Publishers Weekly
07/05/2021
With this consideration of the English novelist Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849–1924), garden historian McDowell (Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life) continues tripping down the verdant paths of writer-gardeners to study the ways plants informed their creations. Burnett, who wrote more than 50 novels, had four gardens: “a lost one in Kent, a fictional one in Yorkshire, and her last two gardens on Long Island and Bermuda.” McDowell explains how Burnett based the garden in The Secret Garden on the first one she had created at Maytham Hall in England. In this garden “of her own invention,” she planted roses and trained them up the walls, and hired a gardener, very like Weatherstaff in her novel. When Maytham’s owner sold the hall, Burnett returned bereft to New York, where she had spent part of her girlhood. “If she had stayed, The Secret Garden might never have been written,” McDowell asserts, because it was created in its memory. In addition to lists of Burnett’s plants, including her beloved delphiniums, McDowell includes Burnett’s posthumously published essay “In the Garden,” and photographs and illustrations add depth and context. Gardeners and book lovers alike will delight in this colorful survey. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
From walled and terraced flower beds can sprout beloved children’s fiction, as the historian Marta McDowell chronicles in Unearthing the Secret Garden.” —The New York Times “Affectionate and informative, Unearthing the Secret Garden is not unlike a garden itself, with its smooth lawns of prose and striking shows of illustration and photography. As in Burnett’s enclosures at Maytham Hall, one is forever turning a corner—or, rather, a page—and coming across a fresh vista.” —The Wall Street Journal “With a sprightly tone, infectious enthusiasm, and a professor’s penchant for scholarly detail, McDowell brings keen insight and critical assessment to the life and works of this beloved author.” —Booklist “This book is for anyone who loves reading or gardening or exploring the history of places and lives entwined.” —Gardens Illustrated “Rich in details, lavish with illustrations, including many from the story’s various print versions, this book is a must-have for anyone whose first horticulture passions were triggered by hat gateway drug to gardening, otherwise known as The Secret Garden.” —The Washington Gardener “Blooming with photos, illustrations, and botanical paintings, McDowell’s gorgeous book opens an ivy-covered door to new information about one of the world’s most famous authors.”—Angelica Shirley Carpenter, editor of In the Garden: Essays in Honor of Frances Hodgson Burnett “McDowell’s beautiful writing and research take us all on an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of a blooming world that has only existed in our imaginations, until now.”—Keri Wilt, motivational speaker and writer and great-great-granddaughter of Frances Hodgson Burnett “McDowell’s blending of this abiding fiction with its author’s real life is safe and sure. New readers—young and old—will be propelled into a faraway enchanted world now magically reawakened more than a hundred years on.”—David Wheeler, editor, Hortus “Unearthing the Secret Garden brings Burnett to life as someone the reader would happily meet, in or out of her various gardens, to sit in the shade with a cheerful robin nearby while talking of roses and flowers and life.” —Bellwood Gardens “Marta McDowell’s gorgeous, deeply felt tribute to the timeless tale. Filled with photographs of the flowers, plants, and gardens that inspired Burnett.” —The Literary Ladies Guide “Marta McDowell comprehensively explores the esteemed author's life before her famous story and after it, and includes a guide to the book itself.” —Bas Bleu “McDowell will help us see how Burnett’s gardens evolved and were influenced by her book before, during and after its publication." —The Start Democrat “This charming book is a must-read for fans of The Secret Garden and anyone who loves the story behind the story.” —The Emporia Gazette
“From walled and terraced flower beds can sprout beloved children’s fiction, as the historian Marta McDowell chronicles in Unearthing the Secret Garden.” —The New York Times “Affectionate and informative, Unearthing the Secret Garden is not unlike a garden itself, with its smooth lawns of prose and striking shows of illustration and photography. As in Burnett’s enclosures at Maytham Hall, one is forever turning a corner—or, rather, a page—and coming across a fresh vista.” —The Wall Street Journal “With a sprightly tone, infectious enthusiasm, and a professor’s penchant for scholarly detail, McDowell brings keen insight and critical assessment to the life and works of this beloved author.” —Booklist “This book is for anyone who loves reading or gardening or exploring the history of places and lives entwined.” —Gardens Illustrated “Rich in details, lavish with illustrations, including many from the story’s various print versions, this book is a must-have for anyone whose first horticulture passions were triggered by hat gateway drug to gardening, otherwise known as The Secret Garden.” —The Washington Gardener “Blooming with photos, illustrations, and botanical paintings, McDowell’s gorgeous book opens an ivy-covered door to new information about one of the world’s most famous authors.”—Angelica Shirley Carpenter, editor of In the Garden: Essays in Honor of Frances Hodgson Burnett “McDowell’s beautiful writing and research take us all on an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of a blooming world that has only existed in our imaginations, until now.”—Keri Wilt, motivational speaker and writer and great-great-granddaughter of Frances Hodgson Burnett “McDowell’s blending of this abiding fiction with its author’s real life is safe and sure. New readers—young and old—will be propelled into a faraway enchanted world now magically reawakened more than a hundred years on.”—David Wheeler, editor, Hortus “Unearthing the Secret Garden brings Burnett to life as someone the reader would happily meet, in or out of her various gardens, to sit in the shade with a cheerful robin nearby while talking of roses and flowers and life.” —Bellwood Gardens “Marta McDowell’s gorgeous, deeply felt tribute to the timeless tale. Filled with photographs of the flowers, plants, and gardens that inspired Burnett.” —The Literary Ladies Guide “Marta McDowell comprehensively explores the esteemed author's life before her famous story and after it, and includes a guide to the book itself.” —Bas Bleu “McDowell will help us see how Burnett’s gardens evolved and were influenced by her book before, during and after its publication." —The Start Democrat
