Green-growing secrets and magic await you at Misselthwaite Manor, now reimagined in this graphic novel adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s tale.

Ten-year-old Mary Lennox arrives at a secluded estate on the Yorkshire moors with a scowl and a chip on her shoulder. First, there’s Martha Sowerby: the too-cheery maid with bothersome questions who seems out of place in the dreary manor. Then there’s the elusive Uncle Craven, Mary’s only remaining family—whom she’s not permitted to see. And finally, there are the mysteries that seem to haunt the run-down place: rumors of a lost garden with a tragic past, and a midnight wail that echoes across the moors at night. 

As Mary begins to explore this new world alongside her ragtag companions—a cocky robin redbreast, a sour-faced gardener, and a boy who can talk to animals—she learns that even the loneliest of hearts can grow roots in rocky soil.

As someone who read The Secret Garden when I was much younger and know that there are certainly problematic elements to the original story (which is purely attributed to the time in which it was written) this was a good example which contained the basic and main plot while shedding those elements. As a good introduction to the story and the overall journey, I felt it was pretty good. The art isn’t as vibrant as I personally would like with a story featuring a garden, but that’s a me thing. I did really enjoy the whimsy in the drawings of flowers and animals, plus the noticeable changes in Mary as she grew over the story.

Happy reading!