The Secret Garden PDF

Introduction he Secret Garden begins as a sad story. Mary lives in India with her family. When Mary is nine, her parents die suddenly. Mary has no one, so she has to move to England. At first, Mary is i1l and unhappy in England. She has no one to play with. She doesn’t like her dark bedroom. Outsi...

Introduction he Secret Garden begins as a sad story. Mary lives in India with her family. When Mary is nine, her parents die suddenly. Mary has no one, so she has to move to England. At first, Mary is i1l and unhappy in England. She has no one to play with. She doesn’t like her dark bedroom. Outside, however, Mary sees something interesting. What is over the wall in the garden? Why does no one go there? Life becomes interesting when Mary finds the secret garden. Mary learns about the garden. She also learns about the people around her. The garden is not the only secret in her new home. Here are some of the people in the story: Mary Lennox Mary does not have any parents. She lives with her uncle and his family. Dickon Dickon is the brother of a servant at the house. He becomes Mary’s friend. Ben Weatherstaff Ben is a gardener for the house. He likes to talk to the Introduction i vii Mr Craven Mr Craven is Maryisiuncle, Mary does not see him much. Colin Craven Colin is Mary’s cousin. He is an unhappy little boy. He stays in bed and does not go out. What do you think will happen to Mary and the other people? What secrets will Mary learn? About Frances Hodgson Burnett Frances Hodgson Burnett was born in Manchester, England, in 1849. She was the third of five children. When she was a teenager, Frances’s father died. The family left England. They started a new life in Tennessee in the USA. Frances did not want to leave her home in England. This is easy to see in her writing. The children in her books are often unhappy. Frances became successful quickly in the USA. She wrote for magazines. Later she wrote a book about life in Lancashire. This made her famous. For most of her life, she lived in the USA. She married and had children. She continued to write. Frances wrote more than forty books. Many are for children. Frances had the idea for The Secret Garden when she lived in a country house in ErTglfifidTChildif(irf N love the idea of a secret, beautiful place. This story is well loved even today. — 1 An English Girl in India Mary Lennox hen Mary Lennox was a young girl, she lived in India. Her father was working for the government there. She was a sick little child, but her parents did not really try to look after her. Her father was often s ill himself, while her tall, beautiful mother was only interested in going to parties with her friends. Mrs Lennox had not wanted a little girl at all. The day Mary was born, Mrs Lennox told one of the servants undressed her and did everything for her. Because she, never felt well, Mary was very selfish. She also had a terrible s temper. When she did not get . what she wanted, she would cry and scream until someone gave it to her. 10 i that she wanted to see the child as little as possible. So Mary had her own special servant, or ‘Ayah’ as they said in India. Her Ayah dressed her and 4 i The Secret Garden There is no one left Mary was standing in the middle of the nursery whey someone opened the door. It was a soldier and hg looked completely surprised when he saw her. ‘Barney!” he cried out to his friend. ‘“There is a chilq here! A child alone! In a place like this! Who is she?’ ‘I am Mary Lennox,’ the little girl said. ‘I fell asleep when everyone had the cholera. Why does nobody 10 come?’ The young man whose name was Barney looked at her very sadly. ‘Poor child!” he said. ‘There is nobody left to come.’ It was in that strange and sudden way that Mary 15 found out about the death of her mother and father. Everyone had either died or left the house. That was why the house was so quiet. Nobody had remembered Mary. There was no one in the house but herself and the snake. Mary goes to England 20 There was no one left to look after Mary in India, so she; was sent to live with her uncle in England. The wifé of; a soldier travelled with her on the long journey across the sea. ‘Where am I going? Mary asked. 25 “To live with your uncle, Mr Archibald Craven,’ said the woman kindly. ‘They say he lives in a big house called Misselthwaite' Manor. I'm sure you’ll like it there.’ At 30 the railway station in London, servants from Misselthwaite Manor Mary. Her name was Mrs Medlock: one of the came to meet She was a fat \J An English Girl in India } 5 woman with very red cheeks and black eyes. She wore a purple dress and a black hat with purple flowers. Mary did not like her, but she almost never liked anyone. And it was clear that Mrs Medlock did not like Mary. ‘What an ugly little girl she is!’ she said to the soldier’'s wife. ‘And we heard that her mother was beautiful.’ ‘Perhaps she will improve as she grows older,” said the woman. ‘She does look so pale and thin and she never smiles. But children can change so much.’ Mrs Medlock looked again at Mary. The little girl had a thin face and a thin little body. Even her hair was thin and yellow. ‘She will have to change a lot,” she answered. ‘And there’s nothing to improve children at Misselthwaite.’ The two women did not realize that Mary was listening to what they were saying. But Mary had heard every word. She wanted to know more about her uncle and the house he lived in. What sort of place was it? What would he be like? 15 20