And the secret garden bloomed and bloomed and every morning revealed new miracles.

I have had the movie based on The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett for absolutely ages. And I am talking about early middle school/late elementary school, back in the pre-pubescent years. Yet, for some reason, I never watched this film. It was about a week or more ago now that I stumbled across a picture of the book The Secret Garden online, before that I never even knew that it was a novel! Immediately, my mind remembered that I had this DVD stored in my room and I knew that I had to read the book before watching the movie.

The book, in my opinion, was magical. It was amazing. I have never rated a book with five stars before now but I knew the moment I finished reading that this was a Five Star Kind-Of Novel. From the very beginning I was drawn into this world created my Frances Hodgson Burnett and I never wanted to leave. Per usual, I feel that the book was much better then the film, but I may have a biased opinion. Regardless, whilst reading the book I felt immediate sympathy for the main character, Mary, even though she is presented as a spoiled little girl. I adored every character in the book and, for me, they did not feel flat at all. I feel that the characters are presented perfectly, I was not left with any enormous question and nor was I bored with the extrenuous details. This is not a story about romance but about friendship and trust and secrets and the magic that exists all around us.

The factor that earned this novel five stars, for me, with the descriptive writing. I absolutely adore descriptive writing, I get transported into novels very easily so when there are details describing the scene it is a huge selling point. But do not think this book had pages and pages of details to describe one scene! Merely it painted the backdrop in my mind perfectly. I was suddenly ten years old again and amongst the tendrils of roses hanging from the trees. I ran through the gardens with Dickon and Mary, followed by Soot and the robin in the air.

To me, this book was magical in every sense of the word. It has the magic of believing, the magic that only an innocent soul can have. Yet these innocent, young souls also have felt heartache and hurt before, they have experienced hardships or loss. There are possible deeper meaning to interpret but quite simply, the garden symbolized hope and re-growth to me.

This book carries with it, an important message. It stimulates imagination and shows what perseverance can do. It is a novel that I know I will be reading to my children some day.