The Secret Garden : Review

THE SECRET GARDEN

Frances Hodgson Burnett (November 24, 1849 – October 29, 1924) was an English–American playwright and author. She is best known for her children's stories, in particular The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, and Little Lord Fauntleroy.

The secret garden, authored by Frances Hodgson Burnett, is a book full of fantasy, magic, and mysteries. It has two main characters- Mary Lennox and Collin Craven. Mary Lennox’s was the daughter of a rich British colonists of India   Part of Mary Lennox’s childhood is spent in India, where she is described as a very ugly, spoilt, ill-tempered and unwanted child. Her mother, an attractive and charming lady, did not like to be bothered by Mary and therefore the ayahs (maids) had been instructed to give Mary everything she wanted and to keep her away from Mrs. Lennox’s sight. Mary’s life took an unexpected turn when her parents died in India due to cholera. She was then shipped off to Yorkshire, England to live with her only living relative, her uncle named Mr. Archibald Craven at Misselthwaite Manor. Life at the manor proved to be more hectic as she did not have ayahs to wait upon her as she had in India. She started learning how do things on her own and also learnt about the amount of fun it was running, skipping and making friends. In India nobody had liked her and she had liked nobody, but now in Misselthwaite Manor she started to like people. She discovered a secret garden which she started taking care of with the help of Dickon, a boy who could charm animals and grow almost everything. Later she discovered that her uncle had a son, her cousin, Collin Craven, who was feared to be a hunchback like his father. Mary enjoyed his company, but thought him to be very spoilt, for he was given everything he wanted in fear of his throwing a tantrum which would end with his having a very high fever. Later, as Collin learns to laugh with Mary and Dickon, his health improves. He too starts visiting the secret garden in...