‘The Secret Garden’ by Frances Hodgson Burnett

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Reading Level: 8 – 12

How did I miss reading The Secret Garden until now?

Published in 1911, this is an enduring children’s classic with a rejuvenation theme. Like a lot of good children’s stories, the parents and other adults are dispensed of early on, and remain absent as much as possible, leaving the protagonists (the children) front and centre to engage in adventures–there’s not a lot of action, however, the message and outcome is charming and timeless.

There are some racist/colonialist elements at the start that are a bit jarring to the ear in our era. But the context makes up for it. Mary’s parents die in India and she is sent to her family in England. The poor child has been removed from all she’s ever known and experiences culture shock while the prevailing sentiment around her is ‘stiff upper lip.’ No wonder she is a tad disagreeable.

But there is another selfish, disagreeable child in this story. Mary’s cousin Colin is unwell, bedridden, and incorrigible. He is given to tantrums and crying jags. When orphaned Mary Lennox comes to live at her uncle’s great house on the Yorkshire moors, she finds it full of secrets, including a garden that becomes the catalyst for transformation in both of them. The healing power of friendship and nature is revealed.

The story of the secret garden has been adapted into many versions and forms over the last century (stage, screen, picture books) and has been illustrated by several different artists. I listened to the audio book narrated by the brilliant Josephine Bailey who does an amazing array of voices including “broad Yorkshire.”