What Maisie Knew has attained a fairly strong critical position in the Jamesian canon. Edmund Wilson was one of many critics who admired both the book's technical proficiency and its judgment of a negligent and damaged society. When Wilson recommended What Maisie Knew to Vladimir Nabokov, the author of Lolita, Nabokov said he thought the book was terrible.[1][2] F. R. Leavis, on the other hand, declared the book to be "perfection".[3] The psychoanalytic critic Neil Hertz has argued for a parallel between James' narrative voice and the problem of transference in Freud's Dora case.[4]
An eponymous film adaptation was released in 2012, directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel, and starring Julianne Moore, Alexander Skarsgård, and Onata Aprile.[5] It is based largely on James' plot, with some alterations. The film is set in present-day New York City, and the professions of Maisie's parents are changed. Unlike in the book, Maisie's step parents are highly dependable and love her and each other deeply. Maisie finds a happy life with them, and the character of Mrs. Wix is virtually eliminated.
