I had been looking forward to reading this book for years now, and it did not disappoint. By some miracle, James was able to craft a precocious, perfectly innocent & incorruptible narrator that was not mind shatteringly irritating, like so many are. Everything we see is through Maisie's little eyes, and it is up to us adult readers to interpret what she sees, and to work out what Maisie knows and what is going on over her head. You can't help but feel sympathy for her plight, shuttles between a growing number of adults who see her only as a means to an end, and a couple who genuinely love her but are still unable to provide the stability & constancy that she craves. This was such an enjoyable read, James writes in such an engaging and entertaining way. This feels like a book I will want to read over & over again, picking it apart and trying to figure out how much Maisie really does know.