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elizabeth goudge was a british author who wrote ‘the little white horse’, a very popular children’s fantasy novel that inspired j.k. rowling to write her own magical series.
+biography
You are reading: Elizabeth goudge books in order
Born Elizabeth de Beauchamp Goudge in the town of Wells, Somerset in 1900, Elizabeth Goudge’s father was a Reverend who met her mother on vacation. Elizabeth had great childhood memories of her at the Wells where horses and carriages were commonplace for a long time.
The goudge family was pretty good. her father’s job meant the family was always on the go, but that was fine for elizabeth, who was largely shielded from the many hardships life had to offer.
He came to live in many lovely houses even while enjoying the comfort of having so many maids and nannies. If there was a complication in Elizabeth’s life, it was her mother’s illness.
After a bicycle accident, the woman was left semi-invalid for a long time. And after sinusitis caused an abscess to form on her skull, she had to undergo groundbreaking surgery in London that allowed her to enjoy a semblance of a normal life.
elizabeth goudge’s desire to write was born at a young age, primarily as a result of her privilege. the author was always traveling. Some of her best memories are related to the days she spent with her maternal grandparents down the street from her. peters port town, memories with which she wrote her first novel (island magic).
elizabeth can trace her journey to publishing success to the day her father was given an appointment as canonist at ely cathedral and then moved the family to another cathedral city.
Elizabeth was eleven years old at the time. she remembers her move because she started spending a lot of time in her classroom reading everything from dickens to trolope to bronte.
Interestingly, it was during this time that Elizabeth’s worldview began to change. her father began to take her to visit the poor and that revealed to elizabeth the horrible state in which the people around her lived.
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I couldn’t believe how crowded, stuffy and noisy the houses were. Not that Elizabeth had time to worry about such things. the author’s most formative years were spent at boarding school in hampshire.
It wasn’t just the first world war that rocked elizabeth goudge’s world at the time. as an only child, the author had grown accustomed to being the center of her own little world. at boarding school, she was just one of many girls.
elizabeth had few good things to say about those days, mainly because she thought boarding school spent more time telling them how to run a household than showing them how to make a living. but she elizabeth she remembers being introduced to english literature during that period.
However, it didn’t matter much in the long run. when elizabeth goudge came home from boarding school, she didn’t really know anything that she could use to make a living. and she was found to be incompatible with acting and nursing school, the only career options available at the time.
Fortunately, an opportunity opened up for the author to attend art school. there he mastered many things, including the ability to turn his imagination into cohesive stories.
with a resume that includes stints at grassendale school (southbourne) and college reading, elizabeth landed a job teaching design and crafts. She joined her mother in moving from Oxford to Marldon, Devon when her father died in 1939.
The plan was to stay for a short vacation. But then World War II broke out and the couple made it their home. It was in Marldon that Elizabeth Goudge began writing in earnest, using Marldon as a setting to produce such titles as “The Little White Horse” and “The Castle on the Hill”.
elizabeth’s mother died in 1951, at which time the author emigrated to oxfordshire, where she spent the last three decades of her life. she isabel died in 1984.
+literary career
Elizabeth Goudge’s career as an author didn’t take off until she moved to Marldon. however, the author began writing as early as 1919. ‘fairy baby and other stories’ was elizabeth’s first book.
nobody read it, and its failure is probably why elizabeth often identified “island magic” as her first book. that one came out in 1934 and was a pretty decent hit. the book was written using stories elizabeth’s mother told her, and she produced more books based on the things she had seen and heard, and the places she had visited as a child.
The author is still best known for “the white horse”. Most of Elizabeth Goudge’s books were written with a Christian perspective. even the most fantastical ones emphasized elements such as conversion, sacrifice, and healing.
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The author’s love for England was also clearly present in every story she wrote.
for her efforts in writing ‘the little white horse,’ elizabeth received the carnegie medal in 1946.
+adaptations
The White Horse, Elizabeth’s most popular book, was first adapted in 1994 and turned into a TV miniseries called Moonacre. it finally returned to the public eye in 2008 when it was translated into a live action movie called “the secret of moonacre”.
+the little white horse
maria merryweather is an orphan who is sent to live with sir benjamin, her uncle, in the moonacre mansion. Maria initially believes that she is blessed to live in the mansion, not only because of the paradise that is hers, but also because of her uncle’s kind and funny demeanor.
However, even with all the beauty she finds, Maria can’t help but think there’s a sad undertone to Moonacre Manor. There is a secret in her new home, a tragedy from long ago that Maria must discover.
+linnets and valerian
robert, betsy, nan and timothy are fed up with their ruthless grandmother. when she decides to lock them in separate rooms over a perceived slight, the boys use that opportunity to escape into town.
They meet a pony who takes them to their Uncle Ambrose’s house. the gruff but kind man opens his gates to the children, allowing them to trample through his sprawling mansion.
The brothers meet the many guests of the Ambrose household and learn that magic does exist in the world, but it is often accompanied by a hint of evil.
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