So here's the thing: The Secret Garden is one of two books leftover from last year that I've been wanting to recap before putting them back on the shelf. (The other is Gone With the Wind.) My original plan was to follow up by watching the movie adaptations before writing my recaps to include some thoughts about how they compare to the books they were adapted from, but you know what? It's December. I've been watching World Cup games since the week of Thanksgiving and now we're thick into my Christmas movie collection, and I just can't have these books carry over into another year. So let's talk about this sweet children's novel today. It was one of my favorite books of 2021.
I read this book in September last year while I was laid up with the COVID. And I can't even tell you how much I loved it. Two years ago in 2020, I finally got around to reading A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett, and it left me determined to read The Secret Garden as soon as possible. I enjoyed A Little Princess, but The Secret Garden is now easily my favorite of the two.
The Secret Garden was published in 1911, a few years after A Little Princess, after being serialized from November of 1910 to August of 1911. It's about a little girl named Mary Lennox who is sent to live with her uncle on the Yorkshire Moors after she is orphaned due to a cholera outbreak in British India where she was born and has lived her whole life to this point. She's only 10 years old, and has lived a neglected existence because her wealthy, self-absorbed parents couldn't be bothered with her care. Mary is a sour, unattractive, rude child when she comes to England, but through the revelation of the beauty of nature, she softens and grows into a lovely little girl. Her friendship with Dickon Sowerby and her discovery of her bedridden cousin Colin add fun to her life and a vital human element to this story.
I recently read a beautiful piece on this book over at Word on Fire, and because I was moved by reading it and also because I could not possibly express these sentiments nearly as eloquently as Haley does, I'm going to link it here and urge you to take a few minutes to read it.
Other than that, I will take a moment to compare the novel to its 1993 movie adaptation which I've seen many times. Unlike with the two adaptations of A Little Princess that I own, The Secret Garden is a much more faithful adaptation of its source material. The only bone I have to pick with it is that I wish Dickon's mother had been a more central character in the adaptation like she is in the book. Other that that, I would highly recommend watching this one after reading the book. In fact, maybe I will have a little Christmas movie moratorium tonight to watch The Secret Garden. (Did anyone see the 2020 adaptation? How was it?)
This book came to me just when I needed it. Sometimes, when I read a beloved children's classic that I missed out on when I was a child myself, I mourn the lost time, but I'm glad to have discovered The Secret Garden when I did. It's found a home on my list of All Time Favorite books, and I'll certainly be reading it again.
We just read an abridged illustrated version of this book to the kids. Awesome. I am going to have to add the unabridged version to the list soon.
ReplyDeleteI didn't even know they had redone the movie in 2020. Did you end up watching it?
I loved this book so much. I also loved A Little Princess, but this one was better in my opinion. And no, I didn't end up watching either of the movie adaptations—the one I own OR the new 2020 one. Maybe now that Christmas is over, I'll watch my '93 adaptation. It's a good one.
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