Transcript
A (0:02)
Hello and welcome to the Storytime for Grown Ups Christmas Spectacular. I'm Faith Moore and for the months of November and December, we'll be reading A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Each episode I'll read one chapter from the book, pausing from time to time to give brief explanations so it's easier to follow along. It's like an audiobook with built in notes. So gather your family together, brew a pot of tea or a mug of hot chocolate, find a cozy chair and settle in. It's story time.
A (0:48)
Hi, everyone. Welcome back. Thank you so much for being here. I'm so glad to be be here with you. This podcast brings me so much joy. I keep thinking about that. I guess it's the Christmas season and we're all thinking about joy. Or maybe we're not, but I am. And this podcast brings me joy and you bring me joy. And that's why the podcast brings me joy, because you're out there. And I just wanted to say thank you for being here. I wanted to say thank you to those of you who came to tea time on Tuesday. That was a really fun conversation. I thought the hour just flew by. It always does. And I was so thrilled to hear some new voices in our tea time chat and of course to catch up with my old friends. And so, so thank you for being there, if you were there and I really appreciate that. Okay, well, I have a lot to tell you about. I'm going to try to keep it quick here at the beginning, but I do have a couple of announcements, one of which I'm really, really excited about. But first, just a quick reminder about our prize Right now, the prize that we have, we have these prize drawings going on, right? And the prize right now is a membership at the landed gentry level in our online community, the Drawing Room, which relates to what I was just talking about because Landed Gentry is the membership level that allows you to join in on tea times. The next tea time will be in January. We'll have finished this book, we'll get to talk a little bit about that. You'll know what the next book is. We will have already started it, so we get to talk about that. So if you win this drawing, you will get a Landed Gentry Magic membership to the drawing room for free for life. And the way to do that is to buy a copy of my book, Christmas Carol. There is a link in the show notes for the page to buy it and then there is a link in the show notes, a different link to instructions for how to request to be entered into the drawing. You can also request a signed book plate. That's not a prize, you just get it. Buy a book. Get a book plate. And I will mail that to you. It's a sticker. You can put it in your book. It becomes a signed copy because I write a little note to you or to whoever it is that you want to give the book to and I sign it. And then you stick that in the front of your book and it becomes a signed copy. So you can have that. The instructions for how to do that are also in the show notes. So click on the link and it will take you to the directions. Follow those directions and you will be able to be entered into the drawing and you will be able to get a book plate if you want. 1 December 11th, I will announce the winner of that prize and then there will be one more prize, the grand prize. And that will take us through to the end of this book. So keep tuning in. Buy my book. It makes a great Christmas gift because it's all about Christmas. The book is called Christmas Carol. That's Carol with a K. It's a modern retelling of a Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I hope that you'll check it out, give it away as a gift. It's great. Also, if you're Christmas shopping, the merch store is open. You can get some Storytime for Grown Ups merch. Ask the people in your life who might be giving you gifts to buy you storytime merch. Right? It makes really good present and you know, you can just tell them what you'd like. There's lots there. Just check it out. There's a link in the show notes to that as well. And happy Christmas shopping. I also just wanted to mention that recently I was on a podcast called Wisdom in the Best Books and Films. We had a really fun conversation all about Christmas of the classics, why we should read the classics, what we can learn from them, how to get into them if you are not used to reading them. And it was really fun. And so I just linked to that conversation in the show notes of this episode in case you're interested in checking it out and listening. I had a really great time and I recommend it. So I hope that you'll check out that conversation as well. So that's in the show notes. And then I would like to announce the next and final Victorian Christmas activity. Right. So we've had Christmas cards, we've had hanging out with me and my family and this is going to be the last one because we're actually believe it or not, getting down to the end of the book. So this one, I'm really excited about this one and hear me out. Okay, I'm going to say this and you might be like, what are you talking about? How is that possible? Or like, no, I don't want to do that. But just listen, okay, and have an open mind. We are going to sing together because one of the Victorian Christmas traditions that was very popular at the time was gathering around the piano in the drawing room, right, the drawing room of the lovely Victorian house, and singing songs together, singing Christmas carols around the piano. So I would like us to gather together and sing a Christmas song together. Now, of course, you're like, what are you talking about? How, how can we possibly do that? Well, on the Storytime for grownups website, which is linked very clearly in the show notes, you will find directions for how to do this. Those of you who have been following me since before storytime for grown ups might remember a little thing I used to do called Twitter sings Disney. It still exists, by the way, on my YouTube channel. You can find it. We used to sing Disney songs together even though we didn't know each other. And it worked, I promise. So the way it works is you go to the website, you read the directions. It involves listening to a karaoke track. Okay, hear me out on your headphones or earbuds, recording yourself singing along to it on a different device and emailing me that MP3. It's very, very short. We're going to be singing we wish you a merry Christmas, which I know is not a Victorian Christmas carol, but it is the song that has been playing all in the intro and outro for this show. So it was there all along. And now you know why. We're going to sing just the very first verse of we wish you a merry Christmas all together. So I'm going to take all of the various recordings that get sent to me and I'm going to put them all together into one recording and it will sound like we are all singing together. So don't worry if you feel like you don't have a great singing voice or you've been told you can't carry a tune. That is not the point. We are not trying to create a beautiful, concert worthy rendition of we wish you a merry Christmas. We are just trying to sing together because that is something that people do when in community is they make music together. So I would like us to gather around our virtual piano and sing together for the end of this Victorian Christmas spectacular. So the Deadline for getting your recordings to me is December 18th, and the final product will happen. You'll hear it on our final episode, which is on December 22nd. That'll be our conclusion episode after we've finished the book. I think this is going to be really, really fun. I think it's really lovely to do this together and come together in this way. I know it's a little out there, but trust me, and just trust that no one's going to hear your specific voice if that's worrying you. It will just be. It'll sound like just a bunch of people singing a song, and it doesn't matter if it sounds beautiful or not. It's supposed to sound like a group of friends hanging out together and singing, because that is what it is. So click on the link in the show notes, read the directions. Feel free to get in touch with me if something's not clear. But I think it's clear in the directions, what you're supposed to do. And I can't wait to get your recordings and put them all together. And I can't wait to share it with you on the 22nd. So that is our final Victorian Christmas group activity. It's singing together around the piano. So I hope you'll join us in that. Okay. Last time we read chapter 10 of A Little Princess. Today we're reading two chapters. We're reading chapters 11 and 12. So let's get into the episode. Don't forget to subscribe if you haven't already. Don't forget to tap the five stars if you're enjoying the show. Give it a positive review. Tell a friend, tell lots of friends, and let's get into this episode. I've got some great questions to talk about with you, but first let's just remind ourselves of what happened in chapter 10. Here is the recap. All right, so where we left off, Sara is very lonely and all her clothes are getting too small and very shabby and she really looks very poor. Now, Ermengarde and Lotti can only come and see her sometimes, and she's often all alone on her many errands through the horrible weather. She has started looking in at the various windows and there's this one family that she particularly likes. She calls them the large family because there are eight children in the family and they all seem very friendly and very loving and kind. One day, one of the younger boys in the family sees Sara and offers her some money because he thinks she's a beggar. She's very embarrassed by this, but she takes the money as a kindness to him, but she doesn't spend it. The family then becomes just as interested in her as she is in them, but they don't ever speak to each other. One day Sara notices that someone is finally moving into the house next door, and she hopes that it's a nice family and that someone will come and stick their head out of the attic window so that she can make friends with them. But it turns out it's not a family. It's just one man and he's very ill. He seems to have come from India, although he's apparently British, and the father of the large family seems to know him. And then we're told that this is the beginning of the story of the Indian gentleman, so we assume that we're going to learn more about him in time. Okay, so I am going to read 3 comments today. The first one comes from Mariam, who is 17 years old. She writes, when Sara broke down in chapter 10, crying after such a hard, lonely day and got angry at her doll, my heart just broke. I think we all understand that feeling of not being able to cope with the loneliness anymore and feeling like pretending is just too much energy, like all the imagination has been sucked out of you because you have nothing to fuel it. I think Sara not being a perfect angel really humanizes her and makes her a better character than if she never faltered. On another level, I think it shows how lovely and powerful Sara's gift is the rest of the time. To be so kind hearted and good natured and to have so much imagination and joy in the midst of such a hard and lonely life, I mean, it must take a tremendous amount of energy. This next one comes from Corinthia writes, I absolutely love how Sara makes up funny names for the large family. The names were hilarious. This chapter had both humor and such sadness. It's easy to picture Sara yearning for a loving family while feeling the heartbreaking loss of her mother at birth and then her father. The blend of comedic moments and sorrow makes Sara's story especially moving and relatable. And this last one comes from Ellen Hook. I hope I'm saying that right. She says, I'm reading along with the HarperCollins edition of a Little Princess. And interestingly, at the end of chapter 10, any sentences discussing the neighbor being black or yellow were omitted. I can understand why, but I just find it interesting. Okay, so things are starting to get, like, pretty real for Sara now. Lots and lots of you have been writing in to say how you're feeling, like really Sorry for Sara and wishing you could kind of reach into the book and help her or something. I know I certainly feel that way when I read it. So that is what I want to discuss today. But I do want to just take a. A very quick moment, like a quick second to address Ellen's comment, because I think it's worth saying something about mostly so that we can then move on. Like, not move on from Ellen's comment, which I found very thoughtful and was very glad to get, but from the issue that Ellen's comment raises, which is essentially that this is a book written in a different time where people held certain attitudes about race, about women, about class, about all sorts of things that we don't hold anymore. Right. So the comments that we got from Becky and from Lottie in the last chapter about the man moving in next door, they reflect those outdated ideas about race. I mean, Lottie says that she read in her geography book, right, that people from China are yellow. So this is clearly a world that has very kind of wrong opinions about people from other races. And it deals in what we would now call stereotypes about people from countries that most people in England would never visit or never come into contact with. So my policy when reading a book that holds these kind of outdated ideas is to ask myself whether or not the book itself. So the author, or the narrative that the author is presenting us with. I ask myself whether the book itself is malicious. Like, is it a racist book? Is it a sexist book or whatever it is, or is it a book that operates within a world where people believed racist things, but the book itself isn't, like, promoting racism. And if that's it, if that. The latter thing, if the book isn't actually promoting racism or whatever it is, then I'm okay with reading that book and just pointing out that obviously Lottie's geography book is wrong or whatever. My sense here is that Frances Hodgson Burnett held some beliefs that we would today think of as racist, and that informs the characters that she writes who come from other places. But I don't actually think she's malicious. And I also think it's worth noting that Becky's kind of uneducated idea about Indian people and Lottie's little girl sort of confusion about Chinese people are both actually shot down by Sara, who is our main character. Okay. But you will encounter a few other things in the book that will probably land a little wrong on your modern ear, as they should. But I am not going to, like, censor the book the way that Ellen's book was censored because I don't think that it's evil or malicious. I think it's just a product of its time. Okay, so that's my take on it, and that's probably the last thing I'm going to say about this. I mean, maybe I'll say something else, but I think we can get really tied up in knots about this kind of thing. And it takes away from our experience of the story, which is a beautiful story. And if we encounter characters who seem like stereotypes or whatever, then we can file that away and remember that this book was written over a hundred years ago. But we can also try to view the characters as people and see their humanity, which is also really there care, because Burnett is a good writer. And, you know, if you're a parent and you're listening with a child and you want to discuss this further, then please, please do. But I think that's kind of where I stand on it. And I did want to just say that because these things might pop up, and I wanted you to know what I think. Okay, so that is that. Now let's talk about Sara and this crisis that she's clearly in right now. Okay. So as Mariam points out in her letter, Sara is kind of like, on her way to what we would call rock bottom, right? She may not be there quite yet, but getting there, and that's the trajectory that she's been on for a while now. Things have essentially been getting worse and worse for her. And as Mariam says, Sara is now kind of faltering in her ability to hang on to these pretends and hang on to the inner courage and everything, because her life is just getting so bad, which is incredibly relatable, but also kind of scary, right? When our fairy tale princess, who we have felt has a kind of, like, magic ability to hang on and to make things better for others and all of this, it's kind of scary when that ability is faltering. And maybe all the magic and the pretends are being sort of swept away, and what we're left with is a cold, hungry, friendless little girl alone in an attic. But Corinthia's point is really important, too, because while Sara is essentially alone, right, she has no family, no one who can really take care of her and love her the way that a little girl deserves to be taken care of and loved. While she's alone, she is also surrounded by love. It's just not love for her. Right. This family that we learned about in the last chapter, the family that Sara calls the large family, or sometimes she calls them the Montmorency. Right? This family is an almost Dickensian picture of familial love, Right? It's like that scene in A Christmas Carol. If you read that with us or if you've read it on your own. That scene where Scrooge looks in at the house of Belle, the woman that he left behind. And he finds that she's married to another man and surrounded by a sort of raucous brood of children. And it's that feeling of being outside looking in, right? Which is a feeling that I've had. I don't know about you, but I can relate to that. Being on the outside looking in and longing. And longing for what you see on the other side of that window. And the encounter that Sara has with the large family when the little boy gives her his sixpence, right? This encounter is simultaneously illustrating the love that could be on offer from this family and how much of an outsider Sara has become. And the thing that the boy thinks she needs, right, his money is not the thing that she actually needs. And that thing is, of course, love. Here is what we're told. Here's a quote. He thought her eyes looked hungry because she had perhaps had nothing to eat for a long time. He did not know that they looked so because she was hungry for the warm, merry life his home held. And his rosy face was spoke of. And that she had a hungry wish to snatch him in her arms and kiss him. Ugh. Okay. It's like, enough to make you cry, isn't it? I mean, right? There is this family who has so much love to give, and this little boy is trying to extend some of it to Sara, but it's not what she needs. And here again, we see the fairy tale princess version of Sara. Because Sara sees the boy's need, right? Which she really doesn't need to do. She really doesn't need to help this little boy. He has everything he needs. He's fine. But she. She takes care of him in this moment by taking his money, even though it costs her her pride. Here's what it says. There was something so honest and kind in his face, and he looked so likely to be heartbrokenly disappointed if she did not take it, that Saura knew she must not refuse him. To be as proud as that would be a cruel thing. So she actually put her pride in her pocket, though it must be admitted her cheeks burned. Okay? So she's still looking out for the people around her, the people she cares about and loves. And Even these people she only cares about from afar, and she's doing kind deeds for them, even at her own expense. And we see it again when Sara is talking about dealing with Ms. Minchin and all the servants who yell at her and send her on awful errands in the cold and wet and all of this. And she says, here's another quote. When you will not fly into a passion, people know you are stronger than they are because you are strong enough to hold in your rage, and they are not. And they say stupid things they wish they hadn't said afterwards. There's nothing so strong as rage except what makes you hold it in that's stronger. Okay? So this inner courage, this inner drive to stay true to herself, that's her fairy tale princessness. And her desire to help the people around her and make them feel good and loved, even at the expense of her own feelings or her own pride, that's the fairy tale princess ness of her, too. But underneath all of that is reality. And in reality, she is a hungry, unloved little girl. And we see that come out with Emily, right? Because Sarah is trying to essentially cast Emily in the role of fairy godmother. Because remember, how does Cinderella get out of her situation in the fairy tale? She is rescued by magic, right? She's rescued by a fairy who comes and proclaims herself to be the godmother and says that she's here to help her. But this is real life. There is no magic here. This is a garret in a London row house, right? But Sara is trying to use her powers of pretend to conjure herself a fairy godmother in the person of Emily. Here is what it One of her pretends was that Emily was a kind of good witch who could protect her. Sometimes after she had stared at her until she was wrought up to the highest pitch of fancifulness, she would ask her questions and find herself almost feeling as if she would presently answer. But she never did. Okay? A kind of good witch, right? A fairy godmother. But she isn't really. She feels that she might answer, but she never does. And it leads to a kind of realization on Sara's part, a hard and horrible realization that Emily is just a doll and none of the pretends are real. Okay, here's what she you are nothing but a doll. Nothing but a doll. Doll, doll. You care for nothing. You are stuffed with sawdust. You never had a heart. Nothing could ever make you feel. You are a doll, okay? So essentially, all this pretending that she's been doing is Simply that pretend. And the reality is cold and hard. And Sara has to face it because that's all there is. And what the reality is, is this. Here is a quote. I know I shall die. I'm cold, I'm wet, I'm starving to death. I've walked a thousand miles today. And they have done nothing but scold me from morning until night. And because I could not find that last thing the cook sent me for, they would not give me any supper. Some men laughed at me because my old shoes made me slip down in the mud. I am covered with mud now. And they laughed. Okay, so Sara is on her way to rock bottom, right? She tried to pretend her life into something bearable. She has tried to hold on to her inner strength and her sense of herself as a princess, even in rags and. But it's starting to crumble for her because there is no end in sight. And the loving family next door is right there, close enough to touch, but they can't help her. And what if that is all that there is? What if there is no life for Sara beyond this? It's an awful thought for us, the reader, and it's exactly the thought that Sara is having to start to grapple with. But now this sick man, whoever he is, this Indian gentleman, has moved in next door. And we're told that this is the beginning of the story of the Indian gentleman, which implies that there is more to the story of the Indian gentleman and perhaps that his story will somehow have to do with Saras. Okay, so don't despair. There is more to read, which means there's hope. So let's get back to it. And of course, as always, don't forget to Write in it's faithkmoore.com and you click on contact or there's a link in the show notes. And while you're in the show notes, on click click the link and join in on our Victorian Christmas singalong. Do it. It's going to be fun, I promise. So join in on that and check out all the other links, the links to the drawings, the prize drawings. You can get a book plate, buy the book, do some Christmas shopping at the merch store. So check out all those links. I hope that you find something of interest to you. All right, let's get started with chapters 11 and 12 of A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It's story time.
