Nine-year-old Mary Lennox lives a spoiled but joyless life with her parents in India. But when her parents die in a cholera epidemic, she ends up in England, with her enigmatic uncle, Mr. Craven, who resides in a large and desolate old house in the countryside where no one ever comes to visit. She is not allowed to roam freely in the house, but with the help of her new friends Martha, the maid, and Dickon, who has a remarkable way with animals, she begins to learn how to fend for herself, such as how to dress herself or jump rope. When Dickon tells her about a secret garden that has been locked since Mrs. Craven died, her curiosity is piqued. She realizes that the world holds so much more than what her sheltered existence has hinted at. FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT [1849-1924] emigrated from England to the USA after her father’s death and settled in Knoxville, Tennessee. She is best known for The Secret Garden [1911], one of the great classics of children's literature.