The Secret Garden
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: The Greenwich Workshop Press;(2001)
ISBN-10: 086713075X
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Book Description
When orphaned Mary Lennox, lonely and sad, comes to live at her uncle's great house on the Yorkshire moors, she finds it full of secrets. At night, she hears the sound of crying down one of the long corridors. Outside, she meets Dickon, a magical boy who can charm and talk to animals. Then, one day, with the help of a friendly robin, Mary discovers the most mysterious wonder of all -- a secret garden, walled and locked, which has been completely forgotten for years and years. Is everything in the garden dead, or can Mary bring it back to life?
I bought this book for 1.00 some time ago at the used book store…
I think I put off reading it only because I felt I knew the story too well from having seen both the 1949 black and white Movie of the same name, and staring Margaret O’Brien and the newer color version from 1993 with Maggie Smith as the housekeeper.
Finally I just picked it up and looked inside to see the size of the print etc and before I knew it I had read the first 50 pages! Ah well.. guess I’ll just read this heh.
It seems quite strange to me that as much as I’ve seen the movies numerous times that my mind still see’s what’s happening like it’s the first time I’ve seen it.
Mary is described as not a very pretty child and, ah well.. Margaret O’Brien was a very cute child star.
How fun to find the hidden garden in the book rather than in the movie, and how fun to meet a new friend to enjoy it with! And boy-howdy but it made me miss living in a four season area when in the spring all things begin to bud and come alive after a snowy winter.
This may well have been written to be a child's story… but it’s every bit an adult story too. Surviving after the death of loved ones seems nearly impossible…the the Secret Garden and all it’s magic let’s you know that you will get through it. It may take long. It may be the hardest thing you ever will do. But we all learn to live with it when our thoughts turn to the happiness that we found from loved ones instead of only missing them.
It’s a great classic read.
It has options for everyone.
Have you read The Secret Garden lately?
You should.
posted by DesLily | 8:24 AM
8 Comments:
There was a very BEAUTIFUL Broadway Musical of "THE SECRET GARDEN" that opened in 1991 and played for two years....I LOVED IT! It has a gorgeous score by Lucy Simon (Music)--sister of Carly Simon...and Book amd lurics by Marsha Norman....
The score is heart-breakingly beautiful!! I'm not sure how faithful it is to the book, but I think pretty it is pretty close....
It's worth finding the CD!
"....but I think it is pretty close.." I don't know how that sentance got all mucked up...lol!
I've read this one a couple of times, but not recently. Also the BBC have done at least one adaptation which I know I loved. It's just a brilliant, classic little tale. So pleased you enjoyed it, Pat.
I read it again a couple of years ago and enjoyed it very much - do love books about gardens! I also liked Noel Streatfeild's book The Painted Garden, about making a film of it - the English child star is a bit like Mary Lennox, so her story parallels Mary's. Part of the pleasure of that book comes from knowing the original, I think.
Naomi thanks! I will look for it!
Cath: hmmm just because I am curious I will search it and see who was in the bbc adaptation. All the movies were great, really great, but I can say the book is better !
Geranium Cat: that's true. I will check into it more. It's not always so nice to know though.. after I read J M Barrie's biography I was no longer thrilled with the story of Peter Pan.
I cannot honestly remember if I've read The Secret Garden or not. Hmmmm... Like you I've seen a few film/tv adaptations of it and have always liked the story. The idea of finding a secret garden has such a huge appeal. It did in my childhood and it does now.
That is a lovely looking book, all the more so considering the price you paid for it. Wow!
LOL, I realised that I made it sound like a real film! The Painted Garden is a children's book about a girl who stars in a version of The Secret Garden when her parents go to live in the States. She's really fed up about the move and determined to hate everything, so she seems perfect to play Mary, but she's not at all popular with the rest of the cast. I checked, and it seems to have been called Movie Shoes in the US.
This is one of my favorite books ever! I'm glad you read it and enjoyed it!
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