In this beloved story, readers travel with Mary Lenox, a spoiled and sullen orphan, from colonial India to Misselthwaite Manor, a forbidding eatate on the Yorkshire moorsl There, in the unlikeliest of places, Mary discovers and helps reatore and abandoned garden and, in the Mary discovers and helps restore an abandoned garden and, in the process, blossoms herself into a creature of loving kindness.

Mary's transformation begins when she meets a no-nonsense house keeper, a brusque gardener, and a sprightly robin that leads her to the hidden garden. With the help of Dickon, a boy with and almost supernatural affinity for animals and plants, and Colin, her frail cousin, Mary works in secret to bring new life to the old garden. The three friends find their efforts rewarded not only with all the pleasure that blooming flowers bring, but also the blessing s of good health and high spirits.