The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Reviewed by NAKAMURA Yuka

Surprisingly, there were many characters that were a bad-tempered in this book.

The main character, Mary Lennox was a bad-tempered and disagreeable girl. She was not loved by her parents because she was not pretty child.
She was brought to her Uncle Mr. Craven’s house in Yorkshire, so her parents died of disease. Mr. Craven is rich, but he rarely comes home from his wife died ten years ago.
Mary made friends with servant girl and bad-tempered gardener and animals.
At first Mary was lonely, but she gradually opened her heart.
One day she found a key to the secret garden. The secret garden was Mrs. Craven’s garden which has been locked for ten years. Although nobody knew where the key have hidden, Mary’s friend robin showed her.
There were beautiful roses in the secret garden. The roses were still alive.
Everyone concealed Mr. Craven’s son, Colin from Mary. He always stayed in bed because he was illness. He resembled former Mary. She also has been illness, but she owes what she is well to fresh air and good food in Yorkshire.
She took him out to secret garden with her friends.
Colin also got well and he could walk on his own.
Mr. Craven went home and he was very pleased.

An interesting scene is people sometimes speak Yorkshire dialect. I also did not understand the dialect at first, but I wanted to know it as Mary did.
This story is happy end. Please image beautiful rose garden. It is beautiful story, too.