»›Poor little monkey!‹ she at last exclaimed; and the words were an epitaph for the tomb of Maisies childhood.«
One can say that Mr. James in all of his books remains true to his own style of writing as well as to his recurring motives. One either loves or hates it. In merciless literary harshness, Henry James describes in What Maisie knew how a divorce battle is fought over the head of little Maisie. His novel is filled with intrigues and affairs, leaving much unspoken for the reader to think about. It is a truly wonderful intellectual piece of work that makes you reflect and question the reality of a child faced with vanity, greed, weaknesses and longings from the adult world, a world that an adult’s responsibility would be rather to protect a child from. It combines critical thoughts with skilfull side blows directed at the monogamous lifestyle and the ideals of the time responsible for creating a corrupted family environment to a blameless child.
Being uplifting yet unsettling at the same time, reading the book feels hard, comparable to a fight. As the novel is rather slow paced without a lot of tension, it makes it even harder, almost painful to read. It feels wrong to read how Maisie gets abused by her own parents for their selfish purposes. During her young years she is pushed back and forth between parents, stepparents, lovers and governesses. The reader witnesses a story full of hatred, disarray and ultimately the demise of a happy childhood. Furthermore, James leaves the reader to himself with the question what and to which extend Maisie actually understands is happening to her and in her surroundings. He does gives us insights into her intellectual world, and we feel how astonishingly she reflects on the behaviour of others. But we also clearly notice when differences arise between her inner perception and outer occurrences. The story of Maisie is characterised by this inner and outer turmoil. Although ending in her own liberation from the family ties, it unfortunately does not univocally necessitate a better future for her. In the end the reader »still had room for wonder at what Maisie knew«.
In conclusion, What Maisie Knew, like all of Henry James’s novels, is not an easy read. It requires patience and resilience, but for those who endure, every page proves its worth.