The Secret Garden

I am remiss in not reviewing The Secret Garden until now.  This book centers around ten year old Mary Lenox and the day she finds her parents have died of Cholera.  She is taken to her uncle Archibald Craven in England on the moors of Yorkshire.  She goes from having everything she could want (outside of human contact) to a world alien to everything she ever knew.  The people around her now don't put up with her whining and temper tantrums, but they genuinely care about her, and she comes to enjoy them.  Eventually she meets Colin Craven, who has lived as sheltered and spoiled a life as herself.  Together they find the "secret garden" that Colins' mother had loved and together breathe life and love into it.  As they work to make the garden live again, they find their hearts filled with all the love and hope they ever wanted and more.

Audience

I think an eight year old would be safe with the content.  The language is a little old, so probably fifth grade reading level.  The book was written for girls, but all the boys I know have loved it just as much.  I loved it the first time I read it, and still find new things to ponder on each rereading.

What I Love About This Book

Where do I even start?  I always donate this book to battered women's and children's shelters.  The message is taking one of taking your life into your own hands, and filling it with beauty.  I love watching Mary emerge from her shell.  I love the whole message that when you give love, you find yourself filled with love.  The theme statement of the whole book is: Where you tend a rose, a thistle cannot grow.  Every time we add something positive to our lives, or simply maintain the good, that is a space where evil, negativity, and darkness will never find root.

Cautions

1) In talking to others, it seems they did not fall in love with this book unless they knew it as a child.  I can't imagine a world where I didn't know "The Secret Garden."

2) There is some talk of the supernatural.  It is never defined as being God or Indian magic, but both are hinted at.

3) It could be argued this book is slow.  Mary and Colin finding life is the story, there is no surprising little plot twist.