I have read this book at least once before – but possibly two or three times. It’s one of those stories that feels like it was irrevocably woven into the fabric of my childhood. I feel like Mary is, in a sense, a part of me. I came across the Kindle In Motion edition and it felt like the perfect time to pick it up again. Planting seeds in pots on my patio is one of the few calming activities I’ve found in isolation (reading is another), so I can definitely relate to the restorative value of watching things grow.
For those of you who aren’t familiar, this is an enchanting children’s story about a young woman, Mary, who is orphaned by an outbreak of cholera in the household she lived in in India. Her parents and the servants either died or fled, leaving tiny Mary all alone. She is discovered by local authorities and sent back to live with relatives she has never met in England, a place she has never been.
When we first meet Mary, she’s not very likable. She has been simultaneously neglected and spoiled. Her parents never had any time for her, so she was raised by a team of servants. The servants attended to her every need – including dressing her – but didn’t form any sincere bonds of affection with her. So while she never wanted for any material need, her emotional development was severely stunted. This left her an unpleasant girl, and her lack of physical activity due to the heat in India meant she wasn’t physically very strong either – she was thin and pale.
When she arrives on the Yorkshire moors, she isn’t happy to be there. The house is huge, dark and largely shut up, and no one in it has any idea what to do with a little girl. A maid is assigned to take care of Mary’s mealtimes and make sure she’s suitably occupied during the day, and Mary is lucky because she is a kind girl, the oldest of a large brood of children, and not at all intimidated by her young charge’s airs and entitlement. She expects Mary to learn to take care of dressing herself, to find activities to amuse herself, and to spend a large portion of her time out of doors.
Mary isn’t thrilled about this, but when she does venture outside, she quickly begins to see the joys of nature. She makes friends with the gardener and a robin who leads her to a locked garden with a hidden door, and a whole new mystery then consumes her. She lives to find a way into the garden and to see if anything is alive in there.
I won’t tell you what happens from that point in the story, but she meets some other children, who also have a deep impact on her life for the better. Her time spent in nature makes her blood flow and brings on an appetite she had never before experienced. She begins to get stronger and healthier, and much, much happier.
I love this story. I love the depictions of the landscape and how much the author clearly loves this part of the world. I love how nature not only finds a way to support life, but restores health in those who spend time in it. And I love how much this miserable little girl changes, largely under her own steam. It’s a magical story, if a simple one, and hugely satisfying.
Rediscover the heartwarming story of a lonely girl’s transformation within a secret English garden—presented for the first time with stunning custom animations and illustrations.
When Mary first arrives on her uncle’s doorstep at Misselthwaite Manor, her outlook has been shaped by tragedy. Her new home is a somber place, shadowed by the passing of her uncle’s beloved wife many years ago. But Mary’s ill manner starts to soften as she receives kind encouragement from her cheery maid, Martha, and green-thumbed friend, Dickon. Soon she is daring to explore the wilds surrounding her adopted home, where she unearths a long-buried key to a secret garden.
Among the lush, magical blossoms, Mary finds healing and redemption—and the determination to bring joy back to Misselthwaite Manor. – Goodreads
Book Title: The Secret Garden
Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett (Illustrated by Hannah Christenson)
Series: No
Edition: Ebook
Published By: AmazonEncore
Released: July 26, 2016 (First published in 1910)
Genre: Fiction, Children’s Literature, Family, Nature
Pages: Print Edition has ~331 pages
Date Read: May 28-30, 2020
Rating: 8/10
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.14/5 (862,550 ratings)
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