Alcohol is mentioned again when the groundskeeper at Misselthwaite manor, Ben Weatherstaff, talks about another man being "drunk as a lord" and beating his wife. With no one to care for her, Mary becomes thirsty, drinks an abandoned glass of wine from her parents' dining table, and goes to sleep. Early in the novel, Mary's parents and many servants in the household die of cholera, leaving 10-year-old Mary alone. Mary also takes an unkind, superior attitude toward servants and recalls losing her temper and slapping her Ayah (Indian nursemaid). Indians are referred to as "natives" and "blacks," and Mary is angry and insulted when she's compared to them. That said, it includes some racist ideas about class, colonization, and Indian people. For generations, this 1909 novel has inspired a love of nature and simple pleasures in young readers. Friendship and the restorative powers of nature help the children gain good spirits and health. Jeffrey Masson considers it, "one of the greatest books ever written for children".Parents need to know that Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden is a beautifully written book about two selfish, disagreeable English cousins - Mary and Colin - whose lives and dispositions are transformed when they find their way into a locked, walled garden. Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association named the book one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children." It was one of the "Top 100 Chapter Books" of all time in a 2012 poll by School Library Journal. In 2003, the novel was listed at number 51 on the BBC's survey The Big Read. The book is often noted as one of the best children's books of the twentieth century. With the rise of scholarly work in children's literature over the past quarter-century, The Secret Garden has steadily risen to prominence, and is now one of Burnett's best-known works. Lundin noted that the author's obituary notices all remarked on Little Lord Fauntleroy and passed over The Secret Garden in silence. Tracing the book's revival from almost complete eclipse at the time of Burnett's death in 1924, Anne H. The Secret Garden paled in comparison to the popularity of Burnett's other works for a long period. Marketing to both adult and juvenile audiences may have had an effect on its early reception the book was not as celebrated as Burnett's previous works during her lifetime. The psychoanalytic school in particular continue to emphasize the power of mind over body. The same fundamental struggle continues today though, especially in the area of psychology and mental distress where differing 'schools of thought' prevail. This struggle also existed in the Christian Science movement that Burnett followed. The children, by their own observations, strengthened by the common-sense of Dickon's family, break free of the imposed regime and triumph. Servants and father are seen to do harm by getting caught up in false ideas that come from the doctor who espouses medical practices of the day, though another doctor does take a different view. Wells's short story 'The Door in the Wall' described a similarly transforming secret garden.) The story constitutes a struggle between common sense and the accepted wisdom of the day, in which common sense wins. 2] Using the garden motif, Burnett explores the healing power inherent in living things. 1] The secret garden at Misselthwaite Manor is the site of both the near-destruction and the subsequent regeneration of a family. The garden is the book's central symbol, inspired by Burnett's interest in Mary Baker Eddy's Christian Science theories. She is sent to Yorkshire, England to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven at his home called Misselthwaite Manor. She is discovered alone but alive after the house is empty. Later, there is a cholera epidemic which hits India and kills her mother, father and all the servants. Spoiled and with a temper, she is unaffectionate, angry, rude and obstinate. She was taken care of primarily by servants, who pacify her as much as possible to keep her out of the way. Mary Lennox is a sour-faced, sassy, 10-year-old girl, who is born in India to selfish wealthy British parents who had not wanted her and were too wrapped up in their own lives. Several stage and film adaptations have been produced. It is now one of Burnett's most popular novels, and is considered to be a classic of English children's literature. It was initially published in serial format starting in the autumn of 1910, and was first published in its entirety in 1911. The Secret Garden is a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
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