Little Lord Fauntleroy

About the book

Cedric Errol grows up in New York with a loving mother and friendships that do not depend on social rank. News that he is heir to an English earldom takes him into the life of a grandfather whose wealth and authority have not made him affectionate or trusting. Cedric interprets the old man's behaviour through expectations formed by kindness, creating an unusual pressure on someone accustomed to being feared. Burnett connects the family relationship with the conditions of people living under aristocratic power, while a challenge to the inheritance adds another kind of uncertainty. The novel's sentimental force comes from the possibility that being treated as capable of generosity might encourage a person to act differently, without requiring the child to understand every resentment surrounding him.

• Kindness
• Class and inheritance
• Moral influence

Why read it

For a family story that makes a child's confident expectation of goodness a challenge to adult habits of suspicion and pride.

English text