From 1934 to 1970, Goudge published historical fiction, children’s books, contemporary novels, and short stories that share richly developed settings and characters, a fine and generous sense of humor, a love of beauty in nature and art, and a spiritual and philosophical view of life that is not one-sided or dogmatic, but rooted in that deep love of humanity that to me is the true “Christianity.” While Goudge herself would be the first to note that her works are not perfect, the understanding of both joy and suffering that they embody has endeared them to many.
If you have an existing review of one of Elizabeth Goudge’s works, please leave a link in the comments or contact me at lory [at] emeraldcitybookreview [dot] com. For inspiration, have a look at these reviews from bloggers who will be contributing guest posts during the week. Otherwise, please keep watching ECBR for more details in the coming weeks. I do hope you will join us!
Books by Elizabeth Goudge (an incomplete list)
The Torminster books (one adult novel and two children’s books, not a trilogy)
• A City of Bells (1936)
• Sister of the Angels (1939)
• Henrietta’s House (1942) aka The Blue Hills
The Eliots of Damerosehay Saga
• The Bird in the Tree (1940)
• The Herb of Grace (1948) aka Pilgrim’s Inn
• The Heart of the Family (1953)
Single novels: Historical
• Island Magic (1934) Victorian era, Channel Islands
• Towers in the Mist (1938) Elizabethan Oxford
• Green Dolphin Country (1944); U.S. title, Green Dolphin Street
Nineteenth Century Channel Islands/New Zealand
• Gentian Hill (1949) Napoleonic era, Devon
• The White Witch (1958) English Civil War
• The Dean’s Watch (1960) Late nineteenth century, Ely
• The Child From the Sea (1970) Seventeenth century
Single novels: Contemporary
• The Middle Window (1935)
• The Castle on the Hill (1941)
• The Rosemary Tree (1956)
• The Scent of Water (1963)
Children’s books
• Smoky-House (1940)
• The Well of the Star (1941)
• The Little White Horse (1946)
• Make-Believe (1949)
• The Valley of Song (1951)
• Linnets and Valerians (1964) aka The Runaways
• I Saw Three Ships (1969)
Do you have any favorite books by Elizabeth Goudge? What do you plan to pick up during the Reading Week? Please let us know in the comments!
I adore Elizabeth Goudge, so I am so excited for this! I must fit in some rereads this spring – and check which ones I've already reviewed.
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Wonderful, please do let me know so I can link to them.
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PS – I see you timed it to start on her birthday!
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Yes! And I just learned it's also Anthony Trollope's birthday, a rather suitable literary connection.
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Count me in! I've heard of Elizabeth Goudge but never read any of her books. In looking at her work, it's hard to pick one book! At any rate, I'll start with The Scent of Water. Looking forward to Elizabeth Goudge Reading Week!
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I have not read that one either, but I may get to it during the Reading Week. So glad you will join us!
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Count me in too! I haven't read any Elizabeth Goudge books. Not sure where I am going to start.
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Great! I hope you will find one that catches your fancy.
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I haven't read too much Elizabeth Goudge. I see I can place a hold on any of the books listed at the library, and wait for it to arrive from Cleveland. One of the drawbacks of living in a small town. I believe I'll start with Island Magic.
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I'm hoping to read one of the Guernsey books for the Reading Week too, either Island Magic or Green Dolphin Street. Hope your library comes through.
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Here at Hendrickson Publishers we are so excited about Elizabeth Goudge Week! If you didn't know it yet, we have been re-releasing many of her books. Check them out! You might find your old favorites in a new paperback edition, or maybe you'll discover something new…http://uroomtech.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find?Ntt=elizabeth+goudge&N=0&Ntk=keywords&action=Search&Ne=0&event=ESRCG&nav_search=1&cms=1
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Thank you for the link, I am so glad about the re-releases too.
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I *just* came across this today, so am late getting in on this, but I have loved E. Goudge since childhood and have several reviews on my blog (among them, "The Joy of the Snow", "The Rosemary Tree", "the White Witch", and "Gentian Hill", among others. Here is a link to my blog: https://countrygirlsread.wordpress.com/tag/elizabeth-goudge/
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Glad to have you with us, Theresa!
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