The Secret Garden

When bad-tempered Mary Lennox is orphaned, she is taken from India to the moors of Yorkshire to live at her uncle Archibald Craven's lonely manor house. The estate holds more than one mystery for Mary to solve, but all of the mysteries hinge on the mysterious walled garden, locked up by Mr. Craven ten years ago. Can Mary find a way to get in? What will she discover there, if she does?

I think the thing that keeps me coming back to this book is that it can be read on so many different levels. It has a great plot that is perennially attractive to children -- what child doesn't long to solve a mystery and discover a secret place that is theirs alone? And if you go a little deeper, there's a lot of fascinating character development as Mary show more goes from someone completely unlikeable to a true heroine. There are interesting themes, like the healing power of nature, the danger of living up to negative expectations, and the importance of human connections. I'm always drawn to this book in the springtime, and I think I always will be, no matter how old I am. Readers of all ages will connect with this lovely story. show less

This was a lot more delightful than I expected, completely charmed me. I love nature in my reading generally and plants are extra special to me, so I lapped up all those lovely, loving descriptions of the Secret Garden and surrounding moor.

I also liked Burnett's treatment of the children Mary and Colin. They both started off as entitled, obnoxious brats -- who actually suffered deeply. I would hate to be around them but you can't help but feel sympathy. Then friendship and observing wonderful things in the world around them inspired them, transforming their fears and trauma. They began to learn there was a different way, not only giving them pleasure but also competency. I was reminded of those places people go now, to farms to do show more chores and spend time with horses or other animals as therapy.

Sure it was a sappy story. But come on, we all could be a bit more sappy. And a bit more happy. Hard to begrudge a children's book for letting readers share in that fresh sense of newly discovered joy. show less

A little white girl named Mary Lennox was born in India and lived there until she was ten - when cholera swept through the household and her parents both died (along with many servants). Mary was both coddled and neglected in India, and when she is sent to her uncle's house in Yorkshire, her treatment is much the same: she has food and clothing, but no parental or familial love, no education, and no children her own age to play with. She is blamed for her nasty temperament, but after a while in Yorkshire, she begins exploring the gardens, and finds the secret garden that was locked up after her uncle's wife died. She also discovers another child in the house - her cousin, Colin - who was expected to die at birth, and who has been show more largely bedridden since, despite the fact that there is nothing physically wrong with him; his grieving father provided medical care and other basics, but withheld his own love and attention. With the help of another Yorkshire boy, Dickon, Mary gets Colin out of the house and into the secret garden, where the fresh air and change of mindset provide the "magic" for them both to grow strong and healthy.

There are beautiful descriptions of the Yorkshire moors and flora and fauna, but colonialism pervades the narrative, with much talk of "natives" and assumed white/British superiority (see quotes below).

Quotes

The native servants she had been used to in India were not in the least like this. They were obsequious and servile and did not presume to talk to their masters as if they were their equals. (ch. IV)

"You thought I was a native! You dared! You don't know anything about natives! They are not people - they're servants who must salaam to you." (Mary to Martha, ch. IV)

"People never like me and I never like people," [Mary] thought. (ch. IV)

"I'm lonely," she said. She had not known before that this was one of the things which made her feel sour and cross. (ch. IV)

"He knows a good many things out of books but he doesn't know anything else." (Mary to Dickon, about Colin, ch. XV)

She was not used to anyone's tempers but her own. (ch. XVII)

"He's been spoiled till salt won't save him. Mother says as th' two worst things as can happen to a child is never to have his own way - or always to have it." (Martha to Mary, ch. XVIII)

That afternoon the whole world seemed to devote itself to being perfect and radiantly beautiful and kind to one little boy. (ch. XXI)

...the immense, tender, terrible, heart-breaking beauty and solemnity of Eggs. (Dickon and the robins, ch. XXV)

When new beautiful thoughts began to push out the old hideous ones, life began to come back to him....Two things cannot be in one place. "Where you tend a rose, my lad, a thistle cannot grow." (ch. XXVII)

He had not meant to be a bad father, but he had not felt like a father at all. (Archibald Craven, ch. XXVII) show less

I had completely forgotten that this book includes quite a few darker moments. The death of Mary's parents in the opening, the treatment of servants in India and in England, the treatment of Colin by his father, etc. The two main children are horribly spoiled and cruel to others, but that does make their transformations all the more powerful. Above all, I love the writing about nature and the appreciation for growth and earth that the book focuses on.

Freaking loved this!! I had grown up watching the Hallmark version of this on repeat with my best friend and I must say... it followed the book pretty faithfully (minus the ending where the three kids meet up 10 years later). This is the perfect book to read in the spring and it made me really want to get outside and start working on my garden. There were a couple dated references (Indians being referred to as black and sub-human) that weren't cool but... it was a product of its time. For those unfamiliar with the premises, it basically follows a ten year old girl who was raised in India who is orphaned when cholera kills both her British parents. She is sent to live with a distant uncle in England who she has never met. She is a show more spoiled girl, used to getting her way, but she befriends a local boy who is so good humored and into nature that she starts to turn into a good little girl. Before long there is another spoiled boy who comes into the mix. Will he change his ways too? Wonderful, great for kids and adults alike. It definitely holds up! show less

Well, this was a delightful revisiting!

I first read The Secret Garden so many years ago now that I had no idea what happened in it by the time my lovely new edition arrived in the mail the other week. (I do actually still have the old edition that belonged to my sister and I; she's now reclaimed it to read to her daughter, so it all ends happily.)

And, I was lying in bed, reading the opening chapters, with the usual interruptions ("your pajamas are on the stairs... please don't jump on the bed when I'm reading... have you brushed your teeth yet?" etc), when Mr Bear (all of five-and-a-half years old) looked at the book and asked what it was about.

"It's a kid's book," I replied, thinking that would be the end of it. "Read it to me," he show more said.

So, at approximately one chapter a night (minus nights when I wasn't taking him to bed, or when he was away visiting his grandmother up to coast during school holidays, or when there just wasn't enough time to read a chapter that night), we finished it this week, nearly six weeks after it arrived. (Talk about cutting it fine with the deadline to get my review in!)

I did ask him what his favourite part was (I was rather hoping for my outrageously appalling attempts at Yorkshire accents; he did specifically ask for the "funny voices"[*] after a week or two of reading) and he looked a bit puzzled at me and refused to be drawn out for this review. So all opinions are my own (dagnabbit, I was hoping for an easy way out).

I do have to say that I was incredibly impressed that it (mostly) kept his attention through all 27 chapters. For a book written nearly 100 years ago, that's quite a feat! I did have to explain some words, and some concepts (how wonderful that "orphan" is a difficult concept in this day and age!).

It's a luscious paean to nature and spring and all its glories. (I'd love to see what the garden would have really looked like, but given the glorious descriptions, reality might actually disappoint me.) And it's wonderful to see Mary and Colin change from spoilt brats to beautiful children as the secret garden and nature works its magic on them.

I do have to admit that the mysticism at the end left me a bit cold, but I was so swept up in the story by that time that it is a minor quibble. Thanks to Penguin for the brand new (shiny!) copy. I shall hold onto it for Mr Bear to read to his children.

* My apologies to all people with real Yorkshire accents. It's a beautiful accent, I really did murder it. show less

In this classic work of children’s literature, the healing properties of wild nature and the pleasing physical labor of revitalizing a neglected garden transform an under-parented, ill-mannered girl and an under-parented, invalid boy into happy, productive people. Author Frances Hodgson Burnett writes particularly well about the importance of cultivation and care for gardens and children alike. Yet, although many readers love this book, I found it slow-moving at the beginning (before sickly, “hysterical” Colin entered the story) and loaded with toxic positivity at the end.