What Maisie Knew - Penguin Classics Author:Henry James, Paul Theroux 'It was to be the fate of this patient little girl to see much more than she at first understood, but also even at first to understand much more than any little girl, however patient, had perhaps ever understood before.' Shuttled between divorced parents who value her only as a means for provoking the other, Maisie grows up in a world of distast... more »eful adult intrigue and betrayal. Yet her spirit remains unspoilt; and Henry James's great achievement in this beautifully balanced and pivotal novel is to project through his young herione, a light which she herself is too innocent to understand, but which lends subtle irony to the actions and motives of her corrupt adult companions. What Maisie Knew (1897) represents one of James's finest reflections on the rites of passage from wonder to knowledge, and the question of their finality. Neglected and exploited by everyone around her, Maisie inspired James to dwell with extraordinary acuteness on the things that may pass between adult and child. In addition to a new Introduction, this edition of the novel offers particularly detailed notes, bibliography, and a list of additional readings.« less