Book Review: The Secret Garden

Date Finished Reading: January 2013
Ebook Version (Free)

Finally I have time to rewrite my old review of The Secret Garden from my Goodreads account. This book review is important. Apart of a must-read book, The Secret Garden plays important role in enriching classic works at the time. So I am sure some of people who are keen into literature wouldn't miss this one. And I feel the need to make its review. Let's begin!

I read the ebook version of it. *sobbing* I need to save a lot of money to buy the hardback version of it. It is so expensive, yet so beautiful I want to cry. T-T But the ebook version was fine. Well-edited. For your information, if you happened to have an ebook reader application on your smartphone, the ebook version of The Secret Garden is given for free. I am amazed (always) by the beautifully-written lines this book offers you. They give you this idyllic feeling that you would never find in any modern or young-adult genre of books (exactly). That is the only reason I fall hard for this genre.



I am brave to say this book has a genuine plot. As soon as I finish reading it, I can conclude as follows; Mary loses parents, she is left alone, no one loves her, she wanders alone most of her time, she finds some friends, she finds this secret garden, a boy joins her in the garden, this sickly boy gradually gains his health, she gets to know all of the people, the people love her, the end. To be honest, that is not quite as truthful as I thought. Maybe I would explain in a bit more detail of what really happened.

*SPOILER ALERT*

In the care of a sequence of nannies, Mary Lennox is growing up in colonial India. She is 9 years old at the time. She barely knows her parents, which maybe lead you to the reason why she is taken care of a lot of nannies. Her dad is an officer in the British army while her mom is so busy with attending a lot of dinner parties with her nice clothes. She becomes kind of selfish and demanding. She is also self-absorbed. And when her parents suddenly die because of cholera, she is left in the care of her uncle, Archibald Craven.

Her uncle doesn't really care about her arrival. She is left alone in her uncle's huge mansion in England, called Misselthwaite Manor. Lucky she also has nanny to take care of her, Martha, who is a cheery Yorkshire woman. She really educates Mary. martha also tells Mary about two things that probably would give such change to this huge mansion and to Mary herself: First is this walled garden on the grounds which has been sealed off ever since the death of Mary's uncle's wife about 10 years before her arrival. Second is this Dickon, a little brother of Martha who loves gardening. Mary can befriend him, Martha also said.

Mary then discovers this secret garden. She also find the long-lost key and finally opens it up. With her lonely journey, well along with Dickon who knows how to grow roses, they secretly work in the garden for that. Mary stops being a selfish and demanding girl. She gains her mental health. 

But there is another secret to unfold. Mary has been hearing the sound of crying late at night, ever since she arrived in her uncle's mansion. Since it is a huge mansion, Mary strives her best in discovering while at the same time revealing another secret hidden in the Manor. Then she finds out that her uncle, this mysterious Archibald Craven has a son, Colin, who is even more spoiled and sheltered. He has been told his whole life that he is sick until he really swallows that hurtful truth. While in fact, there is nothing physically wrong with him. He only lacks of exercising and embracing the sun. He spends most of the time imagining his sickness, which is not healthy either. This is also the reason why he comes with horrible manners.

The wise Mary then tries her best to make some enclosures to him by giving him some straight talk about bullying behavior. Colin then begins to grow out of his bad behaviors. The plot then continues: Colin, Mary and Dickon help working in the garden before Colin's father, Mary's uncle arrives back in England. Colin wants to surprise him with the healthy version of him and this secret garden.

Colin's father spends so little time at home because he has a deformed spine and he is deeply in love with his late wife, Lilias. When she fell from a tree in the secret garden, she was pregnant with Colin. She went into labor and then died. That is also why Colin's father still can't get rid of his loathe feeling towards Colin. Colin's father then can't stand looking at his own son. He spends most of Colin's life traveling in Europe. 

As for the end, you need to complete it yourself. :) All I can say is, this book helps you grow.

Once I have the book, I would upload it here :)



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