How old is Mary Lennox?

Mary is “nine years old” when the story begins, a thin, cross little girl who has just lost her parents. The book follows her through a Yorkshire spring and summer.

Why was Mary sent to Misselthwaite Manor?

Her parents died of cholera in India, and no one else was left to look after her. Her uncle, Mr. Craven, was her only relative, so she was sent to live at his house in Yorkshire.

How does Mary find the secret garden?

A robin shows her where a key is buried, and later a gust of wind blows back the ivy to reveal the hidden door. With the key, she lets herself into a garden nobody has entered for ten years.

From The Secret Garden

Mary Lennox

Sour orphan girl • Growing happy and strong

A lonely, cross little girl sent from India to live in her uncle’s great house on the Yorkshire moors.

Who is Mary Lennox?

Mary Lennox is a lonely, sour little girl who comes from India to live in her uncle’s huge, quiet manor in Yorkshire. With help from a friendly robin, she finds a buried key and a secret garden that has been locked for ten years. As Mary digs, plants and makes friends, her scowl melts away, and she helps her cousin Colin grow strong.

Mary Lennox is a character in The Secret Garden, the 1911 novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, retold for ages 6–9 by Sean Lee.

What is Mary Lennox like?

Curious
Determined
Caring

Mary Lennox’s story

Mary Lennox begins the book as a sickly, unloved nine-year-old in India. Her parents have little time for her, and when cholera sweeps through the house, both of them die and she is found alone. She is sent across the world to Misselthwaite Manor in Yorkshire, where her uncle, Archibald Craven, lives.

At first Mary is as contrary as ever, but the cold wind of the moor, plain food and Martha’s straight talk begin to change her. She follows the robin to a buried key, then to the door of the locked garden, and she decides to wake it up. Following a strange crying sound through the house, she also finds her cousin Colin hidden away in a bedroom.

Mary learns to skip, dig and laugh, and she begins to care about other living things. She brings Colin into the garden with Dickon’s help and refuses to be bullied by his tempers. By the end, the garden is blooming, Colin is well and Mary is a happier, healthier child.

“I want them all to be wick.”

Mary Lennox, about the sleeping plants in the garden. From the original 1911 novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

A moment to remember

A gust of wind tosses the thick ivy aside like a curtain, and Mary spots the hidden garden door she has been searching for.

Colin Craven: her cousin and fellow gardener
Dickon Sowerby: her gardening friend
Martha Sowerby: her maid and first friend at the manor
Archibald Craven: her uncle and guardian

Talk about it

Mary changed from sour to kind once she had something to take care of. What do you like to take care of, and how does it make you feel?

Questions about Mary Lennox

How old is Mary Lennox?: Mary is “nine years old” when the story begins, a thin, cross little girl who has just lost her parents. The book follows her through a Yorkshire spring and summer.
Why was Mary sent to Misselthwaite Manor?: Her parents died of cholera in India, and no one else was left to look after her. Her uncle, Mr. Craven, was her only relative, so she was sent to live at his house in Yorkshire.
How does Mary find the secret garden?: A robin shows her where a key is buried, and later a gust of wind blows back the ivy to reveal the hidden door. With the key, she lets herself into a garden nobody has entered for ten years.