as we further deconstruct our childhood

[whynot]

crackfic in the New York Times. Oh, you think I am kidding. It is crackfic of The Secret Garden. Dickon/Mary/Colin, rated R! OH, YOU THINK I AM KIDDING. Not only do I find Secret Garden fic, not only do I find fic in the New York Times, but I find Secret Garden fic in the New York Times. I don't think the New York Times would publish it if it weren't crackfic though, yanno I mean?

AND OH MY GOD OH MY GOD SECRET GARDEN FIC except it is a BOOK: "Return to the Secret Garden" by Susan Moody. Check out this very excellent review:

It started off ok, but Susan Moody didn't waste any time in destroying the book. I can understand how Dickon went somewhat crazy after the war. But Mary and Colin? Mary is nothing better than a whore, and Colin becomes gay! I find it disturbing that Mary's first husband married her simply because she looked like her mother, with whom he had been in love. Her behavior toward her child was cruel, and totally different from the personality of Mary formed in the original. At the beginning of "The Secret Garden" I admit that Mary was a bit of a brat. But she grows out of that, then speedily becomes the brat she once was in Susan Moody's sequel. She would not have treated her own child in the exact way her own mother treated her. Colin is also disapointing. After he marries his cousin--very nasty--Mary finds out he is gay when she is carrying his child! Dickon is not the charming, lovable boy read about in the original. Mary refuses his offer of marriage because he is below her in social status. After reading this book a few months ago, I was strongly disturbed, and still am. If you love "The Secret Garden," DO NOT READ THIS BOOK!!! [from here]

This review pretty much details exactly why I think I would LOVE THIS BOOK. And no wonder, it sounds just like fanfic. Of course Mary rejects Dickon because of Societal Conventions. And I can see the reasoning behind why Mary would be a bad parent. And Colin marrying Mary and being GASP SECRETLY GAY?! BE STILL MY HEART. Have any of you read this book? Is it as wonderful as it sounds?

Comments

[selfinduced.livejournal.com]

i have a friend who owns it and loves it. i never tried it myself, and my tastes don't necessarily go along with hers...

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

There is even another one!: http://www.johnowensmith.co.uk/books/til1873855281.htm
It is a Secret Garden sequel party!

Is it torrid? I am possibly in the mood for it being torrid.

[selfinduced.livejournal.com]

i don't know! possibly? i'm thinking that that was why she was into it, i mean, the quality of writing didn't sound like it was high...

[aella_irene]

After he marries his cousin--very nasty--

*sigh* We English have a long tradition of cousin marriage! It was how you kept the money in the family! (also, for much of the nobility, there was no one to marry but your family)

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

yaaaa! oh man, i am on page 80-something of this book, and there's some questionable writing choices in it, but also some good speculation of character and situation. i think if this were a fic i found online, i wouldn't have stuck with it, but since it is a book in my hand, i'm quite happy to plow through it and simultaneously squee and criticize, y'know?