Great Maytham Hall December 2003 the Country Houses Association announced that it was closing down its residential business and selling the eight Grade I and II listed buildings it owned. The walled garden of Great Maytham Hall provided the inspiration for one of the most famous of all books for children, "The Secret Garden". Its author, Frances Hodgson Burnett, lived at Great Maytham Hall from 1898 to 1907, where she found the old walled garden dating from 1721 sadly overgrown and neglected. Aided by a robin, Burnett discovered the door hidden amongst the ivy, and began the restoration of the garden, which she
The Secret Woman (novel) "The French Lieutenant’s Woman." The book's success was likely also bolstered by the success of Hibbert's previous novels such as "Mistress of Mellyn" and "The Shivering Sands". The positive reception of these works eventually gave Hibbert the title of “Queen of Romantic Suspense” and driving the sales of Victoria Holt novels to over 56 million copies worldwide. The Secret Woman (novel) The Secret Woman is a Gothic romance and suspense novel written by English author Eleanor Hibbert under the pseudonym Victoria Holt. It was originally published in 1970 and is considered to be a bestseller. Set in 1887, it chronicles