The Secret Garden
Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849-1924)
Burnett's 1911 classic, and the best-loved garden in children's literature. Mary Lennox, a sour and spoiled child raised in India and left orphaned by cholera, is sent to a great Yorkshire house where she is told nothing and allowed nothing. Wandering the grounds, she finds a walled garden locked and abandoned for ten years, a local boy who talks to robins, and a cousin hidden in a bedroom who believes he is dying. Together they bring the garden back to life, and are brought back to life with it. A book about neglect, growth, and the difference a living thing to tend can make.
Text sourced from Project Gutenberg (public domain in the United States); the Project Gutenberg trademark and license text have been removed on import. Public-domain status determined by the author's death year + 50 years rule.
Table of Contents
- 001 THERE IS NO ONE LEFT When Mary Lennox was sent to Misselthwaite Manor… 2540 words
- 002 "I don't believe you," said Mary; and she turned her back and stuck… 2559 words
- 003 "What is a moor?" she said suddenly to Mrs. 2519 words
- 004 It had not been the custom that Mistress Mary should do anything but… 2503 words
- 005 The bird put his tiny head on one side and looked up at him with his… 2565 words
- 006 "Why did Mr. Craven hate the garden?" she said. She had made Martha… 2513 words
- 007 In all her wanderings through the long corridors and the empty rooms… 2560 words
- 008 Mary looked at it, not really knowing why the hole was there, and as… 2604 words
- 009 She put her hands under the leaves and began to pull and push them aside. 2524 words
- 010 "I've got some of my own," said Martha. 2536 words
- 011 She stayed with him for ten or fifteen minutes longer and asked him… 2507 words
- 012 She quite panted with eagerness, and Dickon was as eager as she was. 2506 words
- 013 "I've got somethin' to tell you," she said. 2531 words
- 014 "I am going to find out what it is," she said. 2512 words
- 015 "It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the… 2517 words
- 016 She was out of the room about ten minutes and then she came back with… 2537 words
- 017 "You are a sly young one to listen and get out of your bed to go… 2506 words
- 018 Dickon looked actually relieved as soon as the surprise died away from his round face. 2530 words
- 019 "I'm not as selfish as you, because I'm always ill, and I'm sure… 2506 words
- 020 Colin gulped and turned his face a little to look at her. 2549 words
- 021 "Did you feel as if you hated people?" "Yes," answered Mary without any affectation. 2556 words
- 022 And then she paused for breath. 2536 words
- 023 "Very good, sir," replied Mr. 2506 words
- 024 "It's been done many a year," answered Dickon. 2519 words
- 025 He walked to the tree and though Dickon held his arm he was wonderfully steady. 2627 words
- 026 And this was not the half of the Magic. 2512 words
- 027 Colin flushed triumphantly. 2544 words
- 028 The morning that Dickon--after they had been enjoying themselves in… 2615 words
- 029 When the boy was walking and running about and digging and weeding… 2510 words
- 030 "Praise God from whom all blessings flow, Praise Him all creatures… 2689 words
- 031 He had traveled far and wide since the day he saw Mistress Mary in… 2532 words
- 032 "How is Master Colin, Medlock?" he inquired. 1859 words