Gene Stratton-Porter’s works have been described by critics as having "purer-than-life heroes and positively incandescent heroines.” If literature that doesn’t stuffer from realism bothers you, Porter’s novel The Magic Garden isn’t the kind of book you will want to read. However, if you like to escape to a better version of the world, you might find it a delightful escape.
The Magic Garden is not one of Porter’s well-known books. She is more well known for her novels Freckles and The Girl from Limberlost or for her non-fiction natural history books. In fact, The Magic Garden is not among the ten texts for Porter that are available at Project Gutenberg. However, it is a book that captures readers. Many personal reviews of the book talk about finding it at the library or among their mother’s books and falling in love with it. Other’s were introduced to the book by their mother. Those who read it and liked it, cherish it.
About the Author
Porter did not set out to become a writer. She was born in Wabash County, Indiana, in 1863. She was odd by the standards of her day, she was a feminist, an environmentalist, and a photographer. She spent much of her youth exploring and wandering in the countryside. She married pharmacist, Charles Darwin Porter, whom she met after fracturing her skull. He was 13 years older than her. They had one child together.
After oil was found on some of the Porters’ land, they built a large house next to Limberlost Swamp which was a nature preserve. At this time, Porter began to photograph the wildlife around her. Soon she was publishing her photos. Presently, she began writing nature articles as well. Eventually she moved on to fiction. Her novels have been described as moralistic and romantic but those short-comings did not prevent her success. By the time of her death in 1924 her book sales had topped ten million copies and she had been translated into Finnish and Swedish.
About the Book
The Magic Garden follows a rather contrived plot where a poor little rich girl runs away from home and meets a boy who, while rather poor, has all the things she does not. When her frantic father finds her, he realizes she is important and changes his life completely and begins investing himself in his children. Through the years the little girl, Amaryllis, holds onto a childlike love and faith in that boy, John Guido. In the end, they are brought back together but not before Guido suffers a near death experience. It is romantic in the extreme.
What lifts the book above pulp romance is the fact that Porter’s descriptions are not over-flowery. They are straight-forward descriptions that bring you directly into the scene. The straight-forward style of her prose makes it easy and enjoyable to read.
For those who want to read a romantic fantasy that is sweet and compelling, The Magic Garden may be the book for you.
For another romantic book from the turn-of-the century, try Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster.
