When cholera takes Mary Lennox's parents, she is shipped from India to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven, in England. His manor is dark and drafty, with over 100 rooms built on the edge of the moors. Mary finds that he does not wish to see her, which is fine with her as she herself is rude and spoiled. While walking the gardens the next day, she notices that there is a garden surrounded by a high stone wall and no door. Dickon, brother of her maid, Martha, tells her about it. A robin uncovers the hidden key so that they are able to enter it to find it overgrown and neglected. Inside the manor, Mary finds that she has a cousin named Colin, who is crippled and as spoiled as her. Together they work to make the secret garden their own world.—Tony Fontana