the humming room a novel inspired by the secret garden

Thea: I, too, was immediately struck by the lovely cover for The Humming Room, but also was motivated to read the book because of the praise I’ve heard for Ellen Potter’s previous novel, The Kneebone Boy (which, incidentally, also has a gorgeous cover). I read the book without any expectations whatsoever and even though I have a few reservations, I really enjoyed this story. I knew nothing of it when I started reading it and didn’t realise it was a retelling of The Secret Garden (haven’t read that book) until I was done and read the blurb. Why did we read this book: We love Middle Grade fiction and this one looked really good.Īna: Sometimes my book-reading decisions are very easy to make: I wanted to read The Humming Room on the strengths of its cover alone. How did we get this book: We both got review copies from the publisher Inspired by The Secret Garden, this tale full of unusual characters and mysterious secrets is a story that only Ellen Potter could write. Roo doesn’t believe in ghosts or fairy stories, but what are those eerie noises she keeps hearing? And who is that strange wild boy who lives on the river? People are lying to her, and Roo becomes determined to find the truth.ĭespite the best efforts of her uncle’s assistants, Roo discovers the house’s hidden room–a garden with a tragic secret. Once a tuberculosis sanitarium for children of the rich, the strange house is teeming with ghost stories and secrets.

When her parents are murdered, it’s her special hiding place under the trailer that saves her life.Īs it turns out, Roo, much to her surprise, has a wealthy if eccentric uncle, who has agreed to take her into his home on Cough Rock Island. Living in a frighteningly unstable family, she often needs to disappear at a moment’s notice.

The humming room a novel inspired by the secret garden