Ah, Ms. McKay! How many ways do I love thee and thy books?
I love the Cassons: Cadmium, Saffron, Indigo, and Permanent Rose and their strange but lovable parents Bill and Eve. And now you’ve given me a new/old set of characters to love: the young ladies left behind at Miss Minchin’s Select Seminary for Young Ladies. Left behind? Yes, back when Frances Hodgson Burnett first wrote Sara Crew, or The Little Princess, at the end of the book Sara took her friend Becky, the scullery maid with her when she went on to fame and fortune, but she left several other young ladies, her friends, under Miss Minchin’s dubious care. Hilary Mckay in Wishing for Tomorrow gives readers the story of plain, plodding Ermengarde, mischief-making Lottie, scholarly Lavinia, sister Amelia, and poor Miss Minchin herself.
Poor Miss Minchin? Yes, Hilary McKay is such a capable author that she manages to make us even feel some sympathy for Miss Minchin, the erstwhile villain of the piece. You see, Miss Minchin was a misunderstood Victorian girl who really wanted to learn and go to university as her brothers did, but her ambitions were thwarted by Victorian standards for female behavior and education. So she became the Miss Maria Minchin who made Sara Crewe into a maid and practically starved her when Miss Minchin realized that Sara had no money.
Well, I almost felt sorry for Miss Minchin. After all, Maria Minchin loves Shakespeare! How could she be all bad? And Miss Amelai Minchin just wants to marry the curate. And Ermengarde St. John just wants Sara to come back and be her best friend. And Lavinia just wants to learn, well, everything. And lovely Jessie just wants to do girl stuff like shopping for dresses and curling her hair and making eyes at the boy next door. And Lottie just wants to have fun and have someone else do her sums for her.
Oh, my, I learn from her website that Ms. McKay has other series of books that I’ve never even seen! Has anyone read any books by Hilary McKay besides the Casson family series? Are her other books as good as these? Ooooh, there’s also a new (and final) Casson family book due out next year called Caddy’s World. Thank you, thank you, Hilary McKay. (What’s this? It may not be published in the U.S.? Not good.)
Wishing for Tomorrow lives up to the McKay/Burnett brand name. If you’re a fan of Sara Crewe reading this sequel is a must. If you’ve never read A Little Princess, you should do so immediately so that you can enjoy Wishing for Tomorrow to the fullest.
I haven’t heard of this author before but your enthusiasm + this fun-sounding story makes me think I would really enjoy her! Thanks for the mention!
Yay for Hilary McKay! (Boo for publishers who won’t publish Casson family books here.) Glad you liked this one. I’ve read The Exiles trilogy, which I liked, but not as much as the Casson family. I haven’t read any of the other ones, though.
McKay sounds so familiar. I must look up a bibliography and see what I’ve read by her!
Guilty as far as not having read A Little Princess!! We had a copy around here that I had picked up for my daughter, but I don’t think she ever read it, and I think we got rid of it.
That said, I still enjoyed Wishing for Tomorrow. I didn’t need any more backstory than I got, but yes, I absolutely think I would have enjoyed it more had I read/loved A Little Princess.
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