What Maisie Knew (published in 1897) - Written by Henry James

Henry James was one of the greatest literary figures of the 19th century and his works are considered mini masterpieces of the time. He was born in New York City into a wealthy and intellectual family. Young James was tutored in the many learning centers of Europe and also studied at the Harvard Law School for some time. But he liked his literary pursuits to the study of law. James preferred living in Europe than in America and even renounced his American Citizenship for its refusal to enter in to World War I. He was a regular contributor to literary magazines and started his first novel “Watch and Ward” in his early twenties. His masterpieces like “Daisy Miller” and “Portrait of a Lady” quickly followed. His protagonist are complex individuals battling personal and provincial prejudices and many a time bring about the complexities of American and European lives. Henry James died at the age of 65 and his ashes are interred at Cambridge, Massachusetts.
What Maisie Knew is an account of a child growing in a dysfunctional family. This novel was initially serialized in the the monthly called Chap book and later taken up by the New York Review. Henry James follows the travails of Maisie from childhood to adulthood totally abandoned by her biological parents.



Maisie is the daughter of Ida and Beale who are an estranged perpetually squabbling couple. After their divorce the judge decrees the custody of Maisie to be split and the poor child shuttles between the parents, six months a year. Both Ida and Beale use her for furthering their hurt and are hardly sensitive to her needs.
Both her parents marry, Ida to Claude, a bumbling simple man, and Beale, to Maisie's pretty governess. Maisie gets a new governess, the funny, klutzy but devoted Mrs. Wix. Ida and Beale settle down with their spouses and their extramarital affairs, Maisie is all the more neglected. Many a time her own parents abandon her in the most heartbreaking manner and the lonely Maisie becomes the responsibility of the bumbling Mr. Claude. As her parents alienate their new spouses, both Claude and Mrs. Beale start having an affair. Soon Maisie must make a choice to remain with her parents or with Claude. AS she is holidaying in France, Maisie realizes that Claude's marriage would also end up in a divorce as they do not have a firm standing on values. Maisie chooses her frumpy but devoted governess Mrs. Wix as her new guardian.
Henry James was never a father but he portrays the fear and tribulations of a dark childhood very earnestly. Through this book James lashes out against the growing erosion of values in family life and gives the ultimate sufferers in a broken marriage, the children, a voice. When this was published initially the critics were of mixed views. But this book is also relevant in our contemporary society where divorce and single parent homes are more common. This book gives the dos and dont's for child rearers and the need for bringing up a child in a balanced environment.