From the Classroom: A Secret Haven

Kathy Hargrove

One of childhood’s most beloved books is The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Although this book is almost 100 years old, it is still a favorite, especially of gifted children. You probably remember the story. Mary is a young girl who lives in New Delhi with her parents, who are busy in the society of colonial India and have little contact with her. She is cared for by Indian servants who spoil and indulge her, acquiescing to all of her childish demands. One morning she awakens alone in her nursery—her parents have died in a cholera epidemic and all of the servants have run away. She is sent to England to live with her sad and reclusive uncle, Mr. Craven, whose son, Colin, is confined to a dark and stuffy room and treated as if he is an invalid. As the plot develops, the children make friends with each other and with Dickon, a local boy; learn to enjoy the beauty of the moors; and become healthy and happy. The key to their growth is their discovery of a secret haven—a beautiful walled garden built by Mr. Craven’s wife, who died at the birth of Colin. Mary and Colin find a way into the locked garden and, with Dickon’s help, bring it back to life. In the novel, the rebirth of the garden is a metaphor for the changes that take place in all of the characters’ lives.

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