Debra Moffitt's Secret Garden

Interview with Author, Debra Moffitt

Carolyn: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett was one of my all time favorite books. It is in a secret garden that both children heal. You make reference to “the secret garden” in your book, Garden of Bliss. Was this deliberate?

Debra: I lived many years in Europe, and I often heard references to the secret garden. Someone would say to me, “Keep that reflection to explore in your secret garden.” The image was so powerful that I wondered what they meant. When I researched, I learned that secret gardens date back to the Middle Ages, a time when nothing could thrive in the chaotic, war-torn, drought-stricken land. Closed walls went up to create a place where delicate herbs and fruit trees could grow in protected places. Some secret gardens still exist inside castle grounds and behind monastery walls. The secret garden, for me, is a symbol of the sacred inner terrain of the soul where we can discover our gifts and cultivate a more peaceful and joy-filled life in a protected inner place. Later when presenting a writing workshop called “Journey into the Secret Garden” one of the participants said, “Have you read the book, The Secret Garden?” I hadn’t at that point. I find that the children’s book is much inspired by the European legend.

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