The Magic Garden

by on April 19, 2007 in Books & Music, Singleness & Trust

an excerpt from “The Magic Garden” by Gene Stratton Porter

So Amaryllis went home, and for several more years she went straight ahead studying her own lessons, keeping her father’s house, being the very light of her father’s eyes.Those were years when Amaryllis really grew. She was getting to be a woman now, very close to eighteen. She had grown to a woman’s size. She had grown to a woman’s mental stature, and she had grown to beauty so much greater than any beauty that could be seen in girls around her that she shone out as one star brighter than all the rest shines in the heavens, because she belonged to John Guido.

She had kept herself for him alone. In races she had ridden. She could sail a boat and she could swim, but there was not a boy living who had dared lay his hands familiarly upon her. To herself she was a sacred thing. She was set apart.

When she went to John Guido and said, “I have come back to you,” as she had promised, she must go with lips that no other boy’s kisses had touched. She must go with ears that had not been sullied with vulgarity. She must go as God intended that every woman should go to the man she loves. She must go untouched by other men, unsullied, absolutely clean. And deep in her heart, Amaryllis knew that as she was planning to go to John Guido, he was coming to her.

Pin It
DeliciousEmailPrintFriendlyShare

4 Responses to The Magic Garden

  1. 1
    naomi says:
    April 19, 2007 at 10:39 AM

    Oh, this book looks SO good! I can’t wait until I own a copy. We’ll see how soon I scrape together enough pennies to order it. :) I’m thankful it’s a reasonable price. Thank you for this excerpt, Natalie! And thank you for all the hours you’ve put into editing it.

    Naomi in WI

    Reply
  2. 2
    Ella says:
    April 19, 2007 at 4:32 PM

    Oh, Natalie, it sounds wonderful. I will have to try and get it, for I love to read these type of books as often as I can. They are great encouragements!

    Reply
  3. 3
    Anonymous says:
    April 21, 2007 at 2:02 PM

    Oh, I love Gene Stratton Porter’s story about Amyrillis! I read it many years ago from the library, but haven’t been able to find in since. So glad you are including it!!

    Reply
  4. 4
    Anonymous says:
    December 13, 2007 at 12:31 PM

    Please do not dismiss this comment as disruptive.

    I’ve only read the excerpt you posted and do not know the whole story. But I would really like to know whether John Guido remained chaste for Amaryllis.

    If he didn’t then it seems to me that she was used and that would be very unfair.

    Reply

Leave a Reply