The Secret Garden

I had to read this novel for me Children and Culture class and it happens to be the first time that I have read this book.

The plot of the novel focuses around Mary Lennox and her adventures in The Secret Garden. Mary's parents are killed in India from cholera and Mary is sent to live with her Uncle in London. Mary is a bratty and spoiled child and gets along poorly in London at first until she is told the story of the secret garden that her Uncle, Master Craven and his late wife tended together. After his wife's death Master Craven locked up the garden and buried the key. Mary, with the help of her robin friend, the first friend she had made in her ten years of life, finds the secret garden. Soon she enlists the help of Dickon, a younger brother to one of the maids of the house who has a way with animals, to help her tend to the garden. Mary also learns that she has a cousin part way through the novel. He never lets anyone see him because he is sickly and since he was born everyone has told him that he is going to be a hunchback and die young. His father won't look at him because his eyes are like his mother's but so sad. The Magic of the secret garden helps Colin realize that he is not as weak as everyone thinks he is and helps him get better. Both Colin and Mary at the end of the novel have also worked out their bratty tendencies a little though there is room for improvement. 

I was not a fan of the novel at all until the Dickon and Colin showed up. It might have been because Mary was isolated most of the time or the fact that she had an awful personality before then, but I almost couldn't stand the book until they were introduced. Especially Dickon, I loved his character, but near the end of the book when it was just description after endless description of the garden I just wanted it to be done. It also bothered me that none of the characters really changed except Mary and Collin. It can be said that they were the only characters that really needed to change, but all the other characters just felt so flat to me that it was hard to get into the story. I know that this is supposed to be a children's novel so a lot of complex characters isn't really what you are going for, but I still think that as a child the repetition would have bored me. 

Overall it was cute, but it isn't going to become my favorite children book. I give it a 3.5 out of 5