Susan Sowerby and Mary Lennox (motherly figure)
Susan Sowerby, the mother of twelve children living in a cramped moorland cottage on sixteen shillings a week, becomes the most powerful maternal presence in the lives of both Mary Lennox and Colin Craven, two orphaned or effectively motherless children. Though she appears in the story only a handful of times, her influence radiates through the actions of her children and the direct, compassionate interventions she makes on behalf of the neglected young protagonists. She is the force that first gives Mary a tangible token of care and later speaks the words that begin to draw Archibald Craven back to his son and his home.
The Skipping Rope and the First Gift
Susan Sowerby's first direct act of kindness toward Mary Lennox comes not in person but through her daughter Martha. When a traveling peddler stops at the cottage door, Susan, despite having "four places to put every penny," takes tuppence from Martha's wages to buy a skipping rope for the strange, sour little girl from India whom she has never met. Martha brings the rope to Mary, explaining that her mother said, "Nothin' will do her more good than skippin' rope. It's th' sensiblest toy a child can have." This gift, the first Mary has ever received that was chosen with her specific needs in mind, becomes a catalyst for her physical transformation, putting color in her cheeks and strength in her limbs. It is a practical, unsentimental act of motherly foresight that treats Mary not as a problem to be managed but as a child who needs to run and grow.
Advocacy and Permission
Susan Sowerby's influence extends beyond material gifts into direct advocacy. She boldly stops Mr. Archibald Craven on the moor—a man known for his reclusive misery—to speak to him about Mary. This encounter prompts Mr. Craven to summon Mary to his study, where he grants her the freedom to play out of doors and, most significantly, gives her permission to have "a bit of earth" to cultivate. Susan's words carry weight because she is known as a woman who "knows about children," having raised twelve of her own. Mr. Craven, who has neglected his duties as a guardian, accepts her advice, telling Mrs. Medlock that Susan Sowerby is to be allowed to visit Mary and that Mary may sometimes go to the cottage. It is Susan who articulates the simple, profound principle that Mrs. Medlock later repeats: "children needs children."
The Embrace in the Garden
The most direct and emotionally charged encounter between Susan Sowerby and the children occurs when she enters the secret garden for the first time. Guided by Dickon, she appears through the ivied door just as Colin, Mary, and Ben Weatherstaff have finished singing the Doxology. Colin, seeing her, holds out his hand with "flushed royal shyness" and confesses, "Even when I was ill I wanted to see you." Susan's response is immediate and physical: she puts her hands on Mary's shoulders, looking her over in a motherly fashion and predicting she will be "like a blush rose" when she grows up. But her most profound gesture is reserved for Colin. When he tells her, "You are just what I—what I wanted. I wish you were my mother—as well as Dickon's!" she bends down and draws him into her warm arms, holding him close against her bosom. With tears in her eyes, she tells him, "Thy own mother's in this 'ere very garden, I do believe. She couldna' keep out of it." In that moment, she does not replace Lilias Craven but rather channels her presence, offering Colin the physical affection and spiritual reassurance that his grieving father has been unable to provide.
The Letter That Brings a Father Home
Susan Sowerby's final and most consequential act is the letter she writes to Archibald Craven while he is traveling in Europe. In a plain woman's hand, she makes bold to speak again, writing, "Please, sir, I would come home if I was you. I think you would be glad to come and—if you will excuse me, sir—I think your lady would ask you to come if she was here." This letter arrives on the morning after Mr. Craven has had a vivid dream in which his dead wife's voice calls to him from the garden. The combination of the dream and Susan's letter breaks the ten-year spell of his grief. He reads it twice, thinks of the dream, and decides, "I will go back to Misselthwaite." It is Susan Sowerby, the moorland mother, who speaks for the dead wife and for the living child, and her words set in motion the reunion that transforms the house of Misselthwaite.
Thematic Significance: The Motherly Figure as Healer
Susan Sowerby embodies a form of maternal care that is neither sentimental nor possessive but practical, perceptive, and deeply rooted in the natural world. She is described as "a Magic person" by Colin, and she herself tells him that the force that makes seeds swell and the sun shine is the same force that has made him well—"th' Big Good Thing" that does not care what name it is called. She reframes the children's belief in Magic as a simple, universal truth about life and growth. Her role is to extend the healing power of the garden into the human realm, providing the emotional warmth and wise counsel that allow both Mary and Colin to believe they are wanted and loved. She is the living proof that a child can thrive when given not just fresh air and earth, but also the unwavering, affectionate attention of a motherly heart.
