Reading The Secret Garden for the First Time!

The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett is a lovely story about a girl who learns to live a life filled with beauty after her life completely changes. A secret garden, a mysterious wailing sound in the night, and a boy who understands the language of the animals are all aspects to this simple and lovely story.

Over the last several weeks a dear friend and I have been reading The Secret Garden together. Neither one of us had ever read it before, though ironically we had both tried to in the past. I’m so happy that I have finally taken the time to read the book for myself and it was most certainly an enjoyable experience.

In this post I’ll be discussing the different aspects of the book that both strengthen and weaken the story (in my opinion), which I’m very excited to share with you!

My Honest Thoughts on the Writing

There is an old fashioned taste to the writing of this book that I loved from the very beginning! If you know anything about my reading preferences you know that I simply adore classic literature, and the sweet style of writing in this book is a wonderful example of that sort of book. It has a distinct omniscient tone, but it is not lacking in personal details that bring the characters close to you.

I did find myself a little bit surprised near the end of the book with the way the writing suddenly seemed to zoom out and take on a totally distant voice it hadn’t had for most of the story. Not to mention, it began focusing on other characters instead of Mary, which is who the book had been about. This was a moment when I can see how writing styles have changed since then for the better, as it is now less common to find a popular book that makes sudden changes in the voice like this.

But I still really enjoyed reading this book! Although the jump in focus on the writing made me hesitate, I love the rest of the story enough to look past all of it. After all, I would go so far as to say that any book you love is really just you looking past the things you don’t appreciate in favor of the things you do.

Flowers, Flowers, Everywhere!

I’m going to be perfectly honest and admit that one of my very favorite parts of this book was how many details about the garden itself were included. I just love how in depth Burnett goes in describing the unique traits of each flower so that the reader can picture them vividly in their mind.

It’s also quite neat to read about since I’m currently in the middle of writing a flower themed story of my own! While the inspiration for the story did not come from The Secret Garden, getting to read about the many different kinds of flowers at the same time that I was researching them myself made it especially nice. Some flowers that I had never heard of only a month ago now came up for the second time and it was even easier for me to picture them.

Whatever is True…

A theme that kept coming to my attention while reading this book (or maybe it’s just the theme that I’m always searching for in the back of my mind without realizing it) was attention to loveliness. Over the course of the story Mary begins to observe the beauty of the natural world around her, and that beauty fuels her desire for more of it. She spends hours outside breathing in the fresh air and growing more and more aware of the vital goodness found in the landscape.

Although this is not directly mentioned, this reminds me of one of my favorite verses in the Bible, found in Philippians 4:8. ‘Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.’

This book does a wonderful job of revealing the good in the world around us by turning our eyes to loveliness, just like we are told to do in this verse.

Final Thoughts

It was lovely to read The Secret Garden for the first time! I enjoyed the story very much, and the writing was both refreshing and comforting (like any good children’s book). If you love old fashioned stories, or long kept secrets, or wonderful descriptions of gardens then I think you would enjoy this book. It’s the sort of book I’m ashamed not to have read before now.

Have you ever read The Secret Garden? How old were you when you read it and what were your thoughts? Please feel free to share your answers in the comments! 🙂