Meet the Cast
Maisie
See Maisie LearnWe're not being sarcastic—Maisie is a rare and precious snowflake. She's basically the coolest kid since Alice (except she probably wouldn't drink something just because it said "...
Mrs. Wix
Thank Goodness for This GovernessMrs. Wix isn't like other fictional governesses: she's not Mary Poppins magical, and she's not destined for a Jane Eyre-style romantic ending. But Mrs. Wix is a mor...
Ida Farange
Move over, Joan Crawford; Ida Farange may be the ultimate mean mom. She abandons Maisie for long stretches and then guilt-trips her for not being a devoted daughter. Nice one, Ida. Way to blame a s...
Beale Farange
We learn very little about Beale Farange—which makes sense since he's barely in the picture for Maisie. Still, what we do learn we don't like. The guy is a capital-L Loser who falls short every c...
Mrs. Beale, née Miss Overmore
From Nice Nanny to Suddenly StepmomThe lovely Miss Overmore is also lovable at first. But by the end of James's novel, she undergoes a transformation: from well-meaning but shallow to clingy and ma...
Sir Claude
A Family Man?Sir Claude is a real winner, but he has one weakness: he just can't get over his mistress, Mrs. Beale. He tries hard to, but in the end, he's not up to the sacrifice. Even though it's...