In California, Jane meets a movie producer who realises that her disposition makes her perfect to play Mary in a film version of The Secret Garden.

The novel also involves Jane's siblings: Rachel the budding ballerina and Tim the promising pianist, who have their own adventures in California.

Noel Streatfeild visited America in 1947, travelling by sea to New York, then overland to California, as the Winters did in the novel.

She visited film studios in Hollywood, and spent several weeks observing the making of The Secret Garden, paying particular attention to the child stars Margaret O'Brien, Dean Stockwell and Brian Roper.

An abridged version illustrated by Susanne Suba was published in the US by Random House also in 1949, under the title Movie Shoes.