The Rescuers (book)

The story begins in London, during a meeting of the Prisoners’ Aid Society, an international organization of mice dedicated to brightening the lives of prisoners. When the old clerk informs delegates about the case of a Norwegian poet, imprisoned (most likely wrongfully) in the horrible Black Castle, the moderator lady suggests changing the traditional rules of the organization to try to rescue him. Despite the clerk's doubts, the Society agrees with her proposal. Needing a mouse who can speak Norwegian to translate for them, the society decides to ask Miss Bianca, a privileged white mouse belonging to the English Ambassador to Norway's household, for help.

Bernard, a resident of the pantry who previously won a medal for saving some other mice from a cat, volunteers to accept the rescue mission. He enters the Ambassador's house and finds Miss Bianca in her magnificent porcelain pagoda. As she cannot speak Norwegian, Bernard tries to convince her to undertake the journey to find a brave Norwegian mouse for them. Having been pampered by the Ambassador's little boy all her life, Miss Bianca is first terrified and refuses. However, once he describes the situation, and reminds her she is doing something heroic, Bianca warms to the idea and decides to sneak into the Ambassador's diplomatic bag the next time he travels to Oslo.

Upon arrival in Norway, Miss Bianca enters an underground pub full of sailor mice. The Captain volunteers a sturdy, seasoned adventurer named Nils for the mission; Nils instantly agrees and takes Miss Bianca back to London in his motorboat. Miss Bianca's part in the mission ends here; however, instead of going home, she finds herself drawn to the adventure and decides to accompany Bernard and Nils to the Black Castle, much to everyone's astonishment.

The three mice travel down river and across country to the prison, located in the nearly impenetrable ruins of an old castle. They find the doors are all locked except the head jailer's office, and the office is guarded by Mamelouk, a giant grey and black Persian cat belonging to the head jailer. Finding the only mouse hole in the castle in the back of the office, the three set up living quarters and wait for an opportunity.

Over the next couple months, Bernard and Nils undertake many scouting expeditions while Miss Bianca keeps Mamelouk distracted with her charm and wit. He is easy to bait, being incredibly boastful and equally stupid. Miss Bianca even convinces him with a confusing argument not to eat Bernard and Nils the one time he does catch them, and learns from him of the horrible conditions the prisoners live in. The mice begin to despair, until Bernard discovers a disused water gate at the rear of the palace, and Miss Bianca learns from a boast of Mamelouk's that he and the jailers will be unconscious most of New Year's Day, having drunk and feasted more than their fill at a party the night before.

After packing up the living quarters, the mice set out on New Year's Day. They manage to steal the keys from a sleeping/drunk guard and unlock the door to the cell hall. They travel past the cells, with Nils calling out in Norwegian, finally getting a response from a sick and emaciated young man with overgrown hair and nails. This is indeed the poet - being an artist and a dreamer, he is the only one in the prison who can believe the mice really are talking to him. He follows them to the water gate, which they open, and escapes. The whole party nearly drowns in the freezing, swollen river, but they are rescued by a kindly family traveling on a barge. Having no respect for the Black Castle, the family takes the poet and the mice back to London, no questions asked.

Healed and cleaned up by the barge people, the poet thanks them all and returns to Norway, promising to meet up with Nils in Oslo and "make a night of it". Nils sails home in his motorboat, not wanting to leave it in England, and Bernard invites Miss Bianca to live with him and join the Prisoner's Aid Society. She nearly accepts, until the Ambassador's butler discovers her and picks her up, commenting on how much the Ambassador's little boy has grieved for her. Deciding fate has decreed her destiny, she bids Bernard farewell, telling him he is always welcome to visit her.

Kirkus Reviews described the book as "an absurd and beguiling fantasy" that was "made to order for Walt Disney—but a strange departure for Margery Sharp",[1] and shortly after its publication, Walt Disney Productions began developing an adaptation of the novel. The result was the animated film The Rescuers, released in 1977 and based primarily on the second novel in the series, Miss Bianca, with elements from the original novel.

In his 1997 collection of essays on children's literature, A Child's Delight, Noel Perrin noted that the book is very different from (and in his opinion far superior to) the movie, commending the book for its inventive plot and for the "ease and freedom", "elegance", and "irony" of Sharp's writing.[2]

In 2011, a decade after going out of print, the book was reissued in a new edition by The New York Review of Books. Reviewer Meghan Cox Gurdon of The Wall Street Journal noted that the book "is much funnier and more interestingly textured than the high-fructose movie version."[3]

• http://www.nybooks.com/books/imprints/childrens/the-rescuers/