Publisher's Synopsis
From the get-go the narrator explains that to be a princess means to be a proper girl, or prince in the case of a boy. He basically equates royal titles as meaning someone is of good character.The narrator makes a point of noting that some royal princesses are not true princesses due to character flaws. I liked what he was getting at. Anyways, he uses this discussion to begin telling us about Princess Irene.We are also told about a colony of evil goblins that live inside a mountain. But that story is then left abandoned for awhile. Irene goes up the stairs one day to find a new room where she meets her magical grandmother.One night Irene and her nurse stay outside later than the should and almost get attacked by a goblin (they come out at night). A miner's son, Curdie, saves them by singing rhymes. Rhymes and feet are goblins' weaknesses.Curdie and Irene become friends. Irene tries telling her nurse and Curdie about her grandmother but no one believes it. Her grandma tells Irene that she will let them know her in due time.
