In regard to sex roles, National Velvet depicts attitudes decades ahead of its time. Mi Taylor is a modern young man with enough self-confidence that he does not feel a need to prove his masculinity. Mr. Brown easily accepts his wife's assertive control of the Brown family; he recognizes, without feeling threatened, that she is a better planner and decision-maker than he. Husband and wife have a mutual respect and affection that show themselves in their actions grand or small. The Brown children learn these endearing qualities from their parents, and the novel shows how charity, beginning at home, extends naturally to the world outside.

National Velvet also promotes equality among social classes. A girl from the middle class wins the greatest steeplechase in the world, leveling traditional distinctions among people. The rigidly upper-class members of the National Hunt Committee have to swallow hard and admit...