StoryPDF
StoryPDFThe Secret GardenFrances Hodgson Burnett

The Secret Garden

Frances Hodgson Burnett

Complete text
NovelEnglish

After losing her parents in India, Mary Lennox is sent to her uncle's remote Yorkshire house. Neglected and disagreeable, she begins exploring its unfamiliar rooms and grounds, where a locked garden and the people she meets invite forms of attention she has never practiced.

27 sections80,782 wordsAbout 6 h 7 min
Read nowDownload PDF

About The Secret Garden

The book makes change concrete through weather, appetite, physical work and repeated visits to a place. Mary's learning begins in curiosity rather than formal instruction. Contrasting voices from the household and moor challenge her expectations of service, while shared activity offers a way to relate that differs from simply giving orders.

Reading focus

Track the connection between Mary's attention to growing things and her changing way of treating other people.

This reading edition contains 80,782 words in 27 original sections. Read the text online with adjustable type and three colour themes, or keep a printable PDF.

Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett. Language: English. Reading edition: 28 October 2026.

Opening excerpt

When Mary Lennox was sent to Misselthwaite Manor to live with her uncle everybody said she was the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen. It was true, too. She had a little thin face and a little thin body, thin light hair and a sour expression. Her hair was yellow, and her face was yellow because she had been born in India and had always been ill in one way or another. Her father had held a position under the English Government and had always been busy and ill himself, and her mother had been a great beauty who cared only to go to parties and amuse herself with gay people. She had not wanted a little girl at all, and when Mary was born she handed her over to the care of an Ayah, who…

Read the complete opening section

Contents

All sections
  1. CHAPTER I. THERE IS NO ONE LEFT9 min
  2. CHAPTER II. MISTRESS MARY QUITE CONTRARY13 min
  3. CHAPTER III. ACROSS THE MOOR7 min
  4. CHAPTER IV. MARTHA25 min
  5. CHAPTER V. THE CRY IN THE CORRIDOR11 min
  6. CHAPTER VI. “THERE WAS SOMEONE CRYING—THERE WAS!”11 min
  7. CHAPTER VII. THE KEY TO THE GARDEN10 min
  8. CHAPTER VIII. THE ROBIN WHO SHOWED THE WAY13 min
  9. CHAPTER IX. THE STRANGEST HOUSE ANYONE EVER LIVED IN15 min
  10. CHAPTER X. DICKON18 min
  11. CHAPTER XI. THE NEST OF THE MISSEL THRUSH12 min
  12. CHAPTER XII. “MIGHT I HAVE A BIT OF EARTH?”12 min
  13. CHAPTER XIII. “I AM COLIN”20 min
  14. CHAPTER XIV. A YOUNG RAJAH17 min
  15. CHAPTER XV. NEST BUILDING18 min
  16. CHAPTER XVI. “I WON’T!” SAID MARY11 min
  17. CHAPTER XVII. A TANTRUM11 min
  18. CHAPTER XVIII. “THA’ MUNNOT WASTE NO TIME”11 min
  19. CHAPTER XIX. “IT HAS COME!”17 min
  20. CHAPTER XX. “I SHALL LIVE FOREVER—AND EVER—AND EVER!”12 min
  21. CHAPTER XXI. BEN WEATHERSTAFF15 min
  22. CHAPTER XXII. WHEN THE SUN WENT DOWN8 min
  23. CHAPTER XXIII. MAGIC19 min
  24. CHAPTER XXIV. “LET THEM LAUGH”18 min
  25. CHAPTER XXV. THE CURTAIN11 min
  26. CHAPTER XXVI. “IT’S MOTHER!”14 min
  27. CHAPTER XXVII. IN THE GARDEN24 min

Reading & download help

Is this the complete The Secret Garden?

This edition contains the complete English literary text, with 27 sections and 80,782 words. This reading edition preserves the checked English text and its section order. No study notes have been added.

Which PDF should I choose?

A4 is designed for 210 × 297 mm paper; US Letter for 8.5 × 11 inch paper. Both contain the same complete text, selectable text and section bookmarks.

Can I read without signing up?

Yes. Online reading and both PDFs are free. Reading settings and progress stay on this device.

Edition details and corrections.