The Secret Garden

"As long as you have a garden you have a future and as long as you have a future you are alive"


Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the publication of the story in its entirety, this year is the perfect time to pick up Frances Hodgson Burnett's telling of a contrary orphan, Mary, and discover the delights she finds in The Secret Garden.

Set in Victorian England, the nearly destroyed garden is a symbol for a family that has suffered devasting loss, but is transformed with attention and love. This transformation of the garden and the people in the home is a enchanting story of friendship, love and positive thinking.

I enjoyed the Yorkshire setting of the story as well as the charming characters from the countryside. The descriptions of the animals and the garden were so well told, that I felt I could see them. I highly recommend the pictured edition with illustrations by Tasha Tudor. Not only is Tudor's work always lovely, it fits the story just perfectly.

A children's classic, this story is a treasure for adults as well, as we are invited into a world that we wish still existed.