11 h 18 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 11 h 18 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the lessons your father teaches you are preparation for a mission he cannot yet explain?
In shabby London lodgings, Marco Loristan learns to notice every detail and keep what he knows to himself. His father, Stefan, gives his money and time to Samavia, a homeland torn by war. Marco is ready to serve, but the purpose of his training remains hidden.
Then Marco meets the Rat, a bold, sharp-tongued street boy who longs to belong. A secret errand sends the two boys across Europe with a message for Samavian patriots. Nothing can go on paper: a letter can be stopped and read, putting their mission at risk.
What you’ll discover
- A memory trained for secrets Watch Marco turn the simple act of looking into preparation for a hidden task.
- An unlikely companion Meet the Rat, whose quick mind and hunger to belong draw him into Marco's cause.
- A homeland worth serving Discover Samavia through an exiled father's devotion and a son's readiness to help.
- A message without paper Follow two boys across Europe on an errand that depends on memory and secrecy.
- Duty beyond comfort Explore what loyalty asks of people who give their spare coins and hours to their homeland.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy secret missions, journeys through old European cities, warm friendships, and stories where courage means keeping a steady mind.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A Boy Raised in Silence and Exile
- A Legend Five Hundred Years Old
- The Rat and the Secret Party Game
- A Father's Secret and a Midnight Signal
- A Place for a Boy Who Never Had One
- The Lovely Person and the Dark Cellar
- The Game Turns Into a Real Mission
- Faces on the Road Through Europe
- The Law of the Ledge and Where Strength Comes From
- Loyalty, Lamps, and How the Tale Is Told
Who’s who
- Marco LoristanA tall, silent boy of twelve, raised in exile and trained to remember everything, who wants to serve Samavia and make his father proud.
- Stefan LoristanMarco's calm, poor, commanding father, a Samavian patriot who works in secret and treats his son as a comrade.
- LazarusThe loyal old soldier-servant of the family, who guards and serves father and son with strict ceremony.
- The RatJem Ratcliffe, a fierce, clever, crippled boy who drills a gang of street boys and longs to be a soldier.
- The Lovely PersonA graceful spy who uses charm and a false injury to trap Marco and learn his father's secrets.
- The SquadA dozen ragged London boys, led by The Rat, who drill with sticks and love the game of the Secret Party.
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- Hardcover
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The Lost Prince
by Frances Hodgson Burnett · 1915
A boy with a secret oath carries four words across Europe for a lost prince, and a crippled friend marches beside him.
Medium level10–20 hours to readEnglish
Excellent
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In short
What would you do if your whole life were a secret, and the only person you could tell was your father? Marco Loristan, a boy of twelve, lives that life.
The Lost Prince at a glance
- Reading time
- About 6 h 25 min5 h 5 min fast, 7 h 40 min slow
- Length
- 91,900 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1915by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A Boy Raised in Silence and Exile
The story opens in the dreariest corner of London, Philibert Place. Marco Loristan, a tall, dark, quiet boy, stands at the railings after a hurried journey from Russia. His father may wake him any night and tell him to dress, because they are moving again.
Marco has never seen his homeland, Samavia, yet he knows its maps by heart. His father, Stefan Loristan, has told him of its beauty and its sufferings since he was small. The family is poor, but Loristan carries himself so nobly that people stand when he enters a room.
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- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1915
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Burnett, Frances Hodgson. The Lost Prince. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-lost-prince.
Burnett, F. H. (2026). The lost prince. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-lost-prince (Original work published 1915)
Burnett, Frances Hodgson. The Lost Prince. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-lost-prince.
@book{burnett2026lost,
author = {Burnett, Frances Hodgson},
title = {The Lost Prince},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-lost-prince},
note = {First published 1915}
}
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What is The Lost Prince by Frances Hodgson Burnett about?
It follows Marco Loristan, a poor boy raised in exile, and his friend The Rat. Together they carry a secret message across Europe for the people of Samavia, inspired by an old legend of a vanished prince.
Is Samavia a real country?
No. Samavia is an imagined mountain country. Burnett drew on the troubled Balkans and central Europe of her day, and wrote the book in 1915 while war filled the news.
What does the Lamp is lighted mean?
It is the secret signal Marco and The Rat deliver in four words to hidden friends of Samavia. The Sign brings powerful responses, including thanksgiving, tears, and prayer, and the phrase builds a sense of mounting hope.
The author
Frances Hodgson Burnett
1849–1924 · English-American novelist and playwright
Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849–1924) was a novelist and playwright born in Manchester, England. She moved to the United States in 1865 and later lived in England and New York. Her books include Little Lord Fauntleroy (1886), A Little Princess (1905), and The Secret Garden (1911). She died in New York.
More by Frances Hodgson Burnett
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