Little Saint Elizabeth and Other Stories

In Short

This collection of five children's stories explores the outer edges of childhood longing, vanity, and magic. In the titular narrative, a wealthy French orphan raised by an ascetic aunt arrives in New York determined to sacrifice her fortune for the poor, leading to a perilous trek through city slums. Subsequent tales shift to whimsical fable and holiday fantasy: a banished prince with surprisingly tiny feet finds a kingdom of fairies, a proud blade of wheat learns humility, and a young girl climbs up her own fireplace into the workshop of Santa Claus. Warm, gentle, and sharply observed, it endures for its quiet emotional clarity.

The Story

The volume opens in Normandy, where eleven-year-old Elizabeth has been raised in near-conventual isolation by her devout Aunt Clotilde. When Clotilde dies suddenly at prayer, Elizabeth is claimed by her sophisticated Uncle Bertrand and taken to New York City. Though surrounded by luxury, black velvet dresses, and a suite of her own, Elizabeth remains detached from the merry American children playing in the streets. Steeped in stories of saints and martyrs, she wears black serge, fasts, and spends hours in prayer.

When letters from her home village detail crop failures and illness, Elizabeth begs her uncle for money to send to the poor. Bertrand laughs off her request, preferring his grand dinners and comfortable routine. Soon after, a visiting physician, Dr. Norris, describes the terrible poverty of New York’s Five Points district. Moved to her core and believing the saints are guiding her, Elizabeth slips out of the mansion alone, carrying her jewels and money to find the suffering people.

Wandering into squalid, dark alleys, she encounters a shivering woman and her children on a broken doorstep. Expecting to give away her wealth, Elizabeth is quickly overwhelmed by the harsh reality of urban misery. Before harm can come to her, Dr. Norris and her panicked uncle track her down. Wrapped in the doctor's heavy coat, Elizabeth falls ill from exposure but learns that true charity requires practical understanding rather than self-dramatic sacrifice.

The collection then moves into distinct fairy tales and allegories. "Prince Fairyfoot" tells of a royal child rejected by his oversized-footed family because his feet are small and delicate. Banished to live with a swineherd, Fairyfoot befriends Robin Goodfellow and enters a hidden fairy realm, ultimately using a magic ring to heal the sorrowful Princess Goldenhair.

"The Proud Little Grain of Wheat" follows a vain grain that scorns its quiet life in a sack, demanding to be something grander. After growing into a tall, crowned stalk of wheat, it is ground into flour and baked into a rich cake, only to realize with sudden terror that its fate is to be eaten by two hungry little boys, Lionel and Vivian.

Finally, "Behind the White Brick" centers on young Jem, who gazes into her fireplace on Christmas Eve and discovers a chimney draft that takes her upward to a secret room behind a white brick. There she meets Flora, a storybook character, and travels to the bustling workshop of "S.C., Esquire, of Chimneyland," where small workers craft toys for good children, before waking up on her stool with a new book in her lap.

How It Unfolds

A quiet upbringing ends Elizabeth loses her ascetic aunt to heart failure and is whisked away from her French château to live with her worldly Uncle Bertrand in New York.

An unspoken gulf Despite her lavish quarters and fortune, Elizabeth feels utterly alienated by the rosy, playful American children and seeks solace in fasting and daily prayer.

A plea for charity denied Distressed by news of famine in her French village, Elizabeth begs her uncle for funds, but Bertrand dismisses her intense piety as unsuitable.

Into the city depths Inspired by a doctor's stories of urban poverty, Elizabeth slips into the New York slums with her jewels, only to be overwhelmed by real squalor.

Rescued and redirected Dr. Norris and Uncle Bertrand find the shivering child in the street, rescuing her before she collapses and teaching her the true nature of helping others.

The swineherd prince In a neighboring fable, Prince Fairyfoot is mocked for his tiny feet, banished to tend pigs, and befriended by the mischievous sprite Robin Goodfellow.

Fairyland and the golden princess Fairyfoot shrinks down to join the fairy dance, then uses a magic ring to journey to a distant marble palace and restore the sad Princess Goldenhair.

The vanity of the wheat A proud grain of wheat boasts of its green beauty and royal crown, only to be harvested, milled, and baked into a cake destined for two loud children.

Up the chimney draft On Christmas Eve, little Jem knocks on a white brick in her fireplace, stepping through into a magical realm where Santa Claus registers children's deeds and builds toys.

The People

• Elizabeth wants to emulate the saints through fasting, prayer, and absolute sacrifice for the poor. Her extreme isolation and rigid religious upbringing leave her unprepared for the world, but her genuine compassion carries her through a dangerous ordeal in the slums, opening her eyes to real life.
• Uncle Bertrand (Monsieur de Rochemont) wants an easy, elegant life filled with fine dining and pleasant society, free from uncomfortable responsibilities. Though embarrassed by his niece's nun-like attire and dramatic piety, her sudden disappearance awakens a genuine, protective concern within him.
• Dr. Norris wants to alleviate the brutal suffering of New York's impoverished districts. Practical, kind-eyed, and observant, he recognizes Elizabeth’s unique melancholy and acts as the steadying hand that saves her from her own desperate impulse.
• Prince Fairyfoot wants companionship despite being mocked by his royal family for his unusually delicate feet. Tending swine in the great forest, his gentle nature earns him the friendship of magical creatures and the love of a princess.
• Robin Goodfellow wants freedom, fun, and a bit of grandstanding among his fellow fairies. Sharp-tongued and prone to theatrical complaints about his bird-wife, he nevertheless aids Fairyfoot with golden whistles and magic potions.
• Jem wants to believe in magic and Santa Claus despite growing older. Her quiet curiosity leads her behind the fireplace bricks, where her faith is rewarded by a tour of the Christmas toy establishment.

In Its Own Voice

"The morning sun was streaming in through the stained-glass windows above the altar--a broad ray of mingled brilliant colors slanted to the stone floor and warmly touched a dark figure lying there."

Finding her aunt motionless in the quiet chapel, Elizabeth's entire secluded life in France comes to a sudden end.

"She had been taught, my friend, that to be happy upon earth is a crime. That was my good sister's creed."

Over cigars and wine, Uncle Bertrand lightheartedly explains to Dr. Norris the austere, joyless philosophy that shaped his young niece.

"They are four times fatter, and five times bigger, and six times cleaner, and seven times heavier, and eight times handsomer than they were when you took them out..."

The rough swineherd marvels at the miraculous transformation of his drove after Prince Fairyfoot spends the day under the spell of Robin Goodfellow's golden whistle.

What It's Really About

Beneath its gentle narrative surface, the collection examines the friction between rigid ideals and human reality. Elizabeth's story serves as a subtle critique of unguided religious fanaticism: her desire for martyrdom is born of isolation, and true goodness requires active empathy rather than self-imposed suffering.

The accompanying fables explore the follies of vanity and the nature of true worth. The proud grain of wheat discovers that beauty and status do not protect one from becoming mere sustenance for others. Meanwhile, Fairyfoot's journey reframes physical differences—what his family views as a humiliating flaw becomes his passage into a world of grace. Throughout the book, childhood is presented not as a state of mere innocence, but as a period of intense internal struggle to make sense of adult expectations and unseen magical worlds.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate classic Victorian storytelling, gentle moral allegories, and the whimsical charm of late nineteenth-century children's literature will find much to love here. The narrative voice carries a quiet warmth, balance, and precision that avoids heavy-handed preachy tones while maintaining a clear ethical compass.

The book's appeal lies in its stark atmospheric contrasts: the quiet, stained-glass stillness of a French chapel shifts rapidly to the bustling, cold streets of nineteenth-century New York, and then to moonlit forests populated by tiny fairies in pansy-petal velvet.

Modern readers should be prepared for period conventions, including occasional phonetic renderings of dialect—such as the Irish accent of a slum dweller—and the Victorian tendency toward romanticizing frail, melancholic children. However, the emotional core remains entirely grounded. Elizabeth's confusion when confronted with real poverty, Fairyfoot's quiet resilience in exile, and Jem's hesitant struggle between growing up and keeping her belief in magic feel deeply human. It remains a comforting, evocative read that stays with you long after the final page.