SOLVED. YA: Girl in orphanage finds a cottage in the woods and tries to fix it up by herself, gets pruning shears and muslin from the gardener, at the end there's a terrible thunderstorm and she gets really sick. [s]

[Julie]

YA book about a girl living in an orphanage who finds a cottage in the woods and tries to fix it up by herself. To get there, she has to go over a wall and through a gate. She gets pruning shears and muslin from the gardener and goes to the cottage as often as possible. At one point, she realizes that someone else is coming to the cottage and cleaning it like she is.

SPOILER:

Near the end of the book, she goes out to the cottage and gets caught in a terrible thunderstorm. She gets knocked unconscious and wakes up inside the cottage. She got sick from the storm, and someone brought her inside and fed her soup / took care of her. It turns out that the cottage was owned by a local wealthy man (who rides on horseback at some point, iirc she thinks of him as a "prince") who ends up adopting her.

END SPOILERS

I read this book between 2000-2002 in the US. It was a softcover. I don't think it was a recent publication when I read it. It definitely takes place pre-Internet. It has "Secret Garden" vibes, but obviously is a different story. I can't remember anything about the author or the cover. I want to say that it takes place in England, but I could be misremembering.

[Rouan]

I think this is the one you're looking for


Mandy

[SamSpayedPI]

I second Rouan: definitely Mandy by Julie Andrews. I still want a house with a "shell room" after all these years.

[Julie]

YES! Thank you so much!!! I can't believe how quickly you found it - I've been trying to find this book for ages!

[Rouan]

It helped that I own a copy of it... :)