The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson
Burnett. Mary Lennox is an unwanted child
living in India with her parents. She is
unattractive and unwell, suffering
emotional neglect and illness. Mary's
socialite mother leaves her daughter
entirely to the care of Indian servants.
Mary's father is a British Army Officer
and is gone most of the time. Noone
outside the house even knows they have a
child. Mary is spoiled because her
mother orders the servants to give her
whatever she wants to keep her quiet and
out of sight. This taught Mary to treat
others very badly and she cares about no
one but herself. When there is an
outbreak of cholera Mary hides in her
room and soon she is the only person left
alive in the house. British soldiers
rescue Mary and she is sent to Yorkshire,
England to live with her widower uncle,
Archibald Craven, at Misselthwaite Manor.
Mary takes an instant dislike to the
manor's servants and the feeling is mutual.
As in India Mary is again closed up in a
room and told not to explore the house.
But one servant named Martha talks about her
young brother Dickon who loves animals.
Martha says there's a walled garden on
The grounds that belonged to Mistress
Craven. When she died ten years ago the
master locked the garden door and buried
the key. Mary looks for the garden and
makes two friends: a singing Robin in a
tree and an old gardener named Ben. Mary
asks him about the secret garden but he
won't answer. For several weeks Mary
spends time outdoors and regains her
health. She learns that Mrs. Craven died
after falling out of a tree in the
garden and begins to feel pity for her
uncle. More than once Mary believe she
hears a child crying in
the house but the servants insist they
hear nothing. Mary follows a high stone
wall covered with ivy around the grounds
but can't find a door. The robin flies down
and lands on the
little mound of earth where Mary finds a
long-buried key. Martha's mother sends a
skipping rope as a gift for Mary. As she
is skipping down the path accompanied by
the Robin the wind moves the ivy on the
wall and reveals a door. Mary uses her
key and walks into the secret garden. It
is early spring and the garden appears
dead and dry. Mary hopes it will come
back to life and begins weeding and
cleaning it.That night Mary again hears
the crying inside the house and the
servants again deny hearing anything.
Mary goes into the woods and finds a boy
playing a wooden pipe surrounded by
animals who are charmed by the music. He
is Dickon Sowerby, Martha's young brother,
and he has brought Mary seeds and a
gardening tool. The robin joins them and
Mary takes dick into the secret garden.
He says many of the plans are still
alive and perhaps someone has been
tending at all these years. Master Craven
returns to the manor and apologizes for
not having met Mary before now. She asks
for a bit of Earth for gardening which
reminds him of his late wife. He tells
her that she may have any place on the
grounds. Mary wakes to the sound of a
child crying. This time she finds a thin
pale boy crying and screaming on a bed.
He is Colin Craven, Master Craven's son,
also 10 years old. He is sickly and never
spoken of. The two neglected children become
friends. Colin is afraid he will die
because his doctor is also his father's
brother, so the doctor has no reason to
keep Colin alive. The doctor will
inherit the manor if Colin is dead. Mary
tells him about the secret garden and
Colin shows her a portrait behind a
rose-colored curtain. It is a smiling
beautiful woman - his mother, Mistress Craven
When mary returns to the secret garden,
plants are beginning to grow and the
robin is building a nest. Dickon is there
with some pet wild animals. She learns
that everyone knows about Colin but is
forbidden to speak of him. Dickon and
Mary resolve to find a way to bring
Colin to the garden. Colin and Mary
argue. Collin screams in a violent
tantrum and insists he is going to die,
but Mary stands up to him. Dickon arrives
and brings some of his animals to Colin's
room -- squirrels, a fox, a crow. They
make plans to take Colin to visit the
secret garden. A footman carries Colin
outside to his wheelchair. He looks and
feels more alive, especially in the
garden. He feels sad on seeing the tree
from which his mother fell to her death,
but the children feel his mother's
presence remains in her garden and it is
she who has brought the three of them
together. But Ben, the gardener, catches
them and calls Colin a "poor cripple".
Angered, Colin stands for the first time
and confronts Ben. Ben says he has been
coming to the garden once a year since
Mistress Craven died, for she asked him
to care for it if anything happened to
her. Colin declares that the secret
garden is now his and plants a single
rose to claim it. Colin rapidly becomes
stronger and begins to resemble his
mother. He hopes this means his father
will accept him. In the garden, the robin
and his mate have a nest of eggs in the
tree. Master Craven, traveling abroad,
dreams of his wife asking him
to meet her in their garden. He goes home
to find his son, Colin, strong and happy
in the garden with his friends -- a garden
that is no longer secret.