I really admire Krystal Bailey. Taking on one of the well-loved children’s classics by Frances Hodgson Burnett and writing a sequel that continues the adventures of Colin, Mary and Dickon from The Secret Garden is a pretty ambitious and confident undertaking in anyone’s book. It is not something that I would ever entertain as a writer. What if you get it wrong? There is so much at stake – the eyes of an established readership surveying your work to see if it stands up beside the original – or falls short. So, it was with some reservation that I started reading this.
But I needn’t have worried as this imagined continuation of these well-loved characters is accomplished and engaging and utterly lovely. I have truly enjoyed immersing myself in the lives of our three heroes as they turn into young adults and deal with all that the world has to throw at them.
The action of the book is still centred on Misselthwaite Manor where Mary still lives with Colin and his father, and Dickon helps out with the running of the estate. But their whole world is about to be struck hard by the external influence of war, and their lives will be changed forever.
Around this tumultuous time in twentieth century history, Bailey follows Mary, Colin and Dickon, using a third person narrative, and we see them as their circumstances change. New people come into their lives and they are separated from their loved ones, which causes tension and uncertainty and the characters have to find a way in which to cope. Tragedy comes knocking on more than one occasion during the course of the book and Bailey, I think, does a good job in showing the impact of war without being overly horrific but is constructive in describing the impact that it has on the characters.
What I think Bailey does extremely well in her novel is dialogue. There were a couple of Americanisms and slang expressions that, to my mind, did not fit with the period but as there were only one or two in the whole book, they certainly did not detract from my enjoyment. What I did notice is that the exchanges that she creates between key characters are believable, lively and accomplished – they bring her creations to life, emulating the originals of Burnett – this is to Bailey’s credit.
A great read.
This review was first published on Reedsy Discovery where I was privileged to read it as an ARC.
Scuffed Granny 