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The Secret Garden by [Frances Hodgson Burnett]

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Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Secret Garden Kindle Edition

by Frances Hodgson Burnett (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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The Secret Garden is a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett first published in book form in 1911, after serialization in The American Magazine (November 1910 – August 1911).

When Mary Lennox, the unloved, contrary and spoiled ten-year-old, is found alone in the deserted house after her parents’ death, she is sent to live with an uncle whom she has never known.

In Yorkshire, England, at his secluded Misselthwaite Manor, Martha Sowerby, a warm-hearted chambermaid, introduces Mary to the late Mrs. Craven and her private walled garden, which has been locked for years.
As Mary becomes curious to explore this secret garden, will she be able to find the key?

Published more than a hundred years ago, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett is a prominent children’s classic. It is regarded as one of the best works of the twentieth century children’s literature.

Reading age

8 - 12 years, from customers
Print length

221 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Delhi Open Books
Publication date

October 25, 2020
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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. (Ages 9 to 12) --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Soothing and mellifluous, native Briton Bailey's voice proves an excellent instrument for polishing up a new edition of Burnett's story. Bratty and spoiled Mary Lennox is orphaned when her parents fall victim to a cholera outbreak in India. As a result, Mary becomes the ward of an uncle in England she has never met. As she hesitantly tries to carve a new life for herself at imposing and secluded Misselthwaite Manor, Mary befriends a high-spirited boy named Dickon and investigates a secret garden on the Manor grounds. She also discovers a sickly young cousin, Colin, who has been shut away in a hidden Manor room. Together Mary and Dickon help Colin blossom, and in the process Mary finds her identity and melts the heart of her emotionally distant uncle. Bailey makes fluid transitions between the voices and accents of various characters, from terse Mrs. Medlock and surly groundskeeper Ben to chipper housemaid Martha. And most enjoyably, she gives Mary a believably childlike voice. A brief biography of the author is included in an introduction. Ages 6-12.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From AudioFile

This beautifully produced children's classic is narrated by the talented Josephine Bailey, whose voice is musical and elegant. This story of two lonely children finding happiness through their mutual delight in tending a neglected garden includes much dialogue, and Bailey transitions seamlessly from one character's voice to another. She easily distinguishes petulant Mary from fretful cousin Colin and captures the nuances of their wide-ranging, passionate emotions. Bailey's rendition of Colin's tantrum and the cousins' reconciliation is breathtaking. Her good-hearted Dicken, with his broad Yorkshire accent, and gruff Ben Weatherstaff are equally excellent. There are numerous audiobook productions of this story, but Bailey's is surely one of the best. Her sensitive reading makes every minute of this unabridged version fly. J.C.G. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-8-Originally published in 1911, the story of Mary Lennox's transformation from impudent orphan to compassionate friend in the forbidden garden of Misselthwaite Manor has been recorded for a new generation to enjoy. Frances Hodgson Burnett's classic is done justice by the vocal talents of Josephine Bailey. From the start, the narrator's lilting English accent will capture students' attention, but it is her vocal characterizations that will hold it. Abundant dialogue is enhanced with the authentic-sounding broad Yorkshire of the brusque Mrs. Medlock, the talkative Martha, and the crotchety old Ben, contrasted with Mary's precise and proper English. Bailey effortlessly captures the innocence of the young and the world-weariness of the old, while moving seamlessly between the two. There are no sound effects, and they are not needed. The overall aural quality is excellent. While the length of the production may initially scare off some listeners, those who persevere will be rewarded with a rich literary experience.
Leigh Ann Rumsey, Penn Yan Academy, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

CHAPTER I
There Is No One Left

When Mary Lennox was sent to Misselthwaite Manor to live with her uncle everybody said she was the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen. It was true, too. She had a little thin face and a little thin body, thin light hair and a sour expression. Her hair was yellow, and her face was yellow because she had been born in India and had always been ill in one way or another. Her father had held a position under the English Government and had always been busy and ill himself, and her mother had been a great beauty who cared only to go to parties and amuse herself with gay people. She had not wanted a little girl at all, and when Mary was born she handed her over to the care of an Ayah, who was made to understand that if she wished to please the Mem Sahib she must keep the child out of sight as much as possible. So when she was a sickly, fretful, ugly little baby she was kept out of the way, and when she became a sickly, fretful, toddling thing she was kept out of the way also. She never remembered seeing familiarly anything but the dark faces of her Ayah and the other native servants, and as they always obeyed her and gave her her own way in everything, because the Mem Sahib would be angry if she was disturbed by her crying, by the time she was six years old she was as tyrannical and selfish a little pig as ever lived. The young English governess who came to teach her to read and write disliked her so much that she gave up her place in three months, and when other governesses came to try to fill it they always went away in a shorter time than the first one. So if Mary had not chosen to really want to know how to read books she would never have learned her letters at all.

One frightfully hot morning, when she was about nine years old, she awakened feeling very cross, and she became crosser still when she saw that the servant who stood by her bedside was not her Ayah.

“Why did you come?” she said to the strange woman. “I will not let you stay. Send my Ayah to me.”

The woman looked frightened, but she only stammered that the Ayah could not come and when Mary threw herself into a passion and beat and kicked her, she looked only more frightened and repeated that it was not possible for the Ayah to come to Missie Sahib.

There was something mysterious in the air that morning. Nothing was done in its regular order and several of the native servants seemed missing, while those whom Mary saw slunk or hurried about with ashy and scared faces. But no one would tell her anything and her Ayah did not come. She was actually left alone as the morning went on, and at last she wandered out into the garden and began to play by herself under a tree near the veranda. She pretended that she was making a flower-bed, and she stuck big scarlet hibiscus blossoms into little heaps of earth, all the time growing more and more angry and muttering to herself the things she would say and the names she would call Saidie when she returned.

“Pig! Pig! Daughter of Pigs!” she said, because to call a native a pig is the worst insult of all.

She was grinding her teeth and saying this over and over again when she heard her mother come out on the veranda with some one. She was with a fair young man and they stood talking together in low strange voices. Mary knew the fair young man who looked like a boy. She had heard that he was a very young officer who had just come from England. The child stared at him, but she stared most at her mother. She always did this when she had a chance to see her, because the Mem Sahib—Mary used to call her that oftener than anything else—was such a tall, slim, pretty person and wore such lovely clothes. Her hair was like curly silk and she had a delicate little nose which seemed to be disdaining things, and she had large laughing eyes. All her clothes were thin and floating, and Mary said they were “full of lace.” They looked fuller of lace than ever this morning, but her eyes were not laughing at all. They were large and scared and lifted imploringly to the fair boy officer’s face.

“Is it so very bad? Oh, is it?” Mary heard her say.

“Awfully,” the young man answered in a trembling voice. “Awfully, Mrs. Lennox. You ought to have gone to the hills two weeks ago.”

The Mem Sahib wrung her hands.

“Oh, I know I ought!” she cried. “I only stayed to go to that silly dinner party. What a fool I was!”

At that very moment such a loud sound of wailing broke out from the servants’ quarters that she clutched the young man’s arm, and Mary stood shivering from head to foot. The wailing grew wilder and wilder.

“What is it? What is it?” Mrs. Lennox gasped.

“Some one has died,” answered the boy officer. “You did not say it had broken out among your servants.”

“I did not know!” the Mem Sahib cried. “Come with me! Come with me!” and she turned and ran into the house.

After that appalling things happened, and the mysteriousness of the morning was explained to Mary. The cholera had broken out in its most fatal form and people were dying like flies. The Ayah had been taken ill in the night, and it was because she had just died that the servants had wailed in the huts. Before the next day three other servants were dead and others had run away in terror. There was panic on every side, and dying people in all the bungalows.

During the confusion and bewilderment of the second day Mary hid herself in the nursery and was forgotten by every one. Nobody thought of her, nobody wanted her, and strange things happened of which she knew nothing. Mary alternately cried and slept through the hours. She only knew that people were ill and that she heard mysterious and frightening sounds. Once she crept into the dining-room and found it empty, though a partly finished meal was on the table and chairs and plates looked as if they had been hastily pushed back when the diners rose suddenly for some reason. The child ate some fruit and biscuits, and being thirsty she drank a glass of wine which stood nearly filled. It was sweet, and she did not know how strong it was. Very soon it made her intensely drowsy, and she went back to her nursery and shut herself in again, frightened by cries she heard in the huts and by the hurrying sound of feet. The wine made her so sleepy that she could scarcely keep her eyes open and she lay down on her bed and knew nothing more for a long time.

Many things happened during the hours in which she slept so heavily, but she was not disturbed by the wails and the sound of things being carried in and out of the bungalow.

When she awakened she lay and stared at the wall. The house was perfectly still. She had never known it to be so silent before. She heard neither voices nor footsteps, and wondered if everybody had got well of the cholera and all the trouble was over. She wondered also who would take care of her now her Ayah was dead. There would be a new Ayah, and perhaps she would know some new stories. Mary had been rather tired of the old ones. She did not cry because her nurse had died. She was not an affectionate child and had never cared much for any one. The noise and hurrying about and wailing over the cholera had frightened her, and she had been angry because no one seemed to remember that she was alive. Every one was too panic-stricken to think of a little girl no one was fond of. When people had the cholera it seemed that they remembered nothing but themselves. But if every one had got well again, surely some one would remember and come to look for her.

But no one came, and as she lay waiting the house seemed to grow more and more silent. She heard something rustling on the matting and when she looked down she saw a little snake gliding along and watching her with eyes like jewels. She was not frightened, because he was a harmless little thing who would not hurt her and he seemed in a hurry to get out of the room. He slipped under the door as she watched him.

“How queer and quiet it is,” she said. “It sounds as if there was no one in the bungalow but me and the snake.”

Almost the next minute she heard footsteps in the compound, and then on the veranda. They were men’s footsteps, and the men entered the bungalow and talked in low voices. No one went to meet or speak to them and they seemed to open doors and look into rooms.

“What desolation!” she heard one voice say. “That pretty, pretty woman! I suppose the child, too. I heard there was a child, though no one ever saw her.”

Mary was standing in the middle of the nursery when they opened the door a few minutes later. She looked an ugly, cross little thing and was frowning because she was beginning to be hungry and feel disgracefully neglected. The first man who came in was a large officer she had once seen talking to her father. He looked tired and troubled, but when he saw her he was so startled that he almost jumped back.

“Barney!” he cried out. “There is a child here! A child alone! In a place like this! Mercy on us, who is she!”

“I am Mary Lennox,” the little girl said, drawing herself up stiffly. She thought the man was very rude to call her father’s bungalow “A place like this!” “I fell asleep when every one had the cholera and I have only just wakened up. Why does nobody come?”

“It is the child no one ever saw!” exclaimed the man, turning to his companions. “She has actually been forgotten!”

“Why was I forgotten?” Mary said, stamping her foot. “Why does nobody come?”

The young man whose name was Barney looked at her very sadly. Mary even thought she saw him wink his eyes as if to wink tears away.

“Poor little kid!” he said. “There is nobody left to come.”

It was in that strange and sudden way that Mary found out that she had neither father nor mother left; that they had died and been carried away in the night, and that the few native servants who had not died also had left the house as quickly as they could get out of it, none of them even remembering that there was a Missie Sahib. That was why the place was so quiet. It was true that there was no one in the bungalow but herself and the little rustling snake. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

About the Author

Frances Hodgson Burnett lived from 1849 to 1924. She was born in Manchester and lived in great poverty after the death of her father in 1853. She escaped the horror of her surroundings by writing stories and often returned to a rags-to-riches or a riches-to-rags theme. In 1865 her family accepted a relative’s invitation to emigrate to America. They were still poor but the wide open spaces of Tennesssee were better than the slums of Manchester. Frances had to earn money so began writing short pieces for American magazines. In 1873 she married Dr Swan Burnett, and it was under her married name that she became a world-famous children’s writer.

Frances Hodgson Burnett wrote over forty books; the two that are best-known today are The Secret Garden and Little Lord Fauntleroy. In later life she became rather eccentric, turned to spiritualism and mystic cults and took to wearing frilly clothes and titian-coloured wigs – this earned her the nickname ‘Fluffy’.

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From the Back Cover

"One of th' gardens is locked up. No one has been in it for ten years."

When orphaned Mary Lennox comes to live at her uncle's great house on the Yorkshire Moors, she finds it full of mysterious secrets. There are nearly one hundred rooms, most of which are locked, and the house is filled with creepy old portraits and suits of armor. Mary rarely sees her uncle, and perhaps most unsettling of all is that at night she hears the sound of someone crying down one of the long corridors.

The gardens surrounding the odd property are Mary's escape and she explores every inch of them—all except for the mysterious walled-in, locked garden. Then one day, Mary discovers a key. Could it open the door to the garden?

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From the Publisher

What secrets lie behind the doors at Misselthwaite manor? Recently arrived at her uncle's estate, orphaned mary Lennox is spoiled, sickly, and certain she won't enjoy living there. Then she discovers the arched doorway into an overgrown garden, shut up since the death of her aunt ten years earlier. Mary soon begins transforming it into a thing of beauty--unaware that she is changing too.

But Missalthwaite hides another secret, as Mary discovers one night. High in a dark room, away from the rest of the house, lies her young cousin Colin, who believes he is an incurable invalid, destined to die young. His tantrums are so frightful, no one can reason with him. If only, Mary hopes, she can get Colin to love the secret garden as much as she does, its magic wil work wonders on him.

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From the Inside Flap

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Book Description

Mary Lennox is a miserable orphan sent from India live at her uncle's gloomy English manor house. But when she stumbles upon an enchanting secret garden, her life is turned around. Frances Hodgson Burnett's best-loved story is a children's classic. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Review

“It is only the exceptional author who can write a book about children with sufficient skill, charm, simplicity, and significance to make it acceptable to both young and old. Mrs. Burnett is one of the few thus gifted.”—The New York Times --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Review

''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 eighty-five years after they were conceived.'' --Amazon.com, editorial review

''It will rapt most children away, for after fifty years its spell is still as strong; a blend of power, beauty, vivid interest and honest goodness. Yes, if this is magic, it is good magic.'' --New York Times Book Review --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From Kirkus Reviews

In this bad version of a bad idea, the richly developed classic novel has been squeezed into the picture-book format. Resembling the bald summary of an opera plot, the story in its reduced state is all but a clich: An orphaned girl finds a neglected garden and a neglected cousin and restores them both with the aid of the housemaid's young brother. Collier's full-color paintings take advantage of the opportunities for flora and fauna as the garden responds to cultivation and to the turning seasons, but the children's figures seem pasted into the space, and the scenes lack warmth. (Picture book. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08LW3V3G7
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Delhi Open Books; 1st edition (October 25, 2020)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 25, 2020
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1049 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 221 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #63,961 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #7,176 in Action & Adventure Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #7,622 in Action & Adventure Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
10,939 ratings

About the authors

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Paper Mill Press
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Paper Mill Press is proud to present a timeless collection of unabridged literary classics to a twenty-first century audience. Each original master work is reimagined into a sophisticated yet modern format with custom suede-like metallic foiled covers.
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Frances Hodgson Burnett
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Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett (24 November 1849 – 29 October 1924) was an American-English novelist and playwright. She is best known for the three children's novels Little Lord Fauntleroy (published in 1885–1886), A Little Princess (1905), and The Secret Garden (1911).
Frances Eliza Hodgson was born in Cheetham, England. After her father died in 1852, the family fell on straitened circumstances and in 1865 immigrated to the United States, settling near Knoxville, Tennessee. There Frances began writing to help earn money for the family, publishing stories in magazines from the age of 19. In 1870 her mother died, and in 1872 Frances married Swan Burnett, who became a medical doctor. The Burnetts lived for two years in Paris, where their two sons were born, before returning to the United States to live in Washington, D.C., Burnett then began to write novels, the first of which (That Lass o' Lowrie's), was published to good reviews. Little Lord Fauntleroy was published in 1886 and made her a popular writer of children's fiction, although her romantic adult novels written in the 1890s were also popular. She wrote and helped to produce stage versions of Little Lord Fauntleroy and A Little Princess.
Burnett enjoyed socializing and lived a lavish lifestyle. Beginning in the 1880s, she began to travel to England frequently and in the 1890s bought a home there where she wrote The Secret Garden. Her oldest son, Lionel, died of tuberculosis in 1890, which caused a relapse of the depression she had struggled with for much of her life. She divorced Swan Burnett in 1898, married Stephen Townsend in 1900, and divorced Townsend in 1902. A few years later she settled in Nassau County, Long Island, where she died in 1924 and is buried in Roslyn Cemetery.
In 1936 a memorial sculpture by Bessie Potter Vonnoh was erected in her honour in Central Park's Conservatory Garden. The statue depicts her two famous Secret Garden characters, Mary and Dickon.
Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Herbert Rose Barraud (1845-1896) (scan by Phrood) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.
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The GongsTop Contributor: Smart Home

This is NOT "The Secret Garden". It is "A CONSIDERABLY ABRIDGED Cliff's Notes style childrens re-enactment of The Secret Garden

Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2016

Verified Purchase

I should have read the other reviews. Luckily, you are reading this... so move along.

This is NOT "The Secret Garden". It is "A CONSIDERABLY ABRIDGED Cliff's Notes style childrens re-enactment of The Secret Garden". Nowhere in the description did it say that this was not the real book. It's like half an inch think written in 25 pt. font. My 10 year old daughter read it in less than an hour. Her last book.... Little Women. The real one. 800 pages. I promised her she would like this. Instead she just looked at me like..."really?". And I don't blame her. Seller should update the description.

Sorry, but anyone else leaving a higher rating may simply not realize that they received a fraud.

PROS: Very pretty cover. Hardback.
CONS: See everything I wrote above.

608 people found this helpful

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Christine O.

THE BEST Hardcover, Illustrated Edition!

Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2020

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First - Arrived ahead of schedule (2-3 days earlier than quoted)! Hands-down the BEST illustrated and unabridged hard cover, illustrated by Inga Moore. Researched several editions and others’ reviews across the internet were spot-on.

Meets all this criteria, making it an ideal edition for anyone:
1. Hardcover
2. Unabridged (Not a synthesized, easy reader, learn-to-read, edited or watered-down version)
3. Illustrated (nicely)
4. Big enough "read-aloud edition" (not a pocket book)
5. Illustrations, layout, fonts, covers and presentation capture a reader's imagination.

My little kids (5 & 7) have been enjoying my reading a non-illustrated version nightly, but were so excited when this arrived today and are looking forward to tonight’s continued reading moreso now that I have this copy!

66 people found this helpful

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Jean Worsh

Favorite all time children’s book!

Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2020

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Sent this to a great niece who was not familiar with it. I am 82, received my first copy from my mother when I was 8. my daughter now owns it and my grand daughter will as well. I was a 1&2, grade teacher for 30 years, my favorite children’s/, young adult book. I was adopted!

34 people found this helpful

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Helen

Hard to beat a book that is engaging and educational!

Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2017

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I am not really sure how I missed out on this book as a child so I decided to read it with my daughter. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and zipped through it in just a few days. Frances Hodgson Burnett shares some amazing insights into human nature with the reader. My daughter exclaimed at one point, “How can Mary see that Colin is spoiled but not see that she was the same at first too?” Led to some great discussions for sure! I also thought it was amazing that Burnett at times switches between different third person limited perspectives and we even have some of the events in the garden narrated from the point of view of the robin! Such clever writing!

Some reviewers complained about the fact that many of the characters speak with a Yorkshire accent and Frances Hodgson Burnett wrote it phonetically the way the characters pronounced the words. I thought it added to the fun! I tried to speak with the broad Yorkshire accent as I read it out loud and changed my voice for the different characters. My daughter and I both loved it. The Yorkshire dialect was interesting and we have been trying to throw some of the words we learned into conversation such as “wick” meaning alive or lively. From my point of view, that beats trying to throw something modern like “on fleek” into conversation!

43 people found this helpful

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A True Classic

Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2015

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People are naturally inclined to hand out the "instant classic" award to the books they like, but there are only a precious few books that can hold on to such a title for over a hundred years, (this was published in book form in 1911), and still stay fresh, engaging and appealing. This book is the source and template for so many children's lit conventions that it is hard to imagine a library without multiple copies.

You can sample the book as a Kindle freebie or in some other downloadable form, since it's out of copyright and readily available. Then, and better yet, after you read it and discover its pleasures, look for a nice edition to give to each young reader you know. There are easy to read books that are shallow, and there are harder to read books with considerable depth, but this one manages to be accessible to a fairly young reader and yet still loaded with fine writing, style, character, mystery, romance, adventure and inspiration. An excellent choice.

And while you're at it, take a look at Burnett's "Little Lord Fauntleroy". He's gotten a bad rap, (probably as a result of those Fauntleroy suits and haircuts that were the rage in the twenties), but he's actually smart , level headed, and shrewdly decent in unexpected ways. So go and get your Burnett on.

71 people found this helpful

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Mayur Kudalkar

A beautiful story. Highly recommended

Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2017

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I really enjoyed this book. The characters were very well developed. The story was interesting, it was difficult to put down the book. The writing style, the description of events... you name it.. everything is just perfect. Thus it deserves a 5 star rating.

This was my first ever kindle in motion ebook and it was good enough not know what exactly to expect. Say 10-15 pictures with motion in a book with around 21 chapters and over 250 pages. There were very few pages with illustration in motion (not many) and others with sketches of flowers. There were branches on all corners of each page and i loved that as the story proceeds, those blanches are full of leaves and flowers.

I enjoyed reading this book and I hope you do too. Please hit the like button if you found my review helpful. Thank you.

30 people found this helpful

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Dana E. Mastrogianakis

LOVE it!

Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2018

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I LOVE this edition! The cover seems sturdy and has lovely artwork. There are plenty of color illustrations throughout (the style of drawing is not really my taste, but that’s ok). There are fun little details like the fancy upper case letter that begins each chapter, and the little flowers drawn around each page number. The pages are a very light stone/beige color and not stark white, which can sometimes be harsh to the eyes. The “interactive elements” add an exciting touch to the whole book. Anyone of any age (I am 46) who loves this story would love this edition!

25 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Apoorva

A book full of life. A must read!

Reviewed in India on December 29, 2019

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This novel got me me into thinking, if it was possible for a child of unfavourable disposition and health to get any better and live life so willingly in a forthright manner, I would plant a thousand Secret Gardens in every corner of the world. There would be no sickness, or suffering ever!

But on a second note I think maybe there really are a thousand Secret Gardens already and only because it must be a secret, no one can tell. All we need is to believe in 'magic' to uncover them and make them burst forth with energy and spirit that it will become so hard not to live.

This book makes me believe there is magic, even as an adult - not of fairylands or elves but of a kind which can be made quite possible in today's world. There's no better way to end this decade. Cheers Frances H. Brunett!

78 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Author just hates anything about India

Reviewed in India on May 11, 2021

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The Author could have avoided cultural and racial remarks about India. It seems like author hates anything about India. Not only the people, weather but Indian birds as well. The hate seems deep rooted. It actually made me wonder if such attitude was there towards Indian people back in the day. And if author hated so much about India then he/she should have questioned their own British people to why go there if you hate every bit of it, We did not call you for sure.

52 people found this helpful

Carole Wood

A book so badly edited it doesn’t actually make sense.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 24, 2019

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This kindle edition is a disappointment. Sentences which don’t make sense - for example ‘You have to have long past to the hills weeks in the past.” and The infant ate a few fruit and biscuits, and being thirsty she drank a pitcher of wine which stood almost crammed. It become sweet, and he or she did not realize how sturdy it was.“ and similar are found in every page so it’s impossible to make any sense of the book. I’m surprised something so badly edited is allowed to be sold.
I would like to have my money back.

43 people found this helpful

polar bear

If you want this 1956 copy with its DJ it might not be the one sent

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 27, 2017

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A warning for those in hopes of obtaining this particular 1956 edition by The Reprint Society London with its dust cover illustrated by Ernest H Shepard. I read this book during the 1950's as a child & wanted to replace my very scruffy copy with this copy as shown with its dust jacket. Sadly the image of this book may not be delivered by one of the sellers despite being specified as this 1956 copy. I was sent another format 1986 Octopus books ltd which I had not wanted. (I've been extremely fortunate to recently secure an exact copy with its dust jacket from an antiquarian bookseller for a price far more that this one advertise!)
However despite my original disappointment I would urge you to obtain a copy that appeals to you for there are some editions with very nice illustrations too for this classic story is a wonderful read of a nostalgic world that has long disappeared. With the strong elements of children bonding with each other through animals & nature, the transformation of a hidden garden & the endearing company of the robin Frances Hodgson Burnett's story will appeal to any generation.

32 people found this helpful

dizzychicc

bad version of a beloved classic

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 14, 2019

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My one star is for this version of the kindle edition of the book and NOT the story itself. I purchased the actual book but as i struggle at night to read such small print, i decided to download the free version on to my kindle to read in bed. I shouldn't have bothered! whoever edited into kindle form wants sacking, my 10 yr old could have done a better job. Half the book is just text with no spaces.
Marysaid, thegardener, whereis, Marthawent ect... the text is a little muddle also with sentences back to front.
If you are after the kindle edition, pay for it and swerve the amazon classic version at all costs.

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