The Secret Garden

All I can say is that I love this novel.
As I read, I can imagine the flowers and the plants that grow in the garden, and the moor, and the animals that always stick or sit beside Dickon. And oh, the Sowerby's - Martha, Dickon, and their mother - Susan. They're such a wonderful family.
I love everything in the moor, the secret garden, and the Misselthwaite Manor. And Colin Craven, who turned from being a pessimist, into a happy and inspired lad.
Reading this novel relaxes my mind.

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Title: The Secret Garden
Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett

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When Mary Lennox arrives in London she is informed about her new home and her uncle Mr. Archibald Craven. At first Mary is unhappy living in her new home but she soon discovers about her dying cousin Colin and about a secret garden that has been locked up for ten years. After finding the key to the secret garden, Mary decides to mend the garden along with her new friend Dickon. They intend to surprise everyone by making the secret garden come alive again. But will Mary be able to hide their secret for too long?

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Characters:

♥ Mary Lennox - the once sour-looking lass from India who hated the world.

♥ Dickon Sowerby - Martha's brother. He's like an animal charmer. He can talk to animals and feel like he's one of them. He's a wonderful lad who spend his days outside the house with the animals, rain or shine. He's also good at gardening, and is known for being a very trustworthy young boy from Yorkshire.

♥ Colin Craven - Mary's cousin. The young master in Misselthwaite Manor who was believed to die soon, at a young age. Like Mary, he was also a sour-looking lad who hated the world until he experienced the fresh air and the wonderful view of the secret garden.

♥ Martha Sowerby - a housemaid in Misselthwaite Manor who looks for Mary. A nice girl who works to help her mother. And during her day off, she goes home to help her mother wash their clothes and bake for her siblings.

♥ Mr. Archibald Craven - Colin's father, Mary's uncle. The owner of Misselthwaite Manor who travels a lot for many months. He hates to see Colin being so skinny and thought that the child will become a hunchback and eventually die at a young age.

♥ Susan Sowerby - Martha's and Dickon's mother. A wise woman who knows a lot about children, being a mother of fourteen kids. She suggested many things for Mary and Colin that helped them change into a more cheerful children.

♥ Ben Weatherstaff - an old gardener. He admitted that he is like Mary, a sour-looking fella, but he is a pleasant man who works well in the garden.

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Mistress Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells, and cockle shells,
And marigolds all in a row.

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     Mary Lennox grew up in India. There, every thing she laid her eyes upon was unpleasant to her, and life was not exciting. She spent her days hating everything. One time, cholera broke out in their place and many people died including her parents, and all of their workers and maidservants who were not victims of the cholera flee to save their lives from the awful disease. Nobody was left to care for Mary.

       So she was sent to her uncle, Archibald Craven, to Misselthwaite Manor in England. The Misselthwaite Manor was a huge house with hundreds of rooms that were locked up for many years. And there was the moor outside the house. At first, Mary loathed the moor. She said there was nothing good nor something exciting in the moor.

     When she woke up one morning, she saw Martha in her room taking care of the fireplace. She didn't like Martha. But as they talked, and when Martha told her about her mother and her brother, Dickon, Mary felt so eager to meet them, especially Dickon. Martha also told her about the garden who had been locked up for ten years, and the key to the garden was buried somewhere. It was locked because Mrs. Craven loved that garden so much, and when she bare her child, Colin, she died. That's why, Mr. Craven could not bear look at that garden again.

       Martha suggested that she must not spend her days inside the house but have some fresh air outside and play in the moor. So she went outside and there, in the garden, she met Ben Weatherstaff. She looked around and found a tall tree on the other side of the wall in the garden where she stood. She looked for a passage to that other side but couldn't find any door. So she supposed that that was the garden Martha had told her about. The robin redbreast who became her friend guided her to the buried key. And then she found the door. She went into it, closed the door behind her, and was astonished as she looked around the garden which she thought was already dead. So she called it a "secret garden".

        Mary met Dickon. She trusted him so she showed him the garden. Then they began to take care of it, cleaned it, planted flowers, and everything you can do for a garden to bloom again. Mary, who once was a sour-looking child, gained weight and looked more cheerful than ever. The garden was doing good to her health and as well as her demeanor.

       Mary heard someone crying at times during night. One evening, when the rain poured heavily and was "wuthering", she could not sleep, so she got out of her room and heard another cry. She followed where the sound could have come from and she was excited to know who it was. Then she found herself inside the room of Colin Craven. He was nearly emaciated with hollow eyes and long eyelashes. They introduced with each other and talked that night. Like what Mary used to be, he was also a sour-looking lad who hated the world and believed that he would die soon before he reach adulthood. Colin only lies down or sits in his wheelchair. He never tried to stand straight, afraid that he would find out that he will be a hunchback. But this is not true. Mary refused to believe it and encouraged Colin. She told her about the secret garden and the birds and Dickon, who could charm animals. Colin, like Mary, also wanted so much to see Dickon and spend some time in the garden.

     The three of them went to the secret garden, played, raked the soil and planted flowers. The garden was alive again and the spring flowers bloomed with colorful petals. Time spent in the garden was the happiest moment of their lives. They had a lot of fun and for the very first time, Colin tried to stand. He was as straight as Dickon and was quite tall. They rejoiced and had a happy time in the garden. Mr. Craven found out about it and the news was spread all over Misselthwaite Manor.

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The flowers, plants, trees and animals mentioned in this novel

Flowers

♥  crocus  ♥  apple blossom  ♥  lilac  ♥
♥  snowdrop  ♥  cherry blossom  ♥  satin poppy  ♥
♥  narcissus  ♥  iris  ♥  mignonette  ♥
♥  rose  ♥  ivy  ♥  pansy  ♥
♥  lily of the valley  ♥  delphinium  ♥  foxglove  ♥
♥  canterbury bell  ♥  larkspurs  ♥  rock cress  ♥
♥  campanula  ♥  primrose  ♥  forget-me-not  ♥
♥  daffodil  ♥  aquilegia  ♥  silver bell  ♥
♥  lily  ♥  columbine  ♥  marigold  ♥


Plants

♥ fern ♥ potato ♥
♥ cabbage ♥ turnip ♥
♥ carrot ♥ herbs ♥
♥ gooseberry bush ♥


Trees

♥ apple tree ♥ cherry tree ♥
♥ peach tree ♥ plum tree ♥


Animals

♥ robin ♥ fox cub ♥
♥ rook ♥ squirrel ♥
♥ pony ♥ skylark ♥
♥ woodpecker ♥ missel thrush ♥

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♥   (｡◕‿◕｡)   ♥