Book: Tom’s Midnight Garden
Author: Philippa Pearce
Tom was forced to leave his brother,
Peter, who was affected with measles. Peter was not allowed to play with Tom and so Tom was sent to Uncle Alan’s and Aunt Gwen’s house. He got bored there because they were living in a flat owned by an old lady called Mrs. Bartholomew. She has a grandfather clock which shows wrong time. One day tom was sleepless. He heard the sound of the clock and to check the correct time, he went downstairs. It was midnight, and when he got bored, he thought of opening the back door at that time. When he opened the door, he was amazed to see a beautiful garden in front of him. Next day when he enquired about the garden to his uncle, Tom came to know that the back door is bolted and it was opened by none and also there was no garden. But, at night, Tom found the garden again and he became a regular visitor of it. There Tom met a girl named Hatty with her cousins. An amazing thing was only Hatty and Abel (worker) could see Tom. Every day the season gets changed in the garden. Meanwhile, Hatty started to grew old. At the same time, Peter gets recovered and he longs for Tom. So their mother calls Tom back. Tom doesn’t like to go back but he was forced to. On the last day, when Tom went to the back door, he didn’t find the garden. So he cried loudly for Hatty, his friend. This wakens everybody. Next day, Bartholomew called Tom and told him that her name was Hatty and she changed her name when she was married. They were very happy to meet each other.