Beyond the Secret Garden

Beautifully written and moving - this was a quick and enjoyable read, I really felt connected with the story

I read this ARC for an honest review
All thoughts and opinions are mine

Frances Hodgson Burnett is one of my favourite authors from childhood and The Secret Garden was my favourite childhood book, so being able to read this was thrilling

This was a quick read

I loved the way this was written - clearly written affectionately and with much feeling.
A beautiful read

Competent, thorough, well-researched and balanced – an enjoyable and illuminating biography of Frances Hodgson Burnett. Originally published in 2007 and now reissued, it may be that further material has become available in the meantime, but that aside this is a must-read for anyone interested in Burnett’s life and work.

This was the best book!!! I had recently read The Secret Garden for the first time. It was so nice to see the background of the author and her life. This book made me want to read The Secret Garden again.

"The Secret Garden" is one of my most beloved books so when I saw this title by Ann Thwaite my heart rejoiced! Frances Hodgson Burnett was a remarkable person and author, so fascinating to read about from her first memory as a young child to her last days. She drew from both imagination and real life experiences for her creatively beautiful stories. She knew poverty and luxury and lived "the refusal to be overpowered by experience".

I really liked the mentions of other authors of the time including her friend Henry James, flamboyant Oscar Wilde and media's comparisons with Elizabeth Gaskell. "Little Lord Fauntleroy" was more successful than I realized. This book included so much new-to-me information such as her hand in the Copyright Act, relationships, personal family stories and travel. Many of her characters were based on those around her.

The author used a personal tone which I appreciate. The sheer number of poignant and touching letters exchanged between Hodgson Burnett and her family members is staggering...it's a privilege to be privy to them.

I only wish there was more information on the writing of The Secret Garden, though the title does mention "beyond".

This book will be a treasure to those who cherish the works of witty and exceptionally intelligent Frances Hodgson Burnett.

Many thanks to Duckworth Books and NetGalley for the e-book!

3.5 rounded up.

I had previously read her biography of A. A. Milne, and really enjoyed it and The Secret Garden was one of my favourite books as a child and I reread it many times, so I looked forward to this one. There isn't much about The Secret Garden in this, it's beyond, not about. The first half flew by and was really interesting, but the second half dragged a little. Much more about copywriter laws and publishing, but I learned a lot about her life I hadn't known previously; I had no idea how many times she went back and forth between England and America, I also hadn't realised just how much she's written This has made me want to re-read those childhood favourites and read more of her adult novels, particularly The Shuttle.

*Many thanks to the published and Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review*

This thoroughly researched biography of Frances Hodgson Burnett will be much appreciated by fans of The Secret Garden and The Little Princess. The sections of this biography that tell of Frances' time in Knoxville were particularly good. The author did a splendid job of accurately describing the people of East Tennessee and the conflicts and fallout from the Civil War. Very well done.

Very enjoyable to venture beyond a childhood favourite. Thoroughly enjoyed this and will purchasing for family members

A fascinating and long awaited biography of an influential writer. Engaging, honest and vividly described - Ann Thwaite has done a wonderful job. Perfect for anyone intrigued by the life behind the creator of 'The Secret Garden.'

Very well written, emotional story. I really loved it. The characters were created in a way you root for them, which makes a difference.
Thanks a lot to NG nad the publisher for this copy.

Gosh, didn't Frances Hodgson Burnett write a lot - there was more of this book detailing what she wrote than there was of her life and how she had a life when she churned out so much!

An interesting biography on the author of the Secret Garden. Didn't know much about Frances Hodgson Burnett besides that work, and that one mainly from movies. I do like the nuances of the story though, and was curious to learn more about the author. She had quite an active life, both in her social and her writing world. It is ironic that her most well known story today was not such a big hit at the time. In fact, in her obit it wasn't even mentioned. Interesting to read about the other authors at the time, and this discussion of the book world. Makes me want to read more by her, and others. The book does get a bit heavy at times, but easy enough to skim a bit. Would highly recommend this book, especially if you want to learn more about that time that influenced these stories.

I received a free digital advance review copy from Duckworth Books via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

If, like author Ann Thwaite, you read and re-read The Secret Garden as a child, then you'll also be captivated by Beyond the Secret Garden, Thwaite's biography of Frances Hodgson Burnett, originally published in 1974, and newly reissued in 2020. I was fascinated to learn that Burnett and her family relocated from England to Tennessee, just after the Civil War, when she was a teenager and that her original audience included adults, as "children's literature" was not yet considered a distinct category. Drawing on sources such as Burnett's unpublished letters (many of which are excerpted in the book), and material shared by Burnett's family, Thwaite recounts how Burnett established her writing career, how the various places she lived inspired her stories, and how despite, or perhaps because of challenging personal circumstances, she "tried to write more happiness into the world."

Thank you to Duckworth Books and Net Galley for the chance to read and review this book.
Frances Hodgson Burnett was one of my favorite childhood authors, and I still enjoy reading her books. This was a good read about her and her life. Really enjoyed it!

I love The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett but sadly knew nothing about her. Thanks to Ann Thwaite's Beyond the Secret Garden we get an unfiltered view of just the woman Frances was and all she accomplished.

Frances Hodgson Burnett seemed to march to the beat of her own drum. I loved to hear that she wasn't always trying to please or like everyone, but went ahead with what she envisioned. I had no idea that Burnett had such a large cannon of work or anything about her upbringing. I also loved learning that she was a mother to two sons and had to juggle it all.

I highly suggest diving into this remarkable biography and then reading some of Burnett's novels. Thank you so much to Netgalley for the read.

#AnnThwaite #BeyondtheSecretGarden #NetGalley

This is an extensive in-depth biography of Frances Hodgson Burnett's life and offered great insight into how her life shaped her writing. There were periods that got a little tedious, as biographies can sometimes go, but I found it fascinating to learn a bit more about one of my favorite authors.