Resumen
Resumen de The Secret Garden
Para quién es
For readers who love gentle stories about children, gardens, animals and the English countryside, and parents who enjoy reading aloud. A tale for anyone drawn to friendship, healing and the power of nature.
De qué trata este libro
The Secret Garden is a novel for young readers by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It was published in 1911, after a run in a magazine, when the author was in her sixties and had a garden of her own. It follows Mary Lennox, a ten year old girl who is sent from India to a huge house in Yorkshire, England, and finds there a garden that has been locked for ten years.
Burnett wrote for children but never talked down to them. Her heroine begins as a sour, lonely, rather unpleasant girl, and the book lets the reader see exactly why. Then it shows, slowly and with humor, how fresh air, hard work, plain food and a few honest friends begin to change her. Along the way it brings in a robin, a gruff old gardener, a boy who talks to animals, and a hidden boy who rarely leaves his room.
In the next quarter of an hour you will hear how the story unfolds, from the empty bungalow in India to the first signs of green in the secret garden. You will meet the main people and hear what the book is really about. You will also hear how Burnett tells it, and what to watch for when you read it yourself. Let us begin with the child who arrives with nothing to love.
En este resumen
- 1A child nobody wanted grows up sourFree
- 2A great house with a secret in it
- 3Martha and the moor wake Mary up
- 4A robin shows her the key
- 5Dickon helps her bring the garden back
- 6A cry in the night leads down the corridor
- 7Colin, the boy who is waiting to die
- 8What the story says about healing and care
- 9How Burnett tells the tale and what to watch
Idea clave 1 de 9
A child nobody wanted grows up sour
The story opens in India, where Mary Lennox is born to a beautiful, pleasure loving mother and a father who works for the British government. Neither parent has any time for her. Servants look after her, and her ayah, her nurse, gives in to every wish so that the child will not cry and trouble her mother. As a result Mary grows up thin, yellowish, and bad tempered.
Burnett is plain about what this does to her. Mary is used to giving orders and being obeyed at once. She slaps her servants and screams at them when she is crossed. She has never played with other children, and she has never been asked to do anything for herself, not even to dress herself.
Then a sudden outbreak of cholera sweeps through the house. Servants fall ill or run away, and one morning Mary wakes to find the bungalow strangely silent. She walks from room to room and finds no one. Her parents are not coming back, and she is a child with no family to turn to.
Soldiers find her alone, and she is passed to people who do not know what to do with her. At last it is arranged that she will go to England to live with an uncle she has never met. His name is Archibald Craven, and he owns a great house on the edge of a Yorkshire moor. Nobody expects the arrangement to be warm.
This opening matters because it sets the measure of the change to come. Mary is not wicked. She is a child who has never been loved and has never loved anything. The rest of the book asks whether that can change, and the answer begins with a house, a moor and a bright, plain speaking maid.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Mary Lennox
- A lonely, disagreeable girl raised in India, Mary comes to live at her uncle's Yorkshire house.
- Colin Craven
- Mary's frightened cousin lives secluded in his room, expecting illness and demanding obedience from the household.
- Dickon Sowerby
- Martha's cheerful younger brother understands plants and animals and helps Mary care for the neglected garden.
- Martha Sowerby
- A frank young housemaid, Martha introduces Mary to Yorkshire ways and tells her about her family.
- Archibald Craven
- Mary's withdrawn uncle and Colin's father owns Misselthwaite Manor and spends much of his time away.
- Ben Weatherstaff
- A gruff gardener at Misselthwaite, Ben befriends a robin and recognizes something familiar in Mary's sourness.
- Mrs. Medlock
- The stern housekeeper escorts Mary to Misselthwaite and expects her to obey the household's restrictive rules.
- Susan Sowerby
- Martha and Dickon's practical, affectionate mother raises a large family and offers thoughtful advice about children.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 83,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 5 h 35 min
- Listening time9 h 15 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary; paperback, hardcover and large print at cost
- LanguagesEnglish and 13 other languages
Questions about The Secret Garden
What is The Secret Garden about?
It is about Mary Lennox, a lonely orphan sent from India to live in a big Yorkshire house. She discovers a locked garden and, with new friends, slowly changes. The book is about care, nature and friendship.
When was The Secret Garden written?
Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel was published as a book in 1911, after it appeared in installments in a magazine. It is a work of fiction and not a true story, though Burnett loved gardens herself.
Who are Dickon, Colin and Martha in The Secret Garden?
Martha is the cheerful housemaid who befriends Mary. Dickon is her brother, a boy who is at home with animals and plants. Colin is Mary's sickly cousin, hidden in a bedroom of the manor.
What is the main message of The Secret Garden?
The book suggests that fresh air, useful work, friendship and hopeful thoughts help both body and spirit to grow. Neglect and fear can harm a person, while care can help bring them back to life.
Is The Secret Garden hard to read?
No. The language is clear and the story simple. It becomes easier as you go, especially when read aloud.