The Secret Garden

During our anniversary trip to Cincinnati last June, Chris took me to Barnes & Noble to pick out some new books. I thoroughly enjoy their Classics series (they have great footnotes, end notes, and commentary), so I usually head straight for their special section. As I stood in front of the display, scanning for my next find, I saw The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, and immediately snatched it up.

Like most, I have read The Secret Garden before, but it has been a while. My love of the book actually comes from my Dad. Growing up, my Dad had the soundtrack for the Broadway music, The Secret Garden, and, to this day, I can still hear the beautifully haunting medleys (Listen here for the opening number, "I Heard Someone Crying").

The plot centers around a young girl, Mary, born and raised in India. Her parents, not exactly thrilled to be parents, ignore and leave her in the care of an Ayah (Hindi for Nanny), and she becomes so terribly spoiled, that, "by the time she was six years old, she was as tyrannical and selfish a little pig as ever lived." Almost as soon as the book begins, Mary is orphaned when an outbreak of cholera plagues her household and everyone she knows has died. She is whisked from India to England to live with her uncle, Archibold Crane, and a new mystery begins.

Upon arrival, Mary soon discovers that Misselthwaite Manor is full of secrets. She learns that her late Aunt Lily tended a beautiful garden somewhere on the grounds, but had been killed after a branch she was sitting on while pregnant broke and fell. Then, while exploring the Manor one rainy day, she hears a faint crying that the household servants tell her to forget. Being curious, she eventually discovers Colin, her sickly cousin (born premature from his mother's fall), shut up in his room and tended to in secret. Colin, like Mary, is spoiled and a terror to anyone who dare bother him. Mary, not intimidated by her cousin, begins to visit Colin and a friendship begins.

Finally, she discovers her aunt's secret garden, and with the help of her governess's brother, Dickon, she begins to bring the garden back to life. During her life in India, she had been sickly and rarely went outdoors, but her new project transforms her physically into a healthy little girl and changes her sour attitude into a kind and happy one. Amazed by her own transformation, she believes that Colin could experience the same kind of transformation if he too could spend some time in the "magical" garden. With the help of Dickon, Mary begins to bring Colin to the secret garden and, in the end, the boy whom everyone thought was crippled from his mother's fall walks to his father (Archibold Crane) for the first time in his life.

When you read, The Secret Garden, it is clear why it is a classic; Beautifully written, it is an intriguing story of a spoiled and lonely young girl who is changed for the better when she begins to care for someone (Colin) and something (the garden) other than herself. Though written in 1911, The Secret Garden is a story that is still relevant. There are still children who are "terrible" because their parents in large part ignore them and give them whatever they want. There are still people who's negative attitudes contribute to what physically ails them. Frances Hodgson Burnett does an amazing job of describing how the depravity of some people, even children, can show in their physical appearance.

However, when you read stories and literature, even ones that seem as benign as The Secret Garden, it is important that you read with discernment. As Mary's health and attitude change, she attributes this change to the "magic" of the garden. This "magic" is then referred to over and over as the story progresses. I first thought, "Well, maybe Burnett is using 'magic' and 'imagination' interchangeably." Upon a little research of Frances Hodgens Burnett, it is clear that this is not what she meant.

Burnett was very much influenced by Mary Baker Eddy and Christian Science movement, which believes that illness was an illusion and that positive thinking could overcome any so-called illness. Sound familiar? In the book, both a sickly and negative Mary, and especially, Colin, are physically healed when their negative thoughts begin to transform.

There are many things wrong with this assertion - first, we know that illness is real. There are many of our friends and family who are dealing with very real, very serious, and sometimes incurable disease. It is insulting and ignorant to assert that it doesn't exist. Secondly, it is a heresy to assert that positive thinking alone has the power to heal. There is only one Healer of our bodies and souls, and that is Jesus Christ. Not to say that positive thinking and a good attitude doesn't aid in physical illness, but, as Christians, we know that we are not in control (thankfully) and that it is the Lord who sovereignly controls our lives and health.

So, does the claim that The Secret Garden "is generally credited with being a Christian Science book" (1) surprise you? To be honest, I was! When I read the book as a young girl, I really had no concept of the Christian Science religion and really wasn't discerning enough to put two and two together. Even as I read the book again as an adult, it took some research to explain my dislike of her use of the word "magic" as it related to the healing.

Now that I know, will I forbid my children from reading this book? No! Why? Because we live in a world filled with bad and dangerous ideas about God and life. I will read this book to my children and have a discussion about what is good in this book and also about what is incorrect. We miss out on a lot of teaching opportunities when we run away from what we should be teaching our children to confront head-on Plus, if I ran away from every Great Book that was theologically incorrect, I would run out of books to read pretty quickly. I am not saying that all books are worth reading, but some, like The Secret Garden, are wonderfully written stories with lots of heart and imagination that provide great opportunities to teach our children (and us) about who God is and what He does. Happy Reading!



NOTE: If you want to be a more discerning reader, but don't have time to research a classic book or its author, Barnes & Noble's Classics editions have great introductory sections that give background on the author, the history of the time it was written, and even a timeline of significant events in the author's lifetime that include personal, literary, and historical happenings that help you to understand the story even more. You can purchase The Secret Garden here from Barnes & Noble for only $3.99 or get the plain book version for FREE for the Kindle here.

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(1) Vivian Burnett, The Romantick Lady, 1927, p.377