the secret garden by frances hodgson burnett

She begins life as a 'sickly, fretful, ugly little baby' who grows into a 'sickly, fretful toddling thing.' By the age of ten when Cholera has taken her parents and sent her to Yorkshire to live with her only relative she has a 'little thin face and a little thin body, thin light hair and a sour expression' along with an imperious attitude to make her unattractiveness complete. Growing up in India, Mary is unwanted by her mother and handed into the care of an Ayah as soon as possible. Both Mary and Colin are vile little creatures who, through death and indifference, have been left to be raised by servants. Mary Lennox and her cousin, Colin Craven, the main characters in The Secret Garden, undoubtedly Burnett's best known work, stand in stark opposition to Sara's almost too-perfect person. The popularity of this novel bears witness to its universal appeal and its timeless hold on the imagination.īath Treasury of Children's Classics are beautifully presented in a cloth bound cover, with distinctive coloured edges and ribbon bookmark.Sara Crewe, the heroine of Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess comes by her compassion, tolerance, friendliness and imagination no doubt through her own charming nature but also as a result of the nurturing of her father for the fist several years of her life. However, apart from the garden, there are other secrets to be revealed at Misselthwaite Manor such as the strange cries in the night and the identity of Colin, a disabled boy, whom she discovers in the hidden bedroom. In doing so, Mary finds a purpose and an excitement in her lonely existence. She sets her mind to bringing it back to life. In exploring the grounds Mary finds the key to the locked garden which is neglected and overrun with weeds. But now the scene is set for her transformation and the introduction of the author's engaging theme of rejuvenation and renewal.

She dislikes her new home and the people living in it. Initially Mary is seen as a rude, aggressive and selfish child.

Mary Lennox, a sickly ten year old girl, adrift in the world after both her mother and father die is sent to Yorkshire to live with an uncle whom she has never met, at his isolated house, Misselthwaite Manor.

It is regarded as one of the best children's books written in the twentieth century. Frances Burnett Hodgson's novel The Secret Garden is both intriguing and uplifting.

The secret garden by frances hodgson burnett