Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Secret Garden
    The Secret Garden
    The Secret Garden
    Audiobook7 hours

    The Secret Garden

    Written by Frances Hodgson Burnett

    Narrated by Josephine Bailey

    4/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    When Mary Lennox's parents die from cholera in India, the spoiled orphan is transplanted to her uncle's 600-year-old gloomy and secretive estate in England. She is certain that she is destined for misery at Misselthwaite Manor. When Mary meets the old groundskeeper, he is the first to tell her what he thinks of her: "We was wove out of th' same cloth. We're neither of us good lookin' an' we're both of us as sour as we look. We've got the same nasty tempers, both of us, I'll warrant."

    However, Mary soon discovers an arched doorway into an overgrown garden that has been locked shut since the death of her aunt ten years earlier. Fate grants Mary access to the secret garden and she begins transforming it into a thing of beauty-unaware that she, too, is changing.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJul 21, 2008
    ISBN9781400178445
    Author

    Frances Hodgson Burnett

    Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849–1924) was an English-American author and playwright. She is best known for her incredibly popular novels for children, including Little Lord Fauntleroy, A Little Princess, and The Secret Garden.

    More audiobooks from Frances Hodgson Burnett

    Related to The Secret Garden

    Related audiobooks

    Children's For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Little House On The Controversy: Laura Ingalls Wilder's Name Removed From Book Award

      Jun 25, 2018

      The Association for Library Service to Children voted unanimously to strike Wilder's name from a major children's lit award over concerns about how the author referred to Native Americans and blacks.

      2 min read

    • Article

      The best-ever ROMANCES

      Jan 7, 2021

      The best-ever ROMANCES
      2 min read

    • Article

      Lost Children

      Aug 4, 2022

      Lost Children
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Art of Fiction No. 251

      Mar 15, 2022

      The Art of Fiction No. 251
      20 min read

    • Article

      We All Have Our Stories

      Mar 1, 2021

      We All Have Our Stories
      14 min read

    • Article

      The Library

      Nov 4, 2021

      The Library
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Last Friend on Earth

      May 4, 2023

      It was as if Doreen Saunders had been waiting for me, passing the time until my arrival. She might as well have been sitting in a rocking chair, knitting needles clicking, jam tarts cooling on the side, the door wide open, waiting for the next visito

      6 min read

    • Article

      Dolly’s Star Turn

      Jul 12, 2023

      Dolly’s Star Turn
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Puzzle Of PETER

      Jul 21, 2021

      The Puzzle Of PETER
      5 min read

    • Article

      Night Flying

      Aug 2, 2018

      Night Flying
      10 min read

    • Article

      Dolly’s Star Turn

      Jul 12, 2023

      Dolly’s Star Turn
      7 min read

    • Article

      Dolly’s Star Turn

      Aug 9, 2023

      Dolly’s Star Turn
      7 min read

    • Article

      THE Dark Light

      Oct 14, 2020

      THE Dark Light
      9 min read

    • Article

      Motherhood Makes You Obscene

      Oct 1, 2019

      Motherhood Makes You Obscene
      10 min read

    • Article

      Happy Endings

      Sep 1, 2023

      Happy Endings
      5 min read

    • Article

      True Colours

      Mar 1, 2022

      True Colours
      11 min read

    • Article

      Notes on Etiquette

      Mar 1, 2019

      Notes on Etiquette
      10 min read

    • Article

      Elsi, The Strange Maid

      Aug 29, 2018

      Elsi, The Strange Maid
      17 min read

    • Article

      Losing My Rock

      Jun 19, 2019

      Losing My Rock
      5 min read

    • Article

      High Rise

      Aug 6, 2021

      High Rise
      24 min read

    • Article

      The Care-Giver

      Mar 1, 2020

      The Care-Giver
      13 min read

    • Article

      Summer Reading Guide

      Jan 2, 2022

      Summer Reading Guide
      6 min read

    • Article

      Shanda

      Jan 1, 2024

      Shanda
      13 min read

    • Article

      You Can’t Keep A Good Woman Down

      Apr 20, 2022

      You Can’t Keep A Good Woman Down
      8 min read

    • Article

      Love, Family & Arabian Nights

      Jul 14, 2021

      Love, Family & Arabian Nights
      11 min read

    • Article

      Last Love

      Dec 8, 2023

      Last Love
      13 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Secret Garden

    4/5

    6,467 ratings242 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      I haven't read The Secret Garden since I was a child, to the point where I probably remember the 1993 movie better than the book. The January ONTD challenge is to read a book that is being turned into a movie or television show in 2020 and it seemed like a perfect time to re-read The Secret Garden.

      And I'm so glad I did. The story is so simple, yet never boring.

      I love the main theme of rejuvenation, rebirth, and that Mary and Colin grow as quickly and as naturally as the flora and fauna in their secret garden.
    • 5/5
      Amazing illustrations!
    • 4/5
      I loved this as a child and reading it as an adult was a treat. A must read.
    • 5/5
      This book cured my depression. Good reading by the narrator too.
    • 4/5
      A very sweet, and well written book. A perfect read for February/March/April, and fits the transition from winter to summer. I just disliked Colin so much, that it weighed down my opinion of the book. In the middle of the book you find colin and, after that the focus on Mary disappears almost completely. I was very displeased with that, because she was in sort the main character. That said it is a book that makes you very happy, and makes you think about being outside more.
    • 5/5
      One of my favorite childhood books, about a young girl named Mary who is sent to live with her recluse Uncle in England after her parents die in India. She befriends her spoiled cousin and a local common boy, and together they discover an abandoned garden.
    • 5/5
      One of my favorite childhood novels is beautifully narrated in this audiobook.
    • 5/5
      I would recommend this audiobook for The Secret Garden. Fantastic narrator!
    • 5/5
      Well read, inspiring story of the power of nature and human relationships to mend a mind.
    • 5/5
      Why did I wait so long to read this classic? The plot of this book centers around Mary Lennox, who came to England to live with a brooding uncle who she has never met as her parents both died of Cholera. She was a most disagreeable child. While there, she discovers her most disagreeable cousin who has been told he is an invalid from birth. She also meets Dicken, a Yorkshire lad who introduces the moor to Mary and her cousin. Just delightful!
    • 5/5
      Very very close to the movie version that I fell in love with as a child. For a classic it is very easy to read and easy to follow. The story is full of magic and a child's wonder. Very entertaining and captivating. Highly recommend.
    • 5/5
      One of my favorite childhood books, about a young girl named Mary who is sent to live with her recluse Uncle in England after her parents die in India. She befriends her spoiled cousin and a local common boy, and together they discover an abandoned garden.
    • 3/5
      Narrated by Finola Hughes. Hughes' pleasant voice was easy on the ears and atmospheric of the story with her British and Yorkshire accents for the various characters. She reads descriptive narrative in a confiding manner, as if being gently gossipy. A gentle listening experience but the outdated attitudes about "blacks and respectable white people" come off as terribly jarring today.
    • 4/5
      Spoilt Mary arrives at Misselthwaite Manor and is befriended by the cheerful maid Martha, but otherwise almost ignored. The book is about her growing health, both physically and emotionally, about another sick child, and about a garden. I ilke the way that the main characters of this book are not very nice people at all, yet I can still empathise and care about them. Some snobbery of course, as was inevitable at the time, but enjoyable for all ages. Suitable for around age 8 or older.
    • 5/5
      “Where you tend a rose my lad, a thistle cannot grow.”An enchanting novel for children and adults alike. Recently orphaned girl Mary come from India to live with her uncle at Misselthwaite Manor - the uncle ignores her begin a long travel abroad - she’s left to herself at the big house close the Yorkshire moor. But when Mary discovers nature at the windy moor, a secret garden, her sick and secluded cousin Colin and the yorkshire boy Dickon a wonderful transformation sets in. Sour Mistress Mary, Quite Contrary - as they call her - begin to appreciate life again.Friendship, fresh air and flora is all it takes. And a little magic. “Sometimes since I've been in the garden I've looked up through the trees at the sky and I have had a strange feeling of being happy as if something was pushing and drawing in my chest and making me breathe fast. Magic is always pushing and drawing and making things out of nothing. Everything is made out of magic, leaves and trees, flowers and birds, badgers and foxes and squirrels and people. So it must be all around us. In this garden - in all the places.”
    • 4/5
      As a young man, many times I felt very much alone, and Burnett's garden came to symbolize a way out of my isolation. In my own life reading became the garden that allowed me to escape and recreate myself - so for me this book resonates on many levels.
    • 5/5
      I read this book when I was like what.... 4th grade? I enjoyed it even though I really don't read classics.
    • 5/5
      A classic story of transformation, for two flawed children, and finally for a grieving adult, set against a delicious backdrop of the moors. Deservedly famous!
    • 4/5
      I read this as a child and loved it. It's a classic.
    • 5/5
      Had this read to me when I was 8 or 9 by my teacher. She was English so was able to get all the accents right in the story and bought it alive. Bought my own copy as an adult and read it again and it was still as good as I remembered. A classic
    • 5/5
      Holy schmoley! I forgot how wonderful this book is!

      My kindergarten teacher gave me a hardcover version when my family moved away, and while I remember reading it, I also remember having a really tough time with the dialect and the Indian words and phrases. And, of course, the significance of Mary being born in India of British parents didn't hit me at all at age seven. Mostly I just remembered that Mary was a brat.

      Then when my husband, daughter, and I moved away from California again, my friend gave my daughter this illustrated edition. My daughter (now seven herself) read it aloud with her dad before bedtime, and they both loved it so much, I picked up the audiobook (read by Finola Hughes) so we could all enjoy it on long car rides.

      The book is delightful by itself, but hearing Finola Hughes' "broad Yorkshire" really helps our Yankee brains to understand the dialect. Inga Moore's illustrations in this edition are beautiful and heighten the whimsy in the story.

      I had forgotten how wonderful this book is. I appreciate the subtlety and innocence of the discussion of "Magic." I especially loved the portion of a chapter written from the robin's point of view. It was a little jarring at first because it was so different from the rest of the book, but once I got my bearings, it really added an interesting dimension. I didn't like so much the chapter written from Mr Craven's point of view. It was less colorful and more difficult to follow than the others, although I understand its importance in illustrating how he made such an abrupt transformation from how he seemed at the beginning of the book. Burnett's treatment of culture is respectful and focuses on the universal elements that connect us all, regardless of our heritage. She treats nature almost like another culture, suggesting that an understanding of nature goes hand-in-hand with understanding other people.

      As I finished one of the later chapters, I found myself impelled to go out to my own garden and weed. I even braved the creepy spider webs and cleaned out the shed. Alas, the book's effect so far has not been enough to get my kids to go outside and work in the garden with me, but I still have hope. I also hope that, if I do manage to get them outside most of the day, they might be less picky about the "victuals" I set in front of them.
    • 5/5
      Superb! I absolutely loved the narrator. It was truly magical to get lost in this story.
    • 4/5
      Mary is an unloved, spoiled, ugly child who is left behind during a cholera epidemic in India. Her parents are dead and she is sent to live with an uncle in England. At first, she hates it there. She slowly begins to spend more time outside, regaining mental and physical strength. Mary learns of a secret garden belonging to her late aunt that is locked. She finds a key and begins to tend to the garden. She hears a child crying in the manor and is surprised to learn that it is her cousin, who is locked away due to a problem with his spine. She takes him to the garden with her and he slowly regains his strength. Her uncle comes home from a business trip to find his crippled son walking.I choose this book because many women important to me claim that it was their favorite book in childhood. The story of Mary and Collin growing strong while tending the garden is an inspiring tribute to the strength of living things.I think this book would be best used in a literature circle paired with other classics. Some children may be drawn to a story about roses and girls, but it might be hard sell to some boys.
    • 4/5
       This charming children’s classic, written by Frances Hodgson Burnett, is worth reading as an adult, even if you read it first as a child. The story vividly and accurately portrays the emotional journey that many third-culture-kids experience, as they confront the reverse-culture-shock of repatriation.Mary Lennox is a nine-year-old, British military brat, born and raised in British Colonial India. The story begins in the midst of a cholera epidemic, which kills both of her parents. When a pair of British officers discover Mary all alone in her parents’ empty bungalow, she is quickly sent “home” to England, to live with an uncle she has never met. Although the “spoilt and sour” demeanor Mary exhibits at the start of the book is certainly in part the result of attachment issues caused by neglectful parents, it is also very clear that many of the things that trouble her about her new home are simply the result of culture shock. And, as is typical for TCKs “returning home” to their passport countries, her ignorance of local customs is perceived as willful insolence, and any mention she makes of “how things were done” in India, is perceived as boastful arrogance.It is only when she begins applying her TCK skills of “foreign” language acquisition (learning to speak the Yorkshire dialect spoken by the local people), studying the details of her new environment (learning to understand an appreciate the strange natural beauty and wildlife of the moor), and working on collaborative projects with local residents (reviving a neglected, secret garden), that she overcomes her grief, and begins to thrive in her passport culture.And the secret to her success? The “magic” of choosing to change her attitude toward the foreign land she now calls home.
    • 5/5
      Beautifully done. Simple straightforward storytelling. with the narrator effectively speaking the characters' voices in a realistic and yet undistracting way. Very moving.
    • 5/5
      Why did I wait so long to read this classic? The plot of this book centers around Mary Lennox, who came to England to live with a brooding uncle who she has never met as her parents both died of Cholera. She was a most disagreeable child. While there, she discovers her most disagreeable cousin who has been told he is an invalid from birth. She also meets Dicken, a Yorkshire lad who introduces the moor to Mary and her cousin. Just delightful!
    • 4/5
      I was in the mood for children's classic / fairy-tale story and this gorgeous edition of "The Secret Garden" fit the bill. I may have read it in childhood but am not sure.
    • 4/5
      I loved this, when I was little. I read it over and over and over and over again, until my copy is basically held together by brown tape. The development of the two spoilt characters always charmed me -- although I think it was the idea of a secret garden in the first place that I really loved.
    • 3/5
      I'd probably give this a 3.5 star rating if that was an option. I enjoyed the book. I did. But it didn't really resonate with me the way it might have had I read it when I was younger.
    • 4/5
      I'm giving away some stuff here as I ramble, so don't read this if you haven't read the story already. It's different from the movie and TV versions I've seen: it's simpler---Colin doesn't wear braces, his father's mood improves on its own. The author spends a lot of time pointing out how and why Mary and Colin become better people: nature and the friendship of another child. Dickon represents something really important---he's a perfect person: I like that the highest and lowliest would both be comfortable with him (as, of course, he would be with them). His mother explains that Colin's "magic" is like other religions and spirituality---all come from and lead to the "Joymaker," with a capital J. In other words, there are many equally valid paths to God. Mary is something like an Elijah figure---Colin would not have improved without her, but she is also improved by being with him. Both Colin and Mary are rich enough to not have to do anything for themselves (Mary can't dress herself) and unloved enough to have never been disciplined. In the beginning of the story, they are spoiled rotten and unkind and, hence, unhappy. Finally, the children live in a world without real disease (except for everyone in Mary's household dying in India) or war or abject poverty. (Dickon's family is poor, but not starving, and his mother is respected by everyone. In fact, the housekeeper of the big estate thinks that his mother would be considered quite intelligent if only she could get rid of her Yorkshire accent.) The story borders on fantasy: does Dickon really communicate with animals; does the robin tell Mary where the key is?I enjoyed the book, I'd recommend to someone having a hard time with grief or just interested in appreciating the wonder of the world through nature.