The Secret Garden was first published in 1909. It is one of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s later books and is arguably her most popular work.
Synopsis of The Secret Garden
The story tells of Mary Lennox, an English girl who is born in India and is suddenly rendered an orphan by a cholera epidemic. She is subsequently transported to England, where she lives at her uncle’s house on the Yorkshire moors.
Spoiled young Mary is soon altered for the better when she comes across a mysterious garden, which has been locked up for ten years. She finds herself making friends for the first time in her life including a local boy, Dickon, who has an affinity with animals. One night, Mary befriends a crying boy, Colin, who is just as spoiled and cantankerous as she once was. However, the beauty of the garden soon transforms Colin, too.
Style and Theme of the Novel
The style of the book is very much indicative of its era. Passages such as “What Ben Weatherstaff did Mary thought queer beyond measure. He choked and gulped and suddenly tears ran down his weather-wrinkled cheeks as he struck his old hands together.” read rather awkwardly and quirky to a modern audience, but there is something very endearing in the simplicity of the novel and its narrative.
At its most simple, The Secret Garden is an exploration of the powerful effects of nature upon human beings. It is also a celebration of nature’s beauty, and it could be argued that it examines the wonder of all living things’ capacity for survival. In a way, the garden can be seen as a metaphorical representation of Colin.
One of the interesting aspects of The Secret Garden is that it is strangely secular in a time of devout religious beliefs. There is unmistakable evidence of spirituality within the novel, but it is the spirituality of nature, imagination and positive thought. These things are symptomatic of Hodgson Burnett’s advocacy of Christian Science.
Biography of Frances Hodgson Burnett
Frances Hodgson Burnett was born in Manchester on the 24th of November, 1849. She had four siblings, whom her mother had to raise alone after their father’s death. In 1865, the Hodgson family moved to Tennessee.
After her mother’s death, in 1867, Frances had to provide for her two younger siblings and herself. So, she began to write. First having short stories published in magazines and later her first novel, The Lass O’ Lowrie’s, was published. Her most famous works are Little Lord Fauntleroy (1886), A Little Princess (1905) and The Secret Garden (1909)
She married Dr Swan Burnett at the age of twenty-four and married for a second time at fifty-one, to Stephen Townsend. Hodgson Burnett had two sons, Lionel and Vivian. Legend has it that Vivian’s curls inspired the hairstyle of Little Lord Fauntleroy. Tragically, Lionel died at just sixteen and subsequently Hodgson Burnett fell into a deep depression from which she never truly recovered. She died in 1924, at the age of seventy-four. She was buried in New York at the Roslyn Cemetery.
Modern Adaptations of The Secret Garden
The Secret Garden has remained popular since its first publication and has subsequently been the inspiration for many other works. In 1995, Susan Moody penned an unofficial sequel to the novel. It was published under two titles, Return to the Secret Garden and Misselthwaite: the Sequel to the Secret Garden. Moody’s story tracks Mary, Colin and Dickon as they grow into adults.
The novel has also been adapted for the big and small screen on numerous occasions including the 1993 film, starring Kate Maberly and Maggie Smith.
Furthermore, the book was transformed into a Tony Award winning stage musical in 1991, by Pulitzer Prize winner Marsha Norman.
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