This graphic novel retelling of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic The Secret Garden reimagines protagonist Mary Lennox with well-off but often absent parents who worked in Silicon Valley before their deaths, sending Mary to live with her Uncle Craven in a New York City town house. Uncle Craven is absent, too, traveling often to avoid being in the house where he once lived with his now-deceased husband Masahiro.
Spoilers ahead–but if you’ve read the original, they really won’t be.
Mary meets his grouchy housekeeper Mrs. Medlock and chatty neighbor Martha, and becomes friends with the neighbor’s younger brother Dickon. She befriends the owner of a local bodega, who knew Masahiro, and starts to explore the neighborhood, although she’s not happy that her uncle has neither video games nor a TV.
Strange sounds from the rooftop intrigue her, however, although the rooftop garden has been locked ever since Masahiro had his fatal heart attack there. Mary finds the hidden key to the garden, and enlists Dickon’s help in refurbishing it. Soon, she also discovers her uncle’s son Colin, who lives in isolation on the upper floors of the home. Colin doesn’t come out much because of his anxiety and a lack of parental understanding by his father.
Eventually, though, with Mary’s help and that of a therapist who has been working with him, he joins Mary and Dickon in the garden. Both Colin and Mary begin to work through their feelings over the loss of their respective parents and begin the process of healing, supported by their new friends. Will Uncle Craven (Colin’s father) understand what they have done with the garden, however? Will he accept Colin’s blossoming self and truly welcome Mary into their family?
A lively modern take on the classic, with a thoughtful theme about the different ways people process grief and find new life—and growth—even after loss.
Mary and her family have brown skin. Dickon, Martha, and Mrs. Medlock are White.
