The Comfort Book Club / The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
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- čas přidán 30. 03. 2024
- Welcome to March's Comfort Book Club discussion! My Mum, Donna, and I are chatting about this month's book club choice, 'The Secret Garden' by Frances Hodgson Burnett. There are spoilers in this chat, as we're assuming you have read the book if you watch. Special thanks to the readers who sent voice messages for this video, which were included in our discussion: Pippa, Myriam, Laura, Catherine, Marie, Madeleine, Anita and Eriko.
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LINKS:
(affiliate links used for Blackwells)
My general Blackwells link: blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/hom...
The Comfort Book Club upcoming reads: mirandasnotebook.com/about-th...
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (footnoted edition): blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...
Tasha Tudor Secret Garden edition: blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...
Beyond the Secret Garden by Ann Thwaite: blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...
Unearthing the Secret Garden by Marta McDowell: blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...
Anne of Green Gables by L M Montgomery: blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro... - Zábava
I read The Secret Garden at first as a child and loved it. When I became a teacher, I promised myself to read it every year to my students. I did read it for over 30 years to students each year. I read it to my children and now, I will read it to my grandchildren. Thank you Miranda and Donna. Such a lovely choice for a comfort read.
I imagine many of us are here because of that ripple effect from being invited in to share and witness your mother-daughter joy. Thank you for the CBC and for sharing part of your Easter Sunday with us. 💜🐣
Thank you so much for your kind words and lovely support, Pamela! Hope you had a lovely Easter 🐣🌷
Happy Easter to you both! I’m 67 years old and this was my first time reading The Secret Garden. It was truly a joy! Thank you for choosing it for us. 🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷
Dickon is one of my favourite characters in literature. Everyday I go into our cottage garden at this time of year and when I see something new appearing that wasn't there the day before it really feels like magic
I simply loved the powerful message of how healing nature is. How working together to create a garden that is hidden away helps the children to deeply connect with each other and to grow strong. Thank you Miranda and Donna for such a lovely read and discussion.
" To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow."~ Audrey Hepburn.
Thank you Miranda and Ms. Donna. Wonderful discussion. Miranda your outfit is beautiful! Best wishes~ Debbie, NE, Texas
It's so incredibly nice to see the two of you today. :) Thank you. And I hope you have a peaceful Easter.
She lived in a very small, quaint, rural community in New Market, Tennessee, when she first moved to the US. Even today, I think its population is only about 1200. It was predominately a farming community in the 1960s and 70s while I was growing up close by. My hometown of Jefferson City borders it. Later, she met her husband in Knoxville, TN. Sadly, I do not recall learning very much, if any, about her in my English literature or American literature classes. That was a missed opportunity! I absolutely love The Secret Garden.
happy spring🌿🌷🐇☕️🍩🕯️🐣🎀and easter
This is the first time I read The Secret Garden (am adult). I just LOVED and cherish this book. Thank you SO MUCH for bringing it to my attention. A Keeper to be re-read. Mary, Colin and even the gr.father were healed by love and kindness. Of course, good food, exercise, nature also. Love transforms the " unlovable " and deeply hurt/scarred. The positive thinking you referred to brought a scripture to mind: Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue, and if there is anything praiseworthy meditate on these things." Phil.4:8. Thousands of yrs. ago that advice was given for our benefit, to benefit our minds and bodies. This was a wonderful discussion that I thoroughly enjoyed; like everything else on you channel 🤗. Happy Easter and Spring Donna and Miranda!! Spring isn't quite here yet in Michigan.
I'd never thought of the similarities to Jane Eyre. That's so interesting and very true now you've talked of it. I read The Secret Garden for the first time this year at the age of 59. I always thought I wouldn't like it as I remember watching it on TV as a child and not liking it one little bit. But I loved it.. I will e reading this again and again. I'm a new member of your bookclub and I'm enjoying watching all your posts ❤
I have always felt that plants emerging from the earth in spring is a kind of magic. It gives me a joy and peace that is different from anything else I have experienced- strength, promise, beauty, resilience and energy. Frances Hodgson Burnett felt those things too and captured the essence of the life force of a garden in Dickon and later in Mary and Colin. She also reminds us of the value of kindred spirits, purpose, hope and common sense. I have loved this book since childhood and it gets better with every reading.
So enjoyed reading your thoughts, Debbie! xxx
Thank you for this interesting discussion Miranda and Donna, thoroughly enjoyable. ❤
Have always loved this story. A real triumph of love and friendship.
Happy Easter, Miranda and Donna. Full disclosure: I did not have time to read The Secret Garden in preparation for today's discussion. I have read it before though and was paging through my copy illustrated by Tasha Tudor while listening to you. My first exposure to the book was in grade school when Mrs. Smith, my science teacher, read it to us at the end of class every day when we had finished our lesson. She was very astute in her choice as it was wildly popular with both all the girls and the boys. Many years later I encountered someone at a theatre awards ceremony who in her acceptance speech thanked Mrs. Smith from her grade school for having read her class Charlotte's Web, which was the play she had directed and which won her an award. I actually had to find this woman at a break in the program and ask her if she had attended my former elementary school in Detroit, and she had. Sandy was a year ahead of me so apparently Mrs. Smith liked to alter her selection from year to year. Charlotte's Web would have been another excellent choice, but I'm glad we got The Secret Garden.
Thank you soo much. You really brighten my Sunday afternoon. Happy Easter Sunday. 🐇🐣🌼💐🌷
Just discovered your channel. What a blessing, thank you so much.
I never read TSG as a child, but I listened to the audiobook several years ago and really enjoyed it. My son’s third grade teacher is currently reading it aloud to their class! ❤
Happy Easter and Spring! Your discussion is wonderful and all the messages added are so
interesting. This month I was so happy to find a hardcover of The Secret Garden to add to my library. Always enjoy The CBC. Have a wonderful week.😊
Happy to have just ordered Beyond the Secret Garden via your link. Can't wait to receive it! 🌷
I’ve never read this book and I’m 65. I plan to purchase the edition you recommended and remedy this soon. Thank you again.
I will be 62 in a few weeks which means I first read this 54 years ago. Thank you for calling my attention to this after all these years. How fascinating to read this as an adult! So many of the same things leapt out but other more nuanced details came to light as well. It had to have made an impact on my subconscious as I’ve actually made a career out of creating secret gardens for others. Thanks again, Miranda!
How lovely! 🌱🌷
HAPPY EASTER!
Such beautiful ladies always bringing such joy to us ! Thank you so much for I love your table settings and it is ALWAYS so wonderful to see your mom ( mum) ! xo
Happy Easter and Happy Reading ! ❤🐰🐣
Happy Easter Miranda and Donna. The Secret Garden was the perfect pick for spring and the season of renewal. I hadn’t read this for decades. When I read it as a young girl it inspired me to have my own secret corner( not the entire garden) of our garden. Someplace I could hide away and dream and read. Reading it as an adult was a wonderful experience. I agree with all the comments that were sent in but especially the positivity of thoughts. Thank you 🌸🐇🌷🐣
So glad you enjoyed this discussion & that The Secret Garden is such an inspiring book for you, Glenda ❤️
I haven't read The Secret Garden for many years so I will see if my local library has it. Too late for the CBC but this has inspired me to read it again, and the biographies of FHB. I have a book bag with this quote from Cicero
"If you have a garden and a library you have everything you need". 🌷🌳
After watching this vlog.. I realized why I loved “The Secret Garden” so much … a motherless child always crave mothering it’s a very isolating feeling. ..but when a loving person notices us and cares we blossom, we change … I’ve had teachers, friends’ mothers, and even strangers notice that about me and Treat me very kind.. that’s why Martha’s Mother was a favorite but Dickon was my favorite because he’s was kind from the very beginning .. I will read this book every year and I’m going to get myself a Beautiful Copy of it.. I wrote down so much to say but it will make the comment way too long but I saw myself in all three children… Colin’s irrationally fear of illness and ailments that don’t exist just comes from parental neglect, and Mary not being able to dress herself, as a 10 year old .. I lost my Mother as a child and learned a lot of things later that most kids my age already knew and kind Dickon.. I love being kind… thank you So Much Miranda 🥰💕
I’m so glad this book resonated with you so deeply, Kiki! ❤️🥰
Thank you Miranda and Donna for a lovely and insightful discussion of "The Secret Garden". It is my favorite book, for many of the points brought up from you both and the book club messages. With its themes of loss, love, nature, and connection, I think it could mean many varied things for the individual, yet always coming back to a place of love and compassion. Thank you from the U.S, looking forward to April's discussion.
Yeah!!!! Happy Easter 🐣 Miranda and Donna!!! I’m so excited about this comfort reading vlog… I first read “The Secret Garden” TWO DAYS AGO💕💕…. I loved it so much… now I’m about to watch the video… because, I just had to let you know that I ABSOLUTELY loved it…
I'm so glad you loved the book! Happy Easter, and hope you enjoy our discussion 🩷
Rereading The Secret Garden for the umpteenth time and still I enjoyed it just as much. Seeing the characters of Mary and Colin grow and change with the help of Dickon, his animals and the garden bursting into bloom through their work is wonderful. Every year I wait for the crocuses and other spring flowers to appear and it is always a magical time. Dickon's mother is also a special person with great insight as to what the children need, both physically and emotionally. A splendid choice and a great discussion.
Hello Miranda, Donna and everyone, I have wonderful memories of this story from reading it as a child, re-reading it over the years and one magical evening watching an outdoor performance in the tiny but beautiful walled garden of the 15th century timber framed house called Tymperleys in Colchester with my daughter. I can't begin to tell you how special it has been to re-read this book with you in this lovely Comfort Book Club community and to add yet another treasured association with reading The Secret Garden. Thank you, Teresa xx
So glad you enjoyed the discussion, Teresa! 🌷🌱
I teach elementary and middle school ELA at a ‘three day a week’ co-op, and my 5th/6th graders have been reading The Secret Garden. My 3rd/4th graders are reading A Little Princess. It’s been a joy to introduce these Burnett classics to a new generation of readers (and to many of their parents too). The children have really enjoyed the stories, and that makes me so happy!
I have a tradition every Spring. I must read The Secret Garden to celebrate. After all, "it's the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine and things pushing up and working under the earth." It thrills me to my very core and this book speaks to me on so many levels. Thank you !!!!!!
That’s a lovely tradition!
Your new red cardigan looks really lovely with your pretty dress Happy Spring to you both 🎉
Both The Secret Garden and The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery have probably had the most impact on my life out of any literature I've read. While reading The Secret Garden on this go, I couldn't help but see parallels between the two heroines, Valancy and Mary, who both start their respective books rather shriveled and wilted and end up "blooming" into a truer, more healthy version of themselves by the end. I love how Mary's transformation parallels the transformation of the locked garden and likewise Valancy's transformation parallels her butchered rosebush. I was already going to read The Blue Castle every June, but now I think I need to read The Secret Garden every March. Thank you both for creating a space to rediscover this book with so many wonderful readers.
That’s an interesting comparison. I loved doing The Blue Castle for the Comfort Book Club last year 🌷🌱
i love these discussions and enjoyed reminiscing about The Secret Garden which I read as a young girl. I haven't had time to read it again yet, but I have one of the many DVDs which I may watch tomorrow. In my mind's eye I can see the cover of the old paperback version of the book I had, and I've been looking for it online but sadly I cannot find it. It's funny how I can remember this so clearly..... I will keep looking!
Loved the Secret Garden as a child , but my favourite book ever was A Little Princess xxx
Thank you for your celebration of this book on Easter Sunday. It doesn't get better than finding solace in a garden to help enjoy companionship. Blessings from Oxfordshire to you both in your work and togetherness x
Happy Easter!! I just so love your content!! The Secret Garden is such a perfect book to start off the spring season. I’ve also been having a wonderful time reading other books you had recommended for the spring season.( The Enchanted April, The Pursuit of Love… and now Paris, My Sweet..which is making me wonder if a person can gain weight just by reading!!!). Thank you to both you and your mother for letting me see that I’m not the only one who is crazy about flowers and reading within the season I am standing in. Thank you for your love of reading and for putting your excitement out there as a gift to the world.
Happy Easter 😊
Thank you Miranda for suggesting this book. ❤️. It sure is full of Magic! I maybe 65 years old but I am thoroughly enjoying it like when I first did as a child.
My favourite characters have to be Dickon and his dear mum.
Happy new week to you and to Donna too. See you again soon. Take care...Azlina.🌻🌻🌻
Great discussion Miranda! ❤
❤ love the secret Garden and I honestly think that gardening is a legacy that anyone can leave .
I think I already mentioned I read The Secret Garden last spring, but my first experience was watching the 90s adaptation with Maggie Smith as Ms. Medlock. I remember she was more imitating and came as meaner in that movie than the book.
A beautiful discussion! So true about mind and body connection 😊 Enjoy the rest of your holiday xxx
Happy Easter to both of you! 🐰 I love this book, and I loved this discussion. I especially liked your point about the book inspiring people to love gardens. I first read it as a child, and I have always loved to garden. I currently live in an apartment, so I grow orchids on my windowsill. There's something about looking after growing things and being rewarded with blossoms that is very therapeutic. Thank you both of you for this book choice!
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed the discussion. Your orchids sound beautiful 🌸
Also my first time to read this absolutely charming and lovely book. I wish I had it as a child ❤
Thank you for this lovely discussion. The secret garden is now one of my favorite books.
I had such a fun time reading The Secret Garden. Thank you, Miranda and Donna for this lovely discussion. ❤
Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you 🌷🌱
Whata a delightful discussion of The Secret Garden. It is so interesting to hear different perspectives of this story. I particularly like the analogy of tending a garden of the mind. Happy Easter to you both and happy spring.
Thanks so much for your lovely voice message, Marie! xxx
You're so amazing💖💖🥀🌷🥀🌷🌹🌷🥀🌹Thank you❣
I loved re-reading the Secret Garden and the discussion about the book was excellent. Thank you. The therapeutic benefits of gardening are very many indeed and I so agree about how the book was really cutting edge in its day in recognising the links between the mind, body, spirit. I was also so interested to learn more about Frances Hodgson Burnett. That's added an extra layer of understanding to the book.
Happy Spring to you both! As a side note to this wonderful story, there is a lovely adaptation of The Secret Garden made in 1993 starring Maggie Smith...Allerton Castle was used for both interior and exterior shots for the depiction of Misselthwaite Manor and Fountains Hall...Studley Royal Park, both North Yorkshire, and both worthy of a visit!
My sons always used to look for The Secret Garden when we visited! Alas was never found!
😉
It was such a treat to reread this after so many years. I have also read The Making of a Marchioness by FHB. It's available at the Persephone Press, it also explores interesting class issues.
I really enjoyed the idea that as we think so we become, our minds aresuch powerful influences on our physical health.
So lovely to see your mum with you ❤️
Brand new subscriber, as a Canadian, loved your discussion of Anne of Green Gables. I love this book too and am hoping that you would consider reviewing my favourite, A Little Princess, sometime in the future.
Thank you for choosing The Secret Garden for this month's book. It was every bit as lovely to read as an adult as it was when I was a child, and just perfect for Spring.
Thank you so much for your amazing support, Stacey! So kind of you, and I appreciate it so much. Really glad you enjoyed The Secret Garden 🌷🌱
Loved your comparison to Jane Eyre. The father always reminded me of Mr Rochester.
I'm in the Southern hemisphere so read this book in Autumn this year. Really love the start when she's goung for long walks in the cold air. It shows how important it is to get outside in all weather.
(Melanie here) I want to recommend The Shuttle by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It is not as well known but it is a wonderful book.
My mum mentioned the Shuttle in the video - we’ve both read & enjoyed it too.
Happy Easter! I found the comment and discussion about dialect in the book interesting. I totally see the link to Gaskell! I did however wonder if the folk song and dance revival as championed by Cecil Sharp in the late 19th and early 20th century may also have been an influence given that their was a cultural sensibility of the rural simplicity of life. The folk song revival was hugely influential and we see a slew of beautiful illustrated volumes of folk song around this time - the volumes by the artist Eleanor Fortescue Brickdale are exquisite. Apologies for the tangent!!
I forgot to mention that Gaskell references the Folk song Barbara Allen in her number of her novels as a shorthand to describe the protagonists emotional state. I really am going now 😂
I didn’t realize that “The Secret Garden” wasn’t mentioned in Frances Hodgson Burnett’s obituary!
Always felt Rumer Goddens story of an Episode of Sparrows and Secret Garden were deep in my heart and early teen memory
Our school library teacher read us these books and we compared and contrasted the two novels
Then we did Wind in the Willows and an Aussie classic The Magic Pudding
All four have been tattooed into my way of living learning gardening and being
A truly gorgeous beautiful classic story of life and bravery of children amid sorrow and grief
A wonderful Bookclub book
Thank you, miranda and Donna 🙂
Happy Easter Miranda and Donna. I have not read this book unless I did in my younger days!
Thanks!
Thanks so much for your lovely voice message and for your kind support, Myriam! ❤️
Such a joy to listen to your analysis. Thank you both. Cheers
Thank you very much 🌷🌱
I am always puzzled by the green snake 🐍in the beginning of the story when all people around the girl died. I imagined the snake is the Incarnation of the partying mother.
You have so many beautiful copies of books ❤
A wonderful discussion as ever! 😊 Spring really is creeping in now in the U.K. and it was perfect timing for The Secret Garden. I read the edition illustrated by Inga Moore this time and it is enchanting! Thanks so much for a lovely video and Happy Easter to you both!
I love the Inga Moore illustrations too! Happy Easter 🌷
Thanks you as always Miranda and Donna!
Thank you so much for your lovely support, Nicea! It’s much appreciated ❤️
Love you both ❤❤
Sorry I missed the live with Easter- but loved the book, I had seen the movie (1949) and watched frequently, first book read and I loved it - will read again. The book I got had Tasha Tudors illustration and she was famous in America for her gardens, stories and illustration’s. 💕😊 Had tears of joy at the end, a little weepy -
The Comfort Book Club videos are never live! So glad you enjoyed the book 🌷
And I have been doing Comfort Book Club long enough to know that - the world of social media, I do so many zooms with quilt groups and meetup groups, I am starting to have head spinning, am I live or recorded - well I enjoy all the different updates you post and really enjoy the Comfort - on to Ann and Green Gables - loved the red flowers and spring like outfits!!💕
Happy Easter Miranda and Donna 🐣. This is one of my favourite books and it was a joy to reread. This was a wonderful conversation and I will be looking for a copy of that biography 😊
Thank you so much for your very kind and generous support, Sophie! I really appreciate it! So glad you enjoyed the discussion 🌷🌱💕
Miranda and Donna thank you for all the beautiful insights you shared! I especially loved "tending the garden of our minds". Do you have the Mina Lima version of the Secret Garden? And have you seen the movies? There is the somewhat gothic style of Agnieska Holland's 1993 take to the dreamlike one from 2020 that was even adapted to a different time period for a modern "young" generation. I think they pushed the setting to after WWII, which startled me at first. But I read that Keri Wilt (Frances' great great granddaughter) still endorsed it because it opened up the magic to an entire new audience...I could go on and on. But most importantly, Happy Easter to you both! 💖
Thanks! Great discussion about The Secret Garden!
Thank you so much for your lovely support, Carol! I’m so glad you enjoyed the discussion 🌷💕🌱
What a pleasure to reread again!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the reread, Faith, and thank you so much for your lovely support which I very much appreciate 🌱🌷💕
Love The Secret Garden, but can’t wait till Ann of Green Gables. I’ve been trying to read all the Ann books before the discussion.
She’d be cross with you for leaving out the ‘e’ 😉
@@MirandaMills yesss 🫢😂
❤
Happy Easter to both of you! I have enjoyed this discussion. I never read it as a child and was not able to read it yet due to life circumstances but I hope to read it soon. There are so many editions', do you recommend one or two in particular?
Yes, the two editions I featured in the video are favourites.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Secret Garden with you, a book I hadn’t read since childhood. I think reading it as an adult, I definitely appreciate it more and its themes on how nature can heal and inspire. A perfect choice for this time of year 🩷💐
So glad you enjoyed reading along with us, Sarah! ❤️
Thanks!
Thank you so much, Glenda, for your wonderful support! I appreciate it very much indeed ❤️🌷
❤
Thanks!
Thank you so much for your lovely support! It's so kind and generous of you, and I really appreciate it ❤️
Thanks!
Thank you so much for your very kind and generous support, Debbie! I so appreciate it. Hope you're having a lovely Easter ❤️
@@MirandaMills Happy Easter to you and Donna as well 🐣🪻🌷