We thought the part where a dog is speaking in his head about his love for his owner was beautifully observed and touching.

Although the Lieutenant is obsessed with the hunt he does question changing ideas of what is cruel to animals and values his horses and hounds above anyone.

Even more hilarious was the repetition of the Lieutenant's horse themed gadgets, as each one was introduced it became more and more funny. Maria realising she was being followed, leads her guardians on a wild goose chase, this part was written with great wit. There was some very funny parts in the story. There were some parts that dealt with hunting and killing, some parts that made uncomfortable reading but obviously wildlife poses daily threat to the small people so perhaps talk of destroying young of wildlife has to be considered from the view of a six inch person. There were lots of interesting philosophical thoughts, moral dilemmas of power, friendship, punishment and the definition of right and wrong. We really enjoyed the descriptions of life experienced from a six inch tall persons perspective. Maria has guardians who are plotting to steal her inheritance, when these unscrupulous people discover Maria has small Lilliputian friends they vow to stop at nothing to capture some of her friends to sell to the circus. Maria is a 10 yr old orphan living in a dilapidated mansion several times the size of Buckingham palace. Safely hidden for centuries, the Lilliputians are at first endangered by Maria's well-meaning but clumsy attempts to make their lives easier, but their situation grows truly ominous when they are discovered by Maria's greedy guardians, who look at The People and see only a bundle of money. With the help of her only friend-the absurdly erudite Professor-Maria soon learns that this settlement is no less than the kingdom of Lilliput (first seen in ) in exile. So ten-year-old Maria, orphaned mistress of Malplaquet, discovers the secret of her deteriorating estate: on a deserted island at its far corner, in the temple long ago nicknamed Mistress Masham's Repose, live an entire community of people-'The People,' as they call themselves-all only inches tall. 'She saw: first, a square opening, about eight inches wide, in the lowest step.finally she saw that there was a walnut shell, or half one, outside the nearest door.she went to look at the shell-but looked with the greatest astonishment.

Mistress Masham's Repose by T.H. White