hunt, and train mice as their horses. They have their little homes in the roofs and hollow pillars of the Repose cupola, and keep their tiny farm animals in stables built into the steps of the structure.
Maria is an interesting character with a complex personality for a child. She has moments of immaturity, but she learns from her mistakes and strives to do better. She is really a strong little person for such a young girl of only ten-years-old with the fate of an entire nation of people resting on her shoulders. She is cunning and determined and stubborn. I just love her!
All the supporting characters are vivid and larger than life. The cook, the vicar, the governess, the constable, and lord lieutenant are all hilarious and interesting characters, but my favorite of all the supporting cast is the old professor who befriends Maria. He is scatter-brained and intelligent and philosophical. If you can get his attention, he will give you wise advice, but most of the time his thoughts are lost in ancient texts and archaic etymology.
I like the writing style, and the humor of the prose. But there are some times when the author takes the joke a little too far, and just keeps telling the same punch line again and again until it gets annoying. But those times are few and far between.
May 16, 2020
re-re-re-read 15-05-2020
oh, this one never disappoints. It's on the all-time favorite list, now, & that's a pretty impressive feat for a children's novel. This one doesn't deserve to be merely for children, though - I reckon I'll still be re-re-re-re-re-re-reading this when I'm 97. It's dazzlingly clever, has a bespectacled-marmite-eyed, very faulty heroine, & is just ridiculous enough to make a deep piece of academia a rollicking read for th' bairns. I loveth. That is all.
- - - previous review - - -
This should be a Classic. A Children's Classic, perhaps, but it certainly wouldn't hurt the Adults. It's Brilliant, and besides, it's full of Lilliputians and High Adventure. And because I dislike receiving book recommendations, I'll just stick it here.
Read it.
I started this year with an awful case of THE READING SLUMP, mostly because I was under a lot of stress. The only two books I could find on my shelf with little darkness and a happy ending were The Reluctant Godfather and this 'un. I'm feeling much better now, and these books are partly to blame.
We read to see the world. We read to see other worlds. Boos break our hearts, and books heal our heartbreak. But sometimes- we just need books with really-truly happy endings.
oh, this one never disappoints. It's on the all-time favorite list, now, & that's a pretty impressive feat for a children's novel. This one doesn't deserve to be merely for children, though - I reckon I'll still be re-re-re-re-re-re-reading this when I'm 97. It's dazzlingly clever, has a bespectacled-marmite-eyed, very faulty heroine, & is just ridiculous enough to make a deep piece of academia a rollicking read for th' bairns. I loveth. That is all.
- - - previous review - - -
This should be a Classic. A Children's Classic, perhaps, but it certainly wouldn't hurt the Adults. It's Brilliant, and besides, it's full of Lilliputians and High Adventure. And because I dislike receiving book recommendations, I'll just stick it here.
Read it.
I started this year with an awful case of THE READING SLUMP, mostly because I was under a lot of stress. The only two books I could find on my shelf with little darkness and a happy ending were The Reluctant Godfather and this 'un. I'm feeling much better now, and these books are partly to blame.
We read to see the world. We read to see other worlds. Boos break our hearts, and books heal our heartbreak. But sometimes- we just need books with really-truly happy endings.
November 18, 2017
I just love T.H. White, that's all. In this book we get a caricature of his booklearning, bookloving side as a very absent-minded and poor professor, who at the same time expresses very sound general ideas.
The book is filled with quiet humour, awareness of nature - it's not just birds twittering, White knows what they are called, where they live, how they fly and what they eat, and while that doesn't intrude in the narrative, you can always tell a knowledgeable person even if only droplets of that knowledge trickle onto the page. This is the best way to use your knowledge when writing fiction, anyway - we want story, not infodumps, so you always have to know a lot more than you let on.
The ending is happy and over-the-top gorgeous, but then this is a children's book. I'm okay with that.
The book is filled with quiet humour, awareness of nature - it's not just birds twittering, White knows what they are called, where they live, how they fly and what they eat, and while that doesn't intrude in the narrative, you can always tell a knowledgeable person even if only droplets of that knowledge trickle onto the page. This is the best way to use your knowledge when writing fiction, anyway - we want story, not infodumps, so you always have to know a lot more than you let on.
The ending is happy and over-the-top gorgeous, but then this is a children's book. I'm okay with that.
April 7, 2025
I can see why Terry Pratchett said this is one book that influenced his writing and reminds me of The Carpet People. This book plays off of Gullivers Travels and is written for children with an heiress, as a child, has guardians trying to steel her money. The humor and character development has distinct voices with the little people speaking in caps, a professor who rambles and uses Latin words all the time, a villain that uses h…m…h…m. Well written and funny with a predictable plot
April 12, 2017
Absolutely charming.
January 6, 2021
This was one of their love poems: Mo Rog Glonog, Quinba, Hlin varr. It meant: “Give me a kiss, please, Miss. I like your nose.”
I read this more than fifty years ago. I remember liking it very much and have always enjoyed the poem in Lilliputian.
I read this more than fifty years ago. I remember liking it very much and have always enjoyed the poem in Lilliputian.
August 17, 2016
The premise of Mistress Masham’s Repose is a clever one - the travels of Lemuel Gulliver described in Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels” actually took place and that Lilliputians, captured on a later expedition, have escaped and have been hiding out on a rundown English estate where, for over a century, they have managed to avoid detection by living inside of a garden folly. Their secret comes close to being exposed when they are discovered by Maria, a young girl living on her ancestor’s estate. For me, the best parts of the book were in White’s descriptions of how the tiny Lilliputians are forced to cope in a land of gigantic threats. The writing is often somewhat dense, but White shines in describing the foibles of his characters. The character of Maria is not always likable but White uses her to show how a little power can corrupt even a person with the best of intentions. As is often the case, the villains of the story are somewhat more interesting and White has created a devious pair in the characters of Maria’s governess, Miss Brown and Mr. Hater, a greedy Vicar. There is a lot of suspense created when these two conniving schemers discover the existence of the Lilliputians and plot ways to make a fortune off of them. They even discuss murdering Maria if it should become necessary to achieve their gains. White fills the book with doses of English humor (which may go over the heads of some younger readers) and frequently goes off on rather esoteric tangents, which I felt slowed down the narrative. If it weren’t for these esoteric and wordy asides, I probably would have given this book 5 stars. All in all, it’s an enjoyable read, especially if you’re in the mood for a story rooted in a classic of English literature. If you are able, make sure and find an edition that contains the fantastic illustrations by Fritz Eichenberg. His amazing pen and ink work perfectly captures the humor and drama in White's story.
December 14, 2015
I think this is a wonderful book. I first read it many years ago and have loved it ever since, and I am delighted to see it reissued. It is a terrific adventure which is wise, humane and very funny indeed in places.
The plot revolves around Maria, a shy and lonely girl in a decaying mansion, who discovers a group of Lilliputians living on an island in the lake in the mansion's grounds. There are some terrifically bad baddies in the governess and the vicar and a fabulous pair of good allies in the cook and a magnificently scatty but amazingly erudite retired professor who lives on the estate. As with White's much better known The Once And Future King, the adventure story is beautifully told, extremely involving and contains all manner of nuggets of knowledge and wisdom - for example, Maria has to come to terms with being able to force these tiny people to do what she wants, and there are some very important ideas about the responsibilities of power within the story.
I cannot resist quoting one of my favourite passages, spoken by the professor:
"As we all know, I am a failure in the world. I do not rule people, nor deceive them for the sake of power, nor try to swindle their livelihood into my own possession. I say to them: Please go freely on your way, and I will do my best to follow mine. Well then Maria, although this is not a fashionable way of going on, nor even a successful one, it is a thing which I believe in - that people must not tyrannize, nor try to be great because they are little. My dear, you are a great person yourself, in any case, and you do not need to lord it over others, in order to prove your greatness."
I love this book. It is a terrific romp in which villainy is confounded in the end, but which also has real substance. I think intelligent readers of all ages would enjoy this hugely, and I recommend it very warmly indeed.
The plot revolves around Maria, a shy and lonely girl in a decaying mansion, who discovers a group of Lilliputians living on an island in the lake in the mansion's grounds. There are some terrifically bad baddies in the governess and the vicar and a fabulous pair of good allies in the cook and a magnificently scatty but amazingly erudite retired professor who lives on the estate. As with White's much better known The Once And Future King, the adventure story is beautifully told, extremely involving and contains all manner of nuggets of knowledge and wisdom - for example, Maria has to come to terms with being able to force these tiny people to do what she wants, and there are some very important ideas about the responsibilities of power within the story.
I cannot resist quoting one of my favourite passages, spoken by the professor:
"As we all know, I am a failure in the world. I do not rule people, nor deceive them for the sake of power, nor try to swindle their livelihood into my own possession. I say to them: Please go freely on your way, and I will do my best to follow mine. Well then Maria, although this is not a fashionable way of going on, nor even a successful one, it is a thing which I believe in - that people must not tyrannize, nor try to be great because they are little. My dear, you are a great person yourself, in any case, and you do not need to lord it over others, in order to prove your greatness."
I love this book. It is a terrific romp in which villainy is confounded in the end, but which also has real substance. I think intelligent readers of all ages would enjoy this hugely, and I recommend it very warmly indeed.
November 3, 2019
Oh my God, T.H. White. What a wonderful writer! He had me at THE SWORD IN THE STONE, of course. I have had this book for several years but have put off reading it because I wanted to treat myself. (I deliberately took longer to read it than I usually do for a novel, too -- I was doling it out to myself.) Let me tell you, it was worth the wait. Not only is this book beautifully written, it's also funny, exciting, and moving. Ten-year-old Maria is the ward of two nasty people -- fat, strict Governess, Miss Brown, and her cold guardian, the appropriately named Vicar Hater. These unsavory people are after her inheritance, which is partly comprised of a crumbling old estate named Malplaquet. On the estate's grounds Maria discovers a deserted island in a small ornamental lake, on which is an ancient temple called Mistress Masham's Repose. Maria discovers a race of tiny people living in the Repose: actual Lippiputians, brought there by Lemuel Gulliver hundreds of years previously. With the help of the sympathetic family Cook and a doddering professor of Ancient Latin, Maris has to help save the Lilliputians from the greedy Miss Brown and Vicar Hater, who want to put them on exhibit, and who imprison Maria in order to make her obey their wishes. But Maria is made of sterner stuff, and she has a Little Help...
Honestly, I almost wish I could UNREAD this book so that I could have the pleasure of reading it for the first time again. I simply loved it. White was a superb characterizer, and the dialog is great as well -- the Lilliputians Speak in Capital Letters, giving their speech an Antique Flair. (He also writes silly people extremely well. Why are the British so good at writing silly people?) Be that as it may, you'd do well to seek out this charming, well-plotted book. It gets my highest recommendation.
Honestly, I almost wish I could UNREAD this book so that I could have the pleasure of reading it for the first time again. I simply loved it. White was a superb characterizer, and the dialog is great as well -- the Lilliputians Speak in Capital Letters, giving their speech an Antique Flair. (He also writes silly people extremely well. Why are the British so good at writing silly people?) Be that as it may, you'd do well to seek out this charming, well-plotted book. It gets my highest recommendation.
December 22, 2015
This is a child's book meant to be read by adults, or an adult book meant to be read by children. It is a book about asymmetries, about power wielded by the powerful over the less powerful but not completely powerless. The author is telling a story to Amaryllis, presumably a young girl. The book, written in the horrible year 1944 while playing the hermit in western Ireland, is a book that vibrates the times, in part and English history, in part. Maria,a young orphan who is penniless but the inheritor of a HUGE estate, is ruled by the trustees, Miss Brown, the governess, and Mr Hater, the vicar who jointly rule her life and embezzle her money. Out on a lark one day exploring her vast estate, Maria discovers that an island in a stream is inhabited by Lilliputians, descendants of the people discovered by Lemuel Gulliver and described in his travels. She initially relates to them awkwardly but relations soon settle down with advice from a hair-brained professor with whom I share several undesirable traits. With the help of this professor and the house cook, Mrs. Noakes, Maria struggles to help the little people, then protect their secret existence, then fight for her freedom as her parasitic trustees plot to capture the little people and sell them for carnival exhibits. The author, T. H. White, famous for his "The Once and Future King," an Arthurian cycle, is amusing in his portrayal of the whole story, plus an arch critique of some things English. A fun read with a serious message about abuse of power and its remedy. Highly recommended as light reading.
January 13, 2022
Avoid anything involving political satire. That's my usual motto. However, since this is considered a children's classic, I picked it up. And didn't enjoy it. Too much satire. (How does that differ from mockery?) Melodramatic - complete with two villains. Pretentious.
If I had enjoyed Gulliver's Travels, I probably would have appreciated this more. Or, if I knew more about the history of Great Britain. Unfortunately, most of the allusions went over my head.
I wouldn't pick this up as a read-aloud because there are too many long (and deadly) passages that target adult readers. Here's a one-sentence example of this deadly style:
p 57: Our Philosophers have hoped, Y'r Honor, perhaps deceived by the delusive Dreams of Hearts which could not wish to be entirely cut off from the remember'd Home of their admired Progenitors, that some small Remnant of our Consanguinity survived, and that perchance, on the old Latitude, there still exists a Lilliput Redivivus, rebuilt, by this, in Splendour suited to the Genius of our Kind.
If I had enjoyed Gulliver's Travels, I probably would have appreciated this more. Or, if I knew more about the history of Great Britain. Unfortunately, most of the allusions went over my head.
I wouldn't pick this up as a read-aloud because there are too many long (and deadly) passages that target adult readers. Here's a one-sentence example of this deadly style:
p 57: Our Philosophers have hoped, Y'r Honor, perhaps deceived by the delusive Dreams of Hearts which could not wish to be entirely cut off from the remember'd Home of their admired Progenitors, that some small Remnant of our Consanguinity survived, and that perchance, on the old Latitude, there still exists a Lilliput Redivivus, rebuilt, by this, in Splendour suited to the Genius of our Kind.
February 22, 2012
White tells us in the first paragraph that his heroine, Maria, was “one of those tough and friendly people who do things first and think about them afterward. When she met cows, however, she did not like to be alone with them.” I can understand the feeling. Perhaps that’s why I kept expecting this phantom cow (mentioned twice more, I think) to arrive on the scene at a crisis in the plot. Rather than a Holstein or Jersey, however, this one was a MacGuffin.
In White’s hands this sort of trickery – like the obscure, playful allusions he’s so fond of dropping and which will send you on return trips to the encyclopedia – is less a distraction than an added pleasure. I loved this book. Like The Sword in the Stone, Mistress Masham’s Repose is a kids’ book that’s not really for kids. Like The Goshawk, White’s wonderful little memoir of attempted falconry, it’s an adult book that manages in surprising ways to conjure up childhood.
In White’s hands this sort of trickery – like the obscure, playful allusions he’s so fond of dropping and which will send you on return trips to the encyclopedia – is less a distraction than an added pleasure. I loved this book. Like The Sword in the Stone, Mistress Masham’s Repose is a kids’ book that’s not really for kids. Like The Goshawk, White’s wonderful little memoir of attempted falconry, it’s an adult book that manages in surprising ways to conjure up childhood.
September 26, 2017
I am so very fond of White's series on King Arthur that when I came across this, another of his books, in the local library I had to read it. It was not nearly so good - I had to force myself to keep going at some points, and luckily the thing is only about 150 pages long.
Look, in all fairness I have to admit that the blame for this lukewarm reaction is entirely on me. Mistress Masham's Repose is well-written and clever and charming in places, but it is also a deliberate response to the most painfully boring novel ever written: Gulliver's Travels. I hate that book. I really, really hate it, and it is absolutely not Mr. White's fault that the resentment regarding the hours I spent reading that dreadful "classic" has attached itself to this.
Alas, the well has been thoroughly poisoned.
Look, in all fairness I have to admit that the blame for this lukewarm reaction is entirely on me. Mistress Masham's Repose is well-written and clever and charming in places, but it is also a deliberate response to the most painfully boring novel ever written: Gulliver's Travels. I hate that book. I really, really hate it, and it is absolutely not Mr. White's fault that the resentment regarding the hours I spent reading that dreadful "classic" has attached itself to this.
Alas, the well has been thoroughly poisoned.
October 23, 2024
Related to Gulliver’s Travels
Maria is a young orphan girl who lives in a huge crumbling estate with a (nasty) governess, a bad guardian Vicar, a nice old cook, an a very poor old professor who lives in a cottage on the grounds. On an island in a lake, surrounded by an almost impassable tangle of briars, Maria discovers a large community of Lilliputians in exile. There are numerous references to Gulliver’s Travels which took place long before this story.
Some of the vocabulary is somewhat old and the story is a little predictable at times, but as with Gulliver’s Travels, the fantasy Lilliputians and various characters are used to explore human and societal shortcomings.
Maria is a young orphan girl who lives in a huge crumbling estate with a (nasty) governess, a bad guardian Vicar, a nice old cook, an a very poor old professor who lives in a cottage on the grounds. On an island in a lake, surrounded by an almost impassable tangle of briars, Maria discovers a large community of Lilliputians in exile. There are numerous references to Gulliver’s Travels which took place long before this story.
Some of the vocabulary is somewhat old and the story is a little predictable at times, but as with Gulliver’s Travels, the fantasy Lilliputians and various characters are used to explore human and societal shortcomings.
Read
May 12, 2009I'm pretty sure I first read this from my mother's collection, but I now have my own paperback copy.
Though the Lilliputian element obviously draws attention, and the discussions of their 'OEconomy' are interesting, I was most charmed by the descriptions of Malplaquet--one of those 'stately homes of England' that PG Wodehouse wrote about so often. Indeed, there's a certain Wodehousian flavor to a lot of it--not surprising, as Wodehouse and White were contemporaries--or at least had overlapping careers.
Though the Lilliputian element obviously draws attention, and the discussions of their 'OEconomy' are interesting, I was most charmed by the descriptions of Malplaquet--one of those 'stately homes of England' that PG Wodehouse wrote about so often. Indeed, there's a certain Wodehousian flavor to a lot of it--not surprising, as Wodehouse and White were contemporaries--or at least had overlapping careers.
May 9, 2009
I picked this up after reading "The Once & Future King" and found I liked it even more than I expected. Having been a long-time fan of "The Borrowers", this story was extremely entertaining and a really fun read.
September 24, 2022
One of my favorite books of all time. A girl living in a vast and decaying English country estate discovers a colony of Lilliputians on an island in an ornamental lake. It's charming, exciting, and has White's usual effortless erudition. Recommended for all.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 224 reviews