Book Review – The Secret Garden

Title: The Secret Garden

Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett

Genre: Classic, Childrens,

Length: 341

Rating: 5 Star

Movie Reviews: 1993, 1994, 2001

Description/Synopsis:

After losing her parents, young Mary Lennox is sent from India to live in her uncle’s gloomy mansion on the wild English moors. One day she learns of a secret garden in the grounds that no one is allowed to enter. Then Mary uncovers an old key in a flowerbed – and a gust of magic leads her to the hidden door. Slowly she turns the key…

Review – MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Oh this book.

I love this book.

This is one of the books where I simply do not care if I already have two copies of it on my shelf, I will look at other pretty hardcover versions of it because I love it so much. And I will read all those different covers of it too. Right after I purchase them. This is simply just a stunning story.

The only thing I remotely question about this book is that its a children’s book. Its awfully sad and series to be a children’s book to me, but I suppose that is what makes adults love reading it to kids, that they can appreciate it on a deeper level than the children will be able to.

I loved the sad start to this story. The story starts in such a sad place and so does Mary, she is almost just a hollow human being, and she is just forgotten by everyone who was supposed to be looking after her when her parents died. She was nasty on the outside and hollow on the inside. No one gave her any kind of real love, and didn’t teach her how to be a real person.

But then she goes to this dark, cold and wet foreign place and discovers people who actually pay attention to her enough to actually care about the way she acts.  For the first time she sees others as people, and thinks about the way she should be treating them. Then she finds this secret little world that no one loves and no one wanted, and she feels a connection to it and begs to have her little bit of Earth. She wishes to help it grow and become whole again, and as she and the other children go there and grow and become more whole and beautiful people, so does the garden.

I loved all the characters, and I adored the comparisons between the two cousins. How they were different and how they were the same and the different places they had come from in life before they met each other.

I will grudgingly admit that I did feel some parts of the story dragged more then they needed to, but these were only the parts in the story were Colin was going on about how he wants to do scientific discoveries on magic, and how he was going to give grand speeches on the subject, while giving long speeches.

I cannot urge people to read this book more. This is a must read for anyone before they die. Don’t listen to the childrens category, adults will love it. I also think children in school will also love it, I know I did. Just go forth and read it. Just thinking about it makes me want to go read it again, and buy another copy.

 

Till next Time…