A Secret Princess

Prologue

British Raj, 1858

Mary Lennox met a genie once.

It came to her when she was eight years old, in the depths of those five dismal days between when her mother, Mrs. Lennox, was alive and when Mary knew for certain that she was dead.

Mary knew her mother in that distant, reverent, and mysterious way that others knew creatures of myth. In fact, when Mary woke that first morning to find her mother gone, she was quick to assume she had just left, as she often did. A socialite to the last, her mother found the seclusion of motherhood in Calcutta indescribably dull. Every night, Mrs. Lennox would leave their bungalow of hushed voices and long shadows to scent out entertainment elsewhere. Sometimes Mrs. Lennox would return home the morning after a night of dinners and parties. Sometimes the morning after that. One could never be entirely certain, least of all Mary. Mr. Lennox was rarely home himself; too many new fortunes to exploit.

On the second day of her mother s vanishing, Mary asked her ayah where her mother had gone.

Her ayah was a woman of callused fingertips and herb-scented skin, charged to mind Mary since the day of her birth. She was younger than Mrs. Lennox, but with four children of her own, and Mary often wished she could have been her fifth. Because she knew, in some unformed way, that she like her family truly belonged neither to this country she loved so dearly, nor to this woman she loved even more. 

But her ayah would tell Mary many things. She would tell her stories of how the sun came to hang in the sky, how the sea became so wide, how the stars became so bright. Even so, she never lied. Not until now.

She looked Mary in her eyes and did not blink when she said, She will return soon.

On the fourth day, Mary stood before her mother s portrait and studied it intently. She d begun to lose bits of Mrs. Lennox. Her eyes: a dark and luxurious blue, while Mary s

Margaret Stohl is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, she has been published in fifty countries and thirty-two languages and has sold more than ten million books worldwide. She has published fifteen novels and graphic novels, as well as contributed to several games and countless comics since her debut. Learn more at mstohl.com and follow Margie on Twitter @mstohl and on Instagram @margaret_stohl.
Melissa de la Cruz is the #1 New York Times, #1 Publisher s Weekly and #1 IndieBound bestselling author of many critically acclaimed and award-winning novels for readers of all ages. Her books have topped USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times bestseller lists and have been published in more than twenty countries with over ten million copies in print. Her latest books include Never After, a middle grade fairytale series and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: The Road Trip. Melissa de la Cruz lives in West Hollywood with her husband and daughter.

Praise for A Secret Princess:

"Readers nostalgic for Burnett s Victorian world will enjoy this adaptation."  Kirkus Reviews

A charming mash-up of Frances Hodgson Burnett s beloved classics A Secret Garden, A Little Princess, and Little Lord Fauntleroy . . . Emotionally-driven dialogue . . . and sophisticated language will keep readers, especially fans of Burnett s work, turning pages to see just how these distinct characters can define their futures. The Bulletin of the Center for Children s Books