The Palace in the Garden

by Mrs. Molesworth

What did it reveal? For a few minutes we were too dazzled to tell -- really dazzled -- as well as amazed. A perfect flood of light seemed to pour out upon us, and instead of the dingy, musty tool-house we had been expecting, we found ourselves standing at what at first sight appeared like the entrance to some fairy palace of brightness and brilliance. We stood, dazed, rubbing our eyes and looking at each other. _Was_ it magic? Had we chanced upon some such wonder of old world times as our little heads were stuffed with? Tib -- and Gerald too, perhaps -- would have been ready to believe it.

Genres: Childrens, Fiction

148 pages, Paperback

First published June 28, 1887

About the author

Mary Louisa Molesworth, née Stewart was an English writer of children's stories who wrote for children under the name of Mrs. Molesworth. Her first novels, for adult readers, Lover and Husband (1869) to Cicely (1874), appeared under the pseudonym of Ennis Graham. Her name occasionally appears in print as M.L.S. Molesworth.

She was born in Rotterdam, a daughter of Charles Augustus Stewart (1809–1873) who later became a rich merchant in Manchester and his wife Agnes Janet Wilson (1810–1883). Mary had three brothers and two sisters. She was educated in Great Britain and Switzerland: much of her girlhood was spent in Manchester. In 1861 she married Major R. Molesworth, nephew of Viscount Molesworth; they legally separated in 1879.

Mrs. Molesworth is best known as a writer of books for the young, such as Tell Me a Story (1875), Carrots (1876), The Cuckoo Clock (1877), The Tapestry Room (1879), and A Christmas Child (1880). She has been called "the Jane Austen of the nursery," while The Carved Lions (1895) "is probably her masterpiece."

Mary Louisa Molesworth typified late Victorian writing for girls. Aimed at girls too old for fairies and princesses but too young for Austen and the Brontës, books by Molesworth had their share of amusement, but they also had a good deal of moral instruction. The girls reading Molesworth would grow up to be mothers; thus, the books emphasized Victorian notions of duty and self-sacrifice.

Typical of the time, her young child characters often use a lisping style, and words may be misspelt to represent children's speech—"jography" for geography, for instance.

She took an interest in supernatural fiction. In 1888, she published a collection of supernatural tales under the title Four Ghost Stories, and in 1896 a similar collection of six tales under the title Uncanny Stories. In addition to those, her volume Studies and Stories includes a ghost story entitled "Old Gervais" and her Summer Stories for Boys and Girls includes "Not Exactly a Ghost Story."

A new edition of The Cuckoo Clock was published in 1914.

She died in 1921 and is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London.

[Wikipedia]

Reviews

[Clara Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book on Open Library and found it delightful! The way it is written is, to me, very natural and doesn't feel like it's from more than 100 years ago at all. I love the little place in the country where the children go for a visit, and I love the secret place they find behind the wall in the garden. The scene-setting was so good I felt I was right there with them amongst the trees, grass, old conservatory and such! I love books like that, that really transport me to a special place in a natural country setting. The little mystery was great, too. I found myself not wanting to stop reading. I would like to read more by this author. I was afraid the book might be moralistic, but I didn't find it so at all. A great little story!

[Lanelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was very well written. I completely understand why the author was called "the Jane Austen of the nursery". In Agatha Christie's book Postern of Fate, Tommy and Tuppence say that two of Molesworth's books to be their childhood favorites.

[Janelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a charming story. I'm surprised the author isn't better known.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the public domain, The Palace in the Garden by Mary Louisa Molesworth is a minor children's book, enjoyable in every way, but I have no trouble understanding why it's been lost to history. Think The Secret Garden with less wonder or Mrs. Nesbits' without the magic. The Palace in the Garden has charm and voice and a really obvious mystery spearheaded by three upper-class Victorian orphans who live with their stern, old grandfather in his silent London house, but who doesn't? As the book opens, Gussie, Tib, and Gerald are summoned to grandfather's big, oaken study to be told that he is sending them to his country estate that they've never heard of: Rosebuds. It sounds romantic, doesn't it?, and they are meant never to talk to anyone in the neighborhood while they are there. The children go back to the nursery full of excitement and immediately sort out half the mystery: Rosebuds is written in grandfather's old book of fairy tales, which he wrote his name in as a boy, and another name, Regina, is crossed out under it. Tib's proper name is Mercedes Regina, so a person who's read Victorian novels can guess that someone named Regina has been cut out of the family and they're probably living near Rosebuds, but the fun is in the journey.

Rosebuds is all an English country house it should be, with a cheerful housekeeper and a big enough yard to do all sorts of playing, and a wood at the bottom of the garden near the stone wall, that has a secret door, Gerald finds the secret key, which leads into a secret conservatory, that connects to a secret house, with a secret room with a portrait of an old-fashioned lady who looks exactly like Tib. The kids' playing about was probably the best part of a solid story: "Let's play that I'm the princess and you're a baron and you lock me in the dungeon." "Why do I have to be the baron?"

http://surfeitofbooks.blogspot.com/20...

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to Project Gutenberg (NOT Kindle) for this classic. One of Molesworth's less sententious stories, but not as well written as some of her "moral tales" either. The mistake was using Gussie (Gustava, poor scrap) as the first-person narrator. I know children were children longer in those days, but the narrative voice is too young for her age, even then. The story also suffers from the adult author nodding over the child-reader's head at the adult audience, pointing a moral about family conflict that kids probably wouldn't really get. There's a romance thread flapping in the breeze as well.

Not something that would appeal to kids today, but a nice comfort read. I shelve it as "children" because it is ostensibly about them--but not really.

[Carolin · Rating 4 out of 5]

adorable.

[Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful simple tale of a brother and two sisters who go to live temporarily at a lovely house called Rosebuds.
There they find a hidden door in the garden wall, leading to what they call "The Palace", then later "The Old House"
A mysterious painting of a girl who looks much like one of the girls, who they call the Princess, is the the center of an enthralling mystery, which, when solved, brings back together their grandfather and his sister.
Innocent and darling, this tale is certainly a beautiful treasure. : )

[Alisa Kester · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sweet and old-fashioned. Absolutely delightful!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting fairy tale fantasy for children with a princess and a mystery.