The Secret Garden
Written by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Read by Johanna Ward
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Summary:
Mary Lennox, a spoiled, ill-tempered, and unhealthy child, comes to live with her reclusive uncle in Misselthwaite Manor after the death of her parents. There she meets a hearty housekeeper and her spirited brother, a dour gardener, a cheerful robin, and her willful, hysterical, and sickly cousin, Master Colin. With the help of the robin, Mary finds the door to a secret garden, neglected and hidden for years. When she decides to restore the garden in secret, the story becomes a charming journey into the places of the heart, where faith restores health, flowers refresh the spirit, and the magic of the garden, coming to life anew, brings health to Colin; and to Mary, happiness.
Review:
I listened to this children’s classic by download from the library. It is the first audiobook that I have listened to as an adult, and possibly only the second or third ever.
I am incredibly grateful that I chose to “read” this book in this way. The reader, Johanna Ward, was wonderful. I can’t recommend this version enough.
The story is about two young, spoiled, ill children. The young girl, Mary Lennox, is brought up in India, with disinterested parents and servants who answer to her every whim. Following her parents’ deaths in a cholera outbreak she is brought to England by a her uncle Archibald Craven and is ensconced at Misselthwaite Manor in Yorkshire with only the servants for company.
The maid Martha, and her very wise mother and younger brother Dickon, all play their part in bringing the sickly, spoiled and selfish young girl out into her better self. Then, just as she is beginning to become healthy and gaining a focus outside of herself, she discovers her cousin Colin Craven. He is bedridden, spoiled and self-centred too. Everyone considers him an invalid, doomed to an early death.
Together with the help of the wonderful and magical Dickon the two young children discover the joys of being in the outdoors, exercising their bodies and their minds by having a goal to focus on. They gain much from the garden that becomes the centre of their recovery and the catalyst for their improvement in health and attitude. It provides them with a mental outlet, a physical outlet and a positive focus. On the way through we meet the characters of Ben Weatherstaff, the Robin and the very sad Archibald Craven.
It is a tremendous story of redemption, hope and faith. In the blossoming of the garden, both of the children bloom. As the garden grows and changes, so do the children.
It is uplifting without becoming sappy, and it is easily the loveliest story I have read in a very long time. I unreservedly give this five stars. If you have not read this classic, I would recommend getting the audiobook I have linked to, either from the library or by whatever means at your disposal. The narrator does “Yorkshire” in a way that I could never have managed to hear in my own head as I read to myself. It was a joy to listen to. Not for bedtime listening as I would often find myself being lulled into sleep, though.
A great classic that deserves a place in your home library whether you have children or not.
Review written by Ms Oh Waily
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