fuck knows what maisie knew

James's concept was really cool, but I had a very hard time getting past his complicated prose. Worth the push through, but don't know that I'd read it again.

2.5/5
DNF at 60%. Really interesting plot, but not a fan of the writing style.

I'm not a huge fan of Henry James. I DNF'd "Portrait of a Lady" and skipped right to the movie version of "Washington Square" (1949's "The Heiress", starring the indomitable Olivia de Haviland). However, "What Maisie Knew" struck a chord with me--so much so, that this is my second time reading it.

I have over five years experience as a circuit court clerk, and much of that time was spent in family court hearings. I saw parents using their children as weapons to hurt each other, and after years of vitriolic proceedings, treat their children like props in a second-rate stage production. I saw parents loudly proclaim their great fondness for their children, then sit and watch their attorneys bully those same children in chambers to try to extract a confirmation.

In "What Maisie Knew", James accurately portrays the acute misery of being a child of such parents--split apart, selfish, dismissive, even adulterous. Not only is his depiction spot on, but the lenses through which we see his picture is exactly right: the confused, muddied eyes of a little girl. Maisie knows more than the adults think she does. Maisie knows at once, more than she should, but less than she needs. Maisie knows enough to "mirror" to protect herself and her loved ones. Maisie has been made a confidant, a confession-booth, a chaperone, a junior-sized human shield against conscience. As we read, we see through Maisie's eyes and experience her confusion and hunger for affection and stability as she does.

This was a short novel, but I took my time with it. Reading it has renewed my determination to be a steadfast wife and mother--no baby should go through this, and be made to bear burdens beyond their years.

Such a powerful story about a young girl used as a pawn between her angry divorced parents, and then as a result between her step parents. When Maisie's parents argue over who will have custody, the courts grant her parents 50/50 split, each with a long duration (ie 6 months at a time). It devastating to read about parents, and some of the other supporting characters, talking to a 6 year old girl as if she was a grown up, pulling her into conversations and decisions that she should not have responsibility for.

Considering it was written so long ago, to get a more modern version, check out the movie. It skims off the worst of it, but the battle still ensues and a poor girl is stuck trying to please all the adults and knowing way too much.

Wow I really hated this book and was relieved to see so many other people did too! If you want to read a book in which adults talk in incomplete sentences and vagueries over a child's head then dig in! I felt lost in every page, yet somehow compelled to finish and when I finally did finish, the reward was so little. I would have felt more sorry for Masie if this book wasn't so vague and written so poorly, I guess I am not a fan of James.