Overview
Mary Lennox arrives at Thornwood broken, bitter, and entirely uninterested in magic. Three days alone in an empty house in India. Three days of counting instead of crying. When they came, they sent her to England. To an uncle who never appeared, a housekeeper who managed her like furniture, and a hundred locked rooms that all seemed to be hiding the same secret.
Then she found the garden.
Gift
Mary's Gift is Restorative Heartcraft -- Mending. The ability to stand at the edge between life and death and choose which direction things grow. It is rare. It is powerful. It is exactly the thing that killed Colin Craven's mother.
The risk: refusing to let anything die, including things that need to end.
At Thornwood
Rooted into Elmwood, the Grove of healing and patience. Mary keeps everyone at arm's length and is genuinely baffled when people stay anyway. Her friendship with Alice is built on mutual sharp-tonguedness. Her connection to Anne is through the gardens -- growth magic plus healing magic equals something neither tradition can do alone.
Notable
- Rooted into Elmwood Grove
- Companion: Briar, a hedgehog who knows the difference between damage and completion
- Says "obviously" and "clearly" about things that are neither
- Discovers the walled garden that changes everything