Reviews

Reading this novel was such an interesting experience because I read it as a young girls and remember loving it. Getting to delve back in, over a decade later, was fascinating because I was able to understand and see the characters in such a different way.

This classic novel follows our MC, Mary, who is orphaned at a young age in India before moving to the Yorkshire Moors to live with her Uncle. Mary was a spoilt and lonely child, before making friends with a local Yorkshire lad and discovering her bed ridden cousin. They bond over a secret garden they discover, striving to bring it back to being beautiful.

As a kid I remember just enjoying reading a book about fellow children. As an adult, there were so many more layers of emotion going on. Pity for Mary, even though she was so rude, because the world she had none had been a rough one in its own way. Wonder at Dickon and his love with the Moors, reminding me of my own roots in Yorkshire. And the Colin, they boy a victim of fathers grief and impatient adults, the epitome of mind over matter.

I do need to mention that the way Indian and coloured people are discussed, is done in a way which degrades and belittles them. In other words, this book does include racism. However, this book is an indication of the time period and social state of the world during which it was written, and I do not hold this against the author.

Reading this was so nostalgic, to a level I don't think I've had before when reading a novel from my childhood. In an almost maternal way, the pages kept turning as I wanted to make sure the characters healed and loved in their own ways. I'm so happy I reread this!