The Secret Garden

This novel would appeal to Canadian readers because

it is a novel for every age group. Once you read the first sentence you won’t be able to put it down. It is an interesting novel that talks about the experiences of first loves and learning how to deal with past experiences

and not letting them affect your present life. It brings you into the life of Gwen as if you were in her shoes and feeling the way she feels about herself about everyone. Once you are in Gwens shoes

it is hard to come back to reality.

Gwen is clearly a lonely woman, never having experienced love of any sort. Throughout the story, Gwen longs for human contact: emotional and physical. Her mother's perfection planted the seeds for Gwen's feelings of inadequacy and isolation from girlhood. "My mother was beautiful. I was always plain.