While listening to this remarkable book, I found myself frequently breaking out into a smile. I was transported back to the wonder I felt when first reading The Secret Garden as a bookish girl. That deserves 5 stars!

The feels. The negative emotions. The friendship. The cousins. The good and the ill feeling adult characters. The hopeful vibes. The celebration of nature.

I tried picking up this book a few times before but I simply didn’t want to dislike it. So I gave it time, no matter how long it may be as I was determined not to DNF or hate it.

The issue was that I couldn’t stand how the book started with all the negative comments on Indians and their way of living. Some expressions do not sit well with me as I feel they aren’t ideal or fit for the reading age group.

As with her books, some adult characters are real douchbags, selfish and mean for the sake of it.

Many would consider parts of the writing to be racist, sexist and manipulative. Well, the only excuse I may give is that the book was written a long time ago. I will recommend it just for the growth of our main character and one other important child character who has the most impact I say when I read this book.

Not all clouds give us storm and thunder. Likewise, not all the bad parts in the first half continue to be the same in the later half. Things changed for good for our young orphan. She meets a young boy and they share a bond so pure and simple. The title makes a lot of difference when it comes to this second character.

I love the second half so much but I had to go through the rough first part to get the most out of the book.

Is it worth the hype?

Definitely. I would say things start rough and bad, hateful comments, idle adult characters but then everything changes for good when the book ends.

BOOK #23 READ FOR BELIEVATHON ROUND 2.

representation: all the representation is terrible lol but the book has Indian characters, disability rep (spinal disability?).

[trigger warnings are listed at the bottom of this review and may contain spoilers]

★★

Yeah, nah. This was not it lol. Not only was it racist, but it was just plain boring tbh. Maybe if I had more of an attachment to the movie as a kid (my sister used to be obsessed with the movie but I can't remember watching it), I would have felt more of a connection to it, but I just didn't :(

trigger warnings: racism, colonisation, death from cholera, neglect, death of family members, slurs (racial slurs and slurs against a disabled person).

An endearing heart-warming story creating a palpable nature-laden reality, edifying the magical powers of nature and gratefulness for being alive!

It professes the power of living and embracing the beauty around us.

I don't want to limit it as only-children's read, but a must-read for everyone in order to be permeated with positivity and leave all the negativity behind. Many of us delve into negative feelings in different stages of life and end up losing hope. This book should be marked as a must-read whenever hopelessness or hard-hitting times hit us.

"The Secret Garden" is a capsule for keeping negative feelings and toxins at bay! :)

A definite 5-star

NB- I found ther ending abrupt, I wish it was a little bit more beautifully described (wanted it to be hauled around the plush garden) :)

Indeed nature is magical and can make even dead to walk and sing :)

“The cholera had broken out in its most fatal form and people were dying like flies.”

There, is a cheery start to one of the most optimistic novels I have ever read. Occasionally I pick a Librivox audiobook book based on who the reader is, for this version of The Secret Garden, it is read by Karen Savage, one of the few professional level readers who have graciously narrated entire books for Librivox’s public domain audiobooks.
Listen to a sample and you will understand.

I didn’t really know anything about The Secret Garden, the title did ring a bell but I had no idea what it is about. I was hoping it is a garden where weirdness ensues and corpses pile up, perhaps with a trowel embedded. Alas, no, quite the opposite really. Had I known that it is a children’s book I would not have read it, but by the time shockingly nice things happen I was already under the book’s—and Karen Savage’s—spell. I was thinking “looks like I’m in for a nice time, oh dear”.

Like a lot of people today I am somewhat cynical, I think you would have to be insane to think the world is a particularly nice place to live in at the moment. Still, that is what escapism through fiction is all about. So, OK, I’m game, just let me put these on.


That’s better! In this wonderful world that we live in there are often delightful surprises, discount coupons for our favorite snacks, gift cards, terrific free audiobooks etc. (I’ve run out of examples). The Secret Garden is about that, if you look at life with a kind eye and optimism, you will surprise at what the universe will give back to you (especially if you have the glasses I’m wearing). At the beginning of The Secret Garden ten-year-old Mary Lennox is living with her mother in India, lording over the poor natives. One fine morning she wakes to find everybody in her house either dead from cholera or gone off to look for some places without quite so much cholera in them. Fortunately, some British soldiers pick her up and she is soon transported to her uncle’s isolated mansion called Misselthwaite Manor in Yorkshire, pre-Brexit UK. Little Mary is sometimes called “Mistress Mary Quite Contrary” because in those bygone days the term “pain in the ass” has yet to be coined. She basically hates everybody she comes across, mostly due to parental neglect.
“Perhaps if her mother had carried her pretty face and her pretty manners oftener into the nursery Mary might have learned some pretty ways too”

However, she soon finds the lovely clean air of Yorkshire agrees with her, and a nice maid gives her a skipping rope which is “th' sensiblest toy a child can have”. She soon begins to mellow and even find that some people are not so bad.
“I like you, and you make the fifth person. I never thought I should like five people.”. One day when Mary Less-Contrary-Than-Before is skipping around she finds the eponymous locked up secret garden and a little robin helps her finds the key, because that is what robins do. Mary is enchanted by the neglected garden, she sees all sorts of possibilities in it, perhaps it would be a great place to set up a fight club. Soon she meets young Dickon, the brother of her maid Martha, who knows all about gardening and can charm animals (not so much a talent as a bear necessity), soon after making that acquaintance she discovers a young boy living secretly in Misselthwaite. He is Colin Craven, the son of her uncle who owns the mansion. Colin is in a different league of contrariness from Mary at her worst. When he is not shouting, screaming, or throwing tantrums he sulks quietly to recharge his battery for the next mega-brat session. Fortunately, Mary shows him—with a lot of help from Dickon—the error of his ways and even discovers the error of her own ways. Gardening is the key.


As someone who is not keen on gardening (I just don’t dig ‘em) I had to suspend my disbelief that pottering and frolicking about a garden can bring so many psychological and health benefits. Colin is introduced as an invalid and Mary’s secret garden project turns out to be just what the doctor failed to order. If you are a fan of this book you may get the impression that I am mocking it in my 21st century cynical ways, but really I am not. I am quite charmed by the “magical realism” of this book with its semi-Disneyesque animals psychic-linked to Dikon, subtly supernatural goings on, and kids slowly recovering their health and humanity. What’s not to like? It is all very nice and the ending is very pat (if somewhat abrupt) but I don’t need to be a cynic 24/7.

My favorite aspect of The Secret Garden is what  George Eliot describes as “unfolding of the soul” in Silas Marner. It is a wonderful thing when you see it in real life, in fiction—when it is effectively depicted—it can be quite moving and even inspirational. I like how Mary learns to get on and even like people through receiving their kindness and how Colin finds his humanity through making a friend and getting some fresh air. If I was a hypochondriac the idea of gardening would not appeal to me, but I am not a character in this book and I am glad gardening has this therapeutic effect for them.

Finally, I ought to say something about Frances Hodgson Burnett's writing; this is my first experience of it. It is not high literature like Dickens or Austen, but it is a thing of beauty. Deceptively simple yet full of charm, warmth, sincerity and even goodwill to all man. The Yorkshire dialect in some of the dialogue is delightfully written and the meaning is never obscured (some of the harder to guess ones are directly explained). Her style is clearly not for the hardcore cynic, but then if you are a hardcore cynic perhaps you should give it a rest.

Do I recommend this book? Of course I do, either read it or go run about in the sun, it will do you a world of good!
_____________________

Note:
There is an abridged audiobook version* read by nonother than the time traveling and very lovely Jenna Coleman, I have that version too. Our Clara Jen does a very spirited narration, though she does not put Karen Savage in the shade, both of them can stay out in the sun (uh, in a good way. This metaphor is getting out of control!). However, the abridged version is too short for my liking, only about one hour long, so I would only recommend it to Clara lovin' Whovians or Victoria  fans.

*A copy of this review has been automatically mirrored there by the GR Gremlin.

I am so pissed off with this racist author. The story is good and interesting but I cannot read another page about the so-called "natives" and "blacks".
I initially thought Mary spoke ill about India since she is a disagreeable child but even Martha says this -
"Does tha' mean that they've not got skipping ropes in India, for all they've got elephants and tigers and camels! No wonder most of 'em's black"

"In India she had always been too hot and languid and weak to care much about anything."

"When I heard you was comin' from India I thought you was a black too."

"Indian servants are commanded to do things, not asked."

For the umpteenth time, India is not hot. It has different seasons just like any other country has and it is not always hot.

I am surprised to see 5 stars for this book and to see that nobody had any objections to all the India bashing done in this book. I am sure the author never visited India and hence this horrible portrayal of the country. This book was written at a time when India was under British rule but still even in those days, there were authors who liked the good things about India and never did such bashing. This author is prejudiced and does not have a good opinion about the country.

Mary whose nickname is fitting, she is spoiled and disagreeable, the death of her mother and father still leaves her the same, neglected. She is sent to Misselthwaite Manor a 100 room mansion that is surrounded by the gloomy moors to live with her uncle.
Mary encounters many odd things for her, Mrs Medlock, Martha, putting on her own clothes, being told what to do, Ben, a robin, weird crying sounds, Secrets, the Manor, Martha's Mother, gardening, Secrets, skipping rope, a key, Dickon, Secrets, and finally Colin.
Mary learns to love the gardens and adores Dickon, who absorbs life in the country surrounded by the animals and flowers (nature).
Mary finds a hidden room in her uncle’s house where she meets Colin and finds out that she is his cousin and alot like she was when she first arrived, a brat. Colin, who has not left his room since his birth and the death of his mother. He believes what he has overheard, hunchback, ill-fated and death is a given. I believe Mary sees herself in Colin and makes it her mission to help him be a normal boy.

Mary and Dickon decide to take him into the "Secret Garden" to make him feel. The Novel is loaded with life, death, sickness and health, and brings a unique perspective that a child just need to be a child. Mary, Dickon and Colin discover friendship, the beauty of nature and life, all strangers in the beginning.

The beauty of the story is: it does not feel like a Novel written in 1911. I know two boys who play outside, in the sand box, in the dirt, with hand shovels digging, sticks, and bug boxes instead of tablets playing video games. Let the imagination BLOOM!

Some advice? Read this one. Maybe outside in the garden. In a swing on the porch or maybe just in the grass.

Re-read this, after many years, as part of my children books experiment. Several revelations so far: One, the plot is basically JANE EYRE, with an asexual Rochester who keeps, not his wife, but his son, in the attic. Two, it's surprisingly easy to read the characters of both Mary and Colin as being on the autistic spectrum. (Her rudeness; her insensitivity to others, her obsessiveness: his tantrums; his introspection; his obsessions.) Three; the pantheism and everyday magic of the story is a lot more sophisticated than I realized as a child, as is the depiction of Nature and the landscape - quite Bronte-like in its intensity. Unexpected moment of joy: the many occasions on which young Mary exclaims with delight that she is getting fatter - fat repeatedly held up as a positive - a refreshing change from so many of the dysmorphic, anxious young girls of contemporary fiction. One jarring note to the modern reader: Mary's attitude towards the people of India; an uncomfortable reminder of the casual racism and arrogance of British colonialism. Overall, however, a lovely novel, subtle and captivating, that stands the test of time, and more.

Je wil Mary Lennox liever niet te lang in huis. Ze is tien, uiterst arrogant en op z’n zachtst gezegd humeurig. Omdat je met haar situatie te doen hebt — ze is in India haar ouders verloren, breng je het wel op om voor haar te zorgen, maar een heel warm hart draag je haar aanvankelijk niet toe.

Mary wordt naar Engeland gestuurd en in het grote landhuis van haar oom ondergebracht. Heel gezellig is het er niet: er wordt geheimzinnig gedaan over de vele kamers die op slot zitten, over gehuil in de nacht, en over een ommuurde tuin waar sinds het overlijden van Mary’s lieve tante niemand meer is geweest.

Maar dan vindt Mary per toeval de sleutel van die paradijselijke tuin en komt ze te weten wie er huilt in de nacht. Ze verandert gaandeweg in het meisje dat je niet in haar had vermoed: een kind dat je voor altijd en op elk moment in huis zou willen hebben.

‘Wat een mirakels mooie middag,’ zegt Dickon, het broertje van het dienstmeisje, met wie Mary bevriend raakt. ‘Nu ben ik toch bijna dertien jaar en er zitten in dertien jaar heel wat middagen, zou ik zo zeggen, maar ik heb nog nooit zo’n mirakels mooie middag beleefd als vandaag.’

Onder anderen door Dickon leert Mary de schoonheid te zien. De ‘magie’, noemen ze het zelf. Om het goede gevoel en de magie ging het Frances Hodgson Burnett 109 jaar geleden. In het boek wordt het ook letterlijk gezegd: met positieve gedachten kun je verdriet en eenzaamheid en pijn laten verdwijnen.

Deze nieuwe vertaling van Imme Dros frist de klassieker uit 1911 helemaal op. Ondanks een moralistisch vingertje hier en daar is het een geweldige aanrader voor lezers van nu. (Bijvoorbeeld als je ‘Lampje’ van Annet Schaap gretig gelezen hebt.)

Ο Μυστικός κήπος είναι ένα όμορφο παραμύθι, αλλά και πολλά περισσότερα από αυτό. Είναι μια αλληγορική ιστορία που μιλάει για την ψυχή, που όταν της δίνεις ήλιο, νερό, την αγαπάς, ανθίζει σαν τις τριανταφυλλιές του μυστικού κήπου. Τι μπορεί να θέλει ο άνθρωπος περισσότερο από αγάπη;
Μια ιστορία που πρέπει να είναι μέσα στα πρώτα 5 βιβλία που δίνουμε στα παιδιά μας να διαβάσουν.

this is probably magic.

Frances Hodgson Burnett probably made a deal with the devil, or was BFFs with a fairy, or indulged in some light witchcraft.

i can't imagine another way to make a century's worth of indoor kids think hanging out in a garden, being outside at all seasons, and engaging in manual labor on a regular basis sounds fun. no one who reads children's classics is outdoorsy.

but she did it, because i, a kid who had to be forced to spend time in nature, read this book approximately one million times in childhood.

and i'd do it again!

part of that i-review-books-i-read-a-long-time-ago project. either you already know the drill or you should escape while you still can.

Love love love
Also: counting this as my first BookTubeAThon read even if I read only 2 pages during the actual readathon, I NEED ALL THE BOOKS I CAN GET