wig (do you have a shorter moniker?!) I used to read Elizabeth Goudge many years ago, probably when I was only in my teens and expect by now I would have grown out of her, but I think many will look back on her work with fondness.
Writing in the 30's-50's she was very much a product of her times/upbringing. The only child of a senior C of E cleric and scholar, with links to the Channel Isles, who grew up in some beautiful English cathedral cities, finally moving to the country with her aged mother.
She wrote 'innocent' historical romances (ie not bodice rippers) set in areas of the country she knew and loved.
The first books of hers I read were Island Magic set on Guernsey and Towers in the Mist about Oxford in the reign of Elizabeth I.

I recommend her memoir, "the Joy of the Snow." Goudge was a very unusual woman, with a mystical side that believed in ghosts. I enjoyed reading about the charming villages and countryside in which she lived. Two other works of fiction I liked was "The Scent of Water" and "The Castle on the Hill." Goudge was a very special author and not for everyone. Where I live, it is increasingly difficult to find her books, as they are becoming library discards....

I had to order my copy of The White Witch through a used book company. No doubt, all of her books would be out of print by now. Too bad.
The Dean's Watch is a sweet story. It's the only other book by Goudge that I own.

Her style of writing definitely reflects an earlier era, and has a gentle, thoughtful quality that has gone out of fashion. She was interested in exploring moral consequences of people's actions, and the conflict between responsibility and personal desire. She was a very successful best-selling author in her day. One of her books was made into a popular 1947 movie Green Dolphin Street starring Donna Reed and Lana Turner. Her last book was written in 1970, Child from the Sea, based on a woman who claimed to have been married to Charles I of England.

My personal favorites are the children's book The Little White Horse, her autobiography The Joy of the Snow and of course The White Witch, set in the period of the English Civil War.

If you check on Amazon you will find that several of her books have recently been re-released in paperback.

Rosefolly

I loved 'Little White Horse' as a child and moved on to her other books. I still enjoy them. My daughter loved LWH and "Linnetts & Valerians". Haven't read those in ages.

I have a lot of her others and pull them out from time to time. I love them, but they leave me feeling strangly homesick though a California girl born & bred. I must harken back to my British ancestors.

I'm pleased to see that the British are making a movie of LWH with Ioan Gruffudd, Dakota Blue Richards, Tim Curry... Sounds promising.

As I recall, J.K. Rowling mentioned LWH as being one of her favorites. Maybe that has lead to its 're-discovery'.

mc

Here is a link that might be useful: Little White Horse Movie

Oops - First I apologize for that link. Not much there. I originally learned about the movie at imdb while reading about Dakota after seeing "Golden Compass"

Gardens - right up there next to "Secret Garden" I have to credit EG with my love of gardening. I think all her books have special gardens and/or wild places that affected me deeply. From Damerosehay in the Eliot trilogy to "The White Witch" herb garden, the woods and .on and on.. As I said, each book has its own garden magic.

Homesick again,
mc

It looks as though they have changed the title for the movie.

I know what you mean about that homesickness. I sometimes feel a longing not for England-as-it-is, or even England-as-it-once-was, but for England-as-writers-have-described-it.

Rosefolly

Here is a link that might be useful: AKA Secret of Moonacre

Thanks for all your responses. I think I'll have to start at the library and try one out. I love to garden and so may also find an affiliation to her books. wig

I read Green Dolphin Street in high school and remember reading Child from the Sea. I have had Scent of Water for a long time and have re-read it a couple of times.

Saw The Bird in the Tree on the shelf at the lib, so took it out and gave it a try-I just couldn't get into it. I was hopeful, as it is the first in a trio, but it was slow.

Some of her books are slow, too slow for me. I tend not to like the ones that she wrote as contemporary novels (50-60 years ago or more now), and definitely preferred her historical novels. Those I find to be wonderful.

Rosefolly

I am still reading "The White Witch". This is one of several lines I've highlighted so far. Upon receiving a book...."you give me great wealth, for the gift of a book is the gift of a human soul. Men put their souls in their books. When one man gives another a book, then three souls are bound together in that most happy thing, a trinity."

I am also a fan of Elizabeth Goudge. I have to say that I did not care for most of the Damerosehay books. I liked Pilgrim's Inn, but not the one that follows it. (I forget the title).
One that I liked and for years could not find to re-read is The Middle Window. My mother had a paperback copy, but I never seemed to be in the mood to reread it when I was visiting. I found it at a library book sale last year and picked it up quickly!

I credit The White Witch with beginning my love of herbs and their uses. I couldn't wait until I had a place of my own so I could start my own herb garden.