The Secret Garden

The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Burnett, 1911 Frederick A Stokes Publishing

     Mary Lennox is sent away from her family's pot in India, back to England and her mother's family. But her life with her parents wasn't much: her mother and father were self-absorbed and Mary was raised by servants bent on placating her. The selfish and crude child is sent from a household killed by the local cholera outbreak.
     With her uncle Archibald Craven traveling or cooped up away from both his own son and Mary, Mary is her usual surly self. The housekeeper directs the girl to stay in her rooms. Martha, Mary's maidservant, takes pity on the brat and tells her about the late Mrs. Crave and her walled garden. When Mrs. Craven died in her garden after an accident involving a swing and broken tree branch Mr. Craven locks up the gate in the wall and buries the key.
     Mary soon becomes more genial toward Martha and Ben the gardener. She goes out on the moor and explores the Manor becoming more and more pleasant. Eventually, Mary finds the key to the secret garden. Martha's brother Dickon brings gardening tools and after some time he and Mary become friends.
     Exploring the Manor Mary follows the sound of crying and meets her cousin Colin. Mary and Dickon bring Colin out into the garden where he gains strength. The children grow and develop, each in their own way within the walls of the garden. The effects of clean air and child's play have a remarkable affect on everyone at the Manor with magic and common sense prevailing over the nonsense of contemporary science.