Mary Lennox was born to English parents in India. Her father worked in the British government, and her mother was vain and beautiful. Her mother didn’t want a child, so after Mary was born, she was handed over to a native nurse, or “Ayah,” who was told to keep the infant out of her way. Mary’s weak and sickly father took no interest in Mary. Mary also was sickly and grew up fretful and unloved. The servants gave her whatever she wanted so she wouldn’t cry or scream and disturb her mother, and she became unbearably spoiled.

One morning, when Mary is 10 years old, she wakes to find that her Ayah has not come to dress her. Many of the other servants are gone, and Mary is left alone. She plays by herself in the garden, sticking flower blossoms into little piles of dirt. Mary later learns there has been a cholera outbreak. Her Ayah and parents have died, and many of the servants are sick while the rest have run away. Amid the panic, everyone has forgotten about Mary.