This is one of Henry James's best and shortest novels. Poor Maisie struggles to keep a positive outlook after her parents divorce when she is six. Her father tells her that her mother "loathes" her, and her mother tells her that her father wishes her "dead." The other adults closest to her confuse her when her two governesses become infatuated with Sir Claude, the man her mother marries but soon discards. Both parents ultimately desert Maisie and leave England, giving her more insight into the adult mind than a child her age should have.