hoobabi 's review for:

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

3.0

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Never have I been so ambivalent on a book. On the one hand, this book touched all my sweet spots, on the other hand all of it could have been easily construed as repetitive, trite sentimentalism. Not to mention, Burnett does not even bother to use a little subtlety to cover her up the blatant new agey Christianity. The question is if we are ready to forgive her all of this for a good story: for the most part I am, at the expense that I feel somewhat disgusted at myself that I occasionally buy into such sentimentalism. Like reading Jane Eyre without the quality. For discerning readers, I'd only recommend it for the beautiful evocations of the environment of Yorkshire.