Chapters :- 27
Genres :- Children's Literature, Literary Fiction
Rating :- 8 yrs+
Author :- Frances Hodgson Burnett
Synopsis :-
An orphan, named Mary Lennox, who is unloved by those around her, is sent to live at her uncle’s mansion. It is located on the Yorkshire Moors and when she arrives, she discovers that the mansion is full of secrets. The mansion has well over one hundred rooms and her uncle keeps himself locked up and away from all of them.
Sometimes at night, Mary hears the sound of crying coming from down the long lonely corridors. Mary starts to amuse herself by going into the gardens that surround the enormous mansion. This proved to be her only escape.
Amidst her play, Mary finds a secret garden surrounded by walls and tucked away tightly being locked doors. The key however is missing. One day, with some unexpected help, Mary finds a way into the garden!
After all this time, is everything in the garden dead? Or will Mary, by some miracle, be able to bring it back to life?
The Review:-
This book was surprisingly such a good read. The storyline went to so many places that I wasn’t expecting but had a satisfying ending. I first discovered this book on youtube. One of the YouTubers was reading it aloud and I gave it a listen for a bit of time. I liked it so much that I decided to give it a read instead to get my view on it.
In the beginning, we meet young Mary, who honestly is one of the most detestable little children I have ever met. She comes from a home that is privileged but she is shown no real love. She only has servants around her who amuse her by doing everything that she wants. Because of this, she seems very self-entitled and only cares about what entices her pleasures. So much so that it was surprising to even I that she didn’t know how to dress herself when she moved to the mansion!
One thing that I loved most about the book is when she started to go outside and interact with the things around her. Especially when she found the Secret Garden. She was so excited about it and wanted so much for it to have ‘growing things’ in it. The author was able to capture her childlike wonder and that was amazing to see unfold especially since we saw what a sour child she was before.
Out of all the characters in the book, I would have to say that my favorite character was the young man named Dickon. It was wondrous that he was able to tame animals and bring them along with him. He seemed to know all sorts of things just from living out on the Moor. He was able to convince Mary that he could speak the tongue of the animals and that’s why he was able to do that. Honestly, he almost convinced me as well!
We’ve given The Secret Garden a rating of 8 out of 10. I loved reading this book and finding out more about the secrets the house contained and seeing the children’s nature change for the better as the book went on. The only thing I was a little puzzled about is that we are told that there are almost one hundred rooms in the mansion and Mary does explore them but it felt a bit unfinished to me. It felt like there needed to be a conclusion about the rooms in the mansion but otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed the read.
Stay Tuned For My Favorite Quotes!
“One of the strange things about living in the world is that it is only now and then one is quite sure one is going to live forever and ever and ever.” - Chapter 21
“Of course there must be lots of Magic in the world,” he said wisely one day, “but people don’t know what it is like or how to make it. Perhaps the beginning is just to say nice things are going to happen until you make them happen. I am going to try to experiment.” - Colin , Chapter 23
“That I do, lad,” she answered. “I never knowed it by that name but what does th’ name matter? I warrant they call it a different name i’ France an’ a different one i’ Germany. Th’ same thing as set th’ seeds swellin’ an’ th’ sun shinin’ made thee a well lad an’ it’s th’ Good Thing. It isn’t like us poor fools as think it matters if us is called out of our names. Th’ Big Good Thing doesn’t stop to worrit, bless thee. It goes on makin’ worlds by th’ million- worlds like us. Never thee stop believin’ in th’ Big Good Thing an’ knowin’ th’ world’s full of it- an’ call it what tha’ likes. Tha’ wert singin’ to it when I come into th’ garden.” - Mrs. Sowerby, Chapter 26
“Where you tend a rose, my lad, A thistle cannot grow.” - Chapter 27
“The man who was ‘coming alive’ began to think in a new way and he thought long and steadily and deeply.” - Chapter 27.
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