Do you every have one of those moments where a childhood memory that you had filed away comes rushing back to you in a flash when you hear or see or taste something??  I was at my mom’s house the other day looking thru the bookshelves in her office when i stumbled upon a book from my adolescence that totally transported me to my younger days!  I snagged the book and decided to put it on the “pile of books I want to read” that currently resides next to my bed; thinking it was on the bottom of a list of a few books i’ve been meaning to read..and that i would eventually get to it.

The book, The Secret Garden {written by Frances Hodgson Burnett} was one of my favorites back in the day.  I have the OLD version that has the hand sketched and colored images and the inside cover has all sorts of cool little doodles pertaining to the events in the book…a total classic.  I picked up the book one night with the intention of just flipping thru the pictures to bring back some of those memories…but Folks…I did it again.  Stayed up WAY to late that night getting sucked in to the book I loved so much as a kid.

The Secret Garden starts out telling the story of a young spoiled little girl, Mary, who is waited on hand and foot by servants and has almost no interaction with her uninterested parents.  An outbreak of disease takes the lives of almost everyone in Mary’s house leaving her all alone.  She is finally discovered by soldiers passing through and is sent away to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven.  Master Craven lives on a beautiful large estate, but after his wife’s death, he closed up all of the rooms and is rarely there to enjoy it.  As Mary settles into her new home she hears rumors of a Secret Garden that no one has set foot in for over 10 years.  She decides that she will find this garden and make it her own secret little place.  As the story goes on Mary encounters many interesting characters and eventually grows out of her spoiled little ways.  It’s totally a simple and quick read and completely took me back to my younger days!

Happy Friday & enjoy your reading!

~ Jillian