Underlying book story — recording-specific coverage unverified
Coverage is limited to the scope described in this write-up. Recording changes, further installments or an unwritten ending may remain outside it.
This synopsis covers the underlying book linked to this recording: The Secret Garden. Recording-specific abridgements, added material or adaptation changes have not been verified.
At the turn of the 20th century, Mary Lennox is a sickly, neglected and unloved 10-year-old girl, born in British India to wealthy, self-indulgent British parents. She is cared for primarily by native servants, who spoil her and allow her to become aggressive, self-centred and unpleasant. After a cholera epidemic kills her parents, Mary is left alone when the few surviving servants flee.
Mary is discovered by British soldiers who place her in the care of an English clergyman, whose children taunt her by calling her "Mistress Mary, quite contrary". She is sent to England to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven, husband of her father's sister Lilias. He lives on the Yorkshire Moors in a large country house, Misselthwaite Manor. On arrival, Mary discovers that Lilias is dead and that Archibald is a hunchback.
At first, Mary remains angry and defiant. She dislikes her new home, the people living in it, who do not pander to her as she was in India, and, most of all, the bleak moor on which it sits. Over time, however, she becomes healthier and less cantankerous. She befriends her maid, Martha Sowerby, who tells Mary about Lilias, who would spend hours in a private walled garden growing roses. Lilias died after an accident in the garden ten years previously, and the devastated Archibald locked the garden and buried the key.
Mary becomes interested in finding the secret garden herself, and her manners begin to soften as a result. Soon, she comes to enjoy the company of Martha, the gardener Ben Weatherstaff, and a friendly robin redbreast. Her health and attitude improve.
The robin draws Mary's attention to an area of disturbed soil. Here she finds the key to the locked garden. After her first day exploring, she asks Martha for garden tools, which Martha sends with Dickon, her 12-year-old brother, who spends most of his time out on the moors. Mary and Dickon take a liking to each other. Eager to absorb his gardening knowledge, Mary tells him about the secret garden.
One night, Mary follows mysterious cries that echo through the house. She is startled to find a boy of her own age, Colin, living in a hidden bedroom. She discovers that they are cousins, Colin being the son of Archibald Craven. Colin suffers from fevers and is confined to bed, believed to be unable to walk. Like Mary, he has grown very spoiled, with servants obeying his every whim in order to prevent his hysterical temper tantrums. Mary visits Colin every day that week, distracting him from his troubles and despondency with stories of the moor, Dickon, and the secret garden. She eventually confides to Colin that she has access to the secret garden, and he asks to see it. Colin is put into his wheelchair and brought outside, the first time he has been outdoors for several years.
In the garden, the children are surprised to see Ben Weatherstaff looking over the wall on a ladder. Startled to see the children, he admits that he believed Colin to be "a cripple," with a crooked back and crooked legs. Furious at Ben's comments, Colin rises shakily from his chair and finds that he can stand, although his legs are weak from long disuse. Mary and Dickon spend almost every day in the garden with Colin and encourage him to attempt walking. Gradually, Colin finds renewed hope for his future. Together, the children and Ben conspire to keep Colin's recovering health a secret from the other staff, hoping to surprise his father who is travelling abroad.
As his son's health has improved, Archibald has been experiencing an improvement in his own spirits, culminating in a dream where his late wife calls to him from inside the garden. When he receives a letter from Dickon and Martha's mother, advising him to return to Misselthwaite, he takes the opportunity to come home. Walking around the garden wall, he is startled to hear voices inside. He finds the door unlocked and is astonished to see the garden in full bloom and his son restored to health, having just won a race against Mary. The children tell their story, explaining the restoration of both the garden and Colin. Archibald and his son walk back to the manor together, to the amazement of the servants.
At the turn of the 20th century, Mary Lennox is a sickly, neglected and unloved 10-year-old girl, born in British India to wealthy, self-indulgent British parents. She is cared for primarily by native servants, who spoil her and allow her to become aggressive, self-centred and unpleasant. After a cholera epidemic kills her parents, Mary is left alone when the few surviving servants flee.
Mary is discovered by British soldiers who place her in the care of an English clergyman, whose children taunt her by calling her "Mistress Mary, quite contrary". She is sent to England to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven, husband of her father's sister Lilias. He lives on the Yorkshire Moors in a large country house, Misselthwaite Manor. On arrival, Mary discovers that Lilias is dead and that Archibald is a hunchback.
At first, Mary remains angry and defiant. She dislikes her new home, the people living in it, who do not pander to her as she was in India, and, most of all, the bleak moor on which it sits. Over time, however, she becomes healthier and less cantankerous. She befriends her maid, Martha Sowerby, who tells Mary about Lilias, who would spend hours in a private walled garden growing roses. Lilias died after an accident in the garden ten years previously, and the devastated Archibald locked the garden and buried the key.
Mary becomes interested in finding the secret garden herself, and her manners begin to soften as a result. Soon, she comes to enjoy the company of Martha, the gardener Ben Weatherstaff, and a friendly robin redbreast. Her health and attitude improve.
The robin draws Mary's attention to an area of disturbed soil. Here she finds the key to the locked garden. After her first day exploring, she asks Martha for garden tools, which Martha sends with Dickon, her 12-year-old brother, who spends most of his time out on the moors. Mary and Dickon take a liking to each other. Eager to absorb his gardening knowledge, Mary tells him about the secret garden.
One night, Mary follows mysterious cries that echo through the house. She is startled to find a boy of her own age, Colin, living in a hidden bedroom. She discovers that they are cousins, Colin being the son of Archibald Craven. Colin suffers from fevers and is confined to bed, believed to be unable to walk. Like Mary, he has grown very spoiled, with servants obeying his every whim in order to prevent his hysterical temper tantrums. Mary visits Colin every day that week, distracting him from his troubles and despondency with stories of the moor, Dickon, and the secret garden. She eventually confides to Colin that she has access to the secret garden, and he asks to see it. Colin is put into his wheelchair and brought outside, the first time he has been outdoors for several years.
In the garden, the children are surprised to see Ben Weatherstaff looking over the wall on a ladder. Startled to see the children, he admits that he believed Colin to be "a cripple," with a crooked back and crooked legs. Furious at Ben's comments, Colin rises shakily from his chair and finds that he can stand, although his legs are weak from long disuse. Mary and Dickon spend almost every day in the garden with Colin and encourage him to attempt walking. Gradually, Colin finds renewed hope for his future. Together, the children and Ben conspire to keep Colin's recovering health a secret from the other staff, hoping to surprise his father who is travelling abroad.
As his son's health has improved, Archibald has been experiencing an improvement in his own spirits, culminating in a dream where his late wife calls to him from inside the garden. When he receives a letter from Dickon and Martha's mother, advising him to return to Misselthwaite, he takes the opportunity to come home. Walking around the garden wall, he is startled to hear voices inside. He finds the door unlocked and is astonished to see the garden in full bloom and his son restored to health, having just won a race against Mary. The children tell their story, explaining the restoration of both the garden and Colin. Archibald and his son walk back to the manor together, to the amazement of the servants.
Sources and content license
Source and revision history ↗ · Underlying book identified by the catalog’s explicit book_slug relation. Exact source annotation 427. Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, The Secret Garden. Section headings and formatting adjusted. · Content license