Re-read this book on my road trip to Washington DC! Here is the goodreads description:
Mistress Mary is quite contrary until she helps her garden grow. Along the way, she manages to cure her sickly cousin Colin, who is every bit as imperious as she. These two are sullen little peas in a pod, closed up in a gloomy old manor on the Yorkshire moors of England, until a locked-up garden captures their imaginations and puts the blush of a wild rose in their cheeks; "It was the sweetest, most mysterious-looking place any one could imagine. The high walls which shut it in were covered with the leafless stems of roses which were so thick, that they matted together.... 'No wonder it is still,' Mary whispered. 'I am the first person who has spoken here for ten years.'" As new life sprouts from the earth, Mary and Colin's sour natures begin to sweeten. For anyone who has ever felt afraid to live and love, The Secret Garden's portrayal of reawakening spirits will thrill and rejuvenate. Frances Hodgson Burnett creates characters so strong and distinct, young readers continue to identify with them even 85 years after they were conceived.
I have been meaning to re-read this book for a LONG LONG time. My mother read this to me at night when I was a kid and I remember just loving it. It was so magical to me then. I still have my copy of it... looks like it was published in 1988. The copy I owe has fantastic illustrations too. Also.. inside my copy is one of my favorite items from my childhood... a 4 leaf clover!! I found it with my Grandma Rose (who is passed on now) and put it in this book. Funny thing is I had no idea how to press flowers and leaves back then so apparently I just stuck the clover in the book!
EDIT 5/5/2012: I am going to be joining The Book Journey in a The Secret Garden reading discussion!
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Oh, this was one of my very favorites when I was younger. I read it at least 4 or 5 times!
ReplyDeleteI honestly can NOT read classics. They bore me. I think something's wrong with me that I don't like them, but I really can't help it. But your copy looks extremely enticing, compared to mine with size .0000001 font and yellow pages... :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting on my Story Siren post, too, I really appreciated the compliment! :)
That is really neat. How cool to find a little hidden treasure in the pages like that.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful thing to have preserved in your book. And I agree, the Puffin cover is gorgeous.
ReplyDeletewhat a lovely treasure to have both the Tasha Tudor illustrated copy and that wonderful find of the 4 leaf clover with your Grandma Rose !
ReplyDeleteglad you've partied with us today :)
my post is up as well
how wonderful to still have your childhood copy and so many precious memories associated with it.
ReplyDeletei believe the first time I read it it was a cousin's copy and the second time a library copy. this time it was an ebook downloaded off amazon for free but it was originally a guttenberg.org file and I headed over there to grab up half a dozen more Burnette novels. I'm anxious to read the one titled Robin now
thanx for your visit. i final.y managed to read the discussion at Sheila's after midnight last night and leave my comment and then I copy/pasted my comment into my own post as update because I'd said some thing I didn't know I knew/thot until I was writing them.
I started reading the book to my Mom after dinner last night.
Have you ever read The White People by Frances Hodgson Burnett? It's not what you would expect from her but it is really quite good.
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