The Secret Garden
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4.4 • 93 Ratings
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Publisher Description
Mary’s parents fall ill and die, forcing her to be transplanted from India to the English countryside. She arrives at a strange and foreign country manor, where she discovers a long-neglected garden and hears strange sobbing noises at night.
Thus begins The Secret Garden, a children’s book with an unusually dense collection of themes, symbols, and motifs. Mary’s personal development mirrors her unraveling the secret of the hidden garden, and a subtle backdrop of magical realism adds a mysterious air to the proceedings.
Contemporary reception left The Secret Garden largely unnoticed, eclipsed by Hodgson’s other work, Little Lord Fauntleroy. Since then, however, the book’s reputation has steadily grown, with modern critics considering it one of the finest children’s books of the 20th century.
Customer Reviews
Good read
I was pleasantly surprised how much I loved this children’s book. It really does show that it’s mind over matter, being out in the sun, good work in the garden makes you happy.
The Secret Garden
When cholera takes Mary’s family in India, she is sent to live with her only remaining relative in England. Archibald Craven doesn’t know anything about caring for a bereaved young girl. Even his servants aren’t sure what to do with the sour creature. Soon the secrets of her new home intrigue her. And the wind coming off the moors begins to work a magic that just might change her and all others who find their way to the secret garden…
I first read this book back when I was a tweenager (11, 12, or 13) and vaguely remembered it being both sad and sweet. This might be why I never watched the movie. Sometimes they leave out characters that are essential (like Tom Bombadil) or change details that really annoy me (still mad about “Where the Red Fern Grows” decades later—spoilers beg me to elaborate but I hate spoilers). Not sure how one could ruin the ending of this particular book, but I still don’t think I should risk it.