Howling Frog Books

The Castle on the Hill, by Elizabeth Goudge I acquired this book sometime last year and saved it for a special treat.  Or for Elizabeth Goudge Day, but I wasn't very good at that event, and the publisher moved its interest to Instagram, and I wound up skipping it.  (Am still up for next year, maybe?)  Anyway, a global pandemic seemed like a good time to enjoy a new-to-me Goudge title.  This one was published in 1942, in the middle of the war, and probably everybody needed a nice uplifting read right then. It's 1940, and Miss Brown is homeless and jobless, at her wits' end to find a solution.  She's not wanted for war work, and all she's ever done is run a boarding house -- and there are a lot of people looking for jobs as housekeepers.  A train journey gone wrong brings her to Torhaven, in the West Country, where several mismatched people have been washed up by the war: a destitute Jewish refugee; a daring pilot and his brother, a dedicated pacifist; and tw...

Towers in the Mist , by Elizabeth Goudge This was our readalong title for Elizabeth Goudge Day, and I'd been saving it for a whole year.  It is one of the "Cathedral City" trilogy and set in Elizabethan Oxford, the others being The Dean's Watch (Victorian Ely) and City of Bells (Edwardian Wells).   And boy, does she have a good time with the Elizabethan setting! This is a family story, so we get to know all of the Leighs: the Canon of Christ Church, his many children, and the elderly and imperious Great-Aunt Susan.  But we start first with a young scholar, Faithful, who has walked to Oxford in the hope of getting an education despite his penury and is sort of adopted by Canon Leigh.  Mostly we follow Joyeuce, the eldest daughter, who has been burdened with the housekeeping since her mother died four years ago.  She finds it extremely difficult, and then a wealthy but perhaps unsuitable scholar, Nicolas, wants her to sneak out to see him. The house i...

My copy's cover, which I like Linnets and Valerians, by Elizabeth Goudge For Elizabeth Goudge Day a couple of weeks ago, I got into the mood to re-read Linnets and Valerians, which is really my favorite of her children's books I have read (there are several I haven't).  It reminds me very much of an E. Nesbit story!  For one thing, there are four siblings in 1912 whose father is going out to India; a very familiar setup. Nan, Robert, Timothy, and Betsy Linnet are staying with their very stern grandmother while their father is gone, but it isn't working out at all.  Pretty soon, Robert decides that they must all simply run away and leads them out on an expedition.  Luckily for them, they meet up with a grumpy, elderly gentleman who turns out to be their own uncle, and he agrees to keep them.  It soon becomes evident that although the area is mostly idyllic, there are a few nasty folks on the scene too.  The children's adventures lead them all over t...

After the giveaway time window closed last night, I (or rather, the forces of chance) chose a winner for The Dean's Watch , and it is: JDeb who said, Well, honestly, I don't know enough about the different places to make a choice. I've heard the most about Oxford, so maybe one of the other places. I don't know. I've just recently discovered Elizabeth Goudge and have only read a couple of her works for children, so I'd like a chance to read something else. Thanks!  Congratulations, JDeb, and I hope you really enjoy The Dean's Watch !  Thanks so much to Hendrickson Publishers for providing the prize, and for keeping some of Elizabeth Goudge's lovely novels in print.  Thanks to everyone who participated in this year's anniversary!  I hope to be more on the ball next year and do a little more publicity.  See you next time?

Jorie now has her signup post for the readalong up, so by all means go sign up!   For a taste of what awaits you, here is a lovely blog post written by Maggie Swofford at the publisher: Joy and Sorrow (and Everything In Between) in Elizabeth Goudge's Novels . The readalong will be for two weeks, from now until May 8th.  Hope you'll join us!

Greetings, fellow Elizabeth Goudge readers!  (Or prospective readers; we're looking for new club members!)  This is the Master Post for Elizabeth Goudge Day; you can start a readalong of Towers in the Mist at Jorie Loves a Story, enter the book giveaway elsewhere on this blog, or comment here about what Goudge books you love. I have now read most, but not all, of Goudge's adult novels and a good few of the children's stories.  I find her writing difficult to describe; most of her adult books are realistic historical or domestic stories that would be quite unremarkable mid-20th-century novels, except that a) Goudge was such a very gifted writer, and b) she had an unusual ability to write stories infused with Christianity that were nevertheless hardly ever didactic or preachy.  Her books tend to be uplifting and hopeful, giving everyone involved some redemption, even when totally undeserved. I've looked back over my blog to see what books I have read, and it a...

Luckily for us, Hendrickson Publishers has generously offered a copy of The Dean's Watch for our  giveaway! COMMENT ON THIS POST TO ENTER, and I will choose a winner with the help of random.org on Saturday, April 28.  The rules are at the bottom of the post. The Dean's Watch is one of the Cathedral Trilogy, which seem to bear no particular relation to each other except that each is set in a cathedral town and has a lot to do with said cathedral.  Towers in the Mist is set in Elizabethan Oxford, The Dean's Watch in Victorian disguised-Ely, and City of Bells in Edwardian disguised-Wells.  ( City of Bells even kicks off a different trilogy, with two children's stories to round it out!) What's it about?  Let's ask the publisher: A compelling saga of an unlikely friendship threaded together by redemption and grace The setting is a remote mid-nineteenth-century town in England and its grand cathedral. The cathedral Dean, Adam Ayscough, holds a deep...

I'm excited to host Elizabeth Goudge Day on Tuesday!  Are you planning anything special to read?   Will you perhaps join a readalong of Towers in the Mist, or enter the giveaway for The Dean's Watch ?  I hope to see you Tuesday!

Elizabeth Goudge was born on April 24th, 1900, and for her birthday, we are going to celebrate her many lovely books!  Jorie at Jorie Loves a Story and I will be co-hosting this event.  If you've never read one of Goudge's novels, I do hope you'll pick one up and give her a try.  She's a real favorite of mine, and wrote lovely children's books as well as adult novels.  (Her Little White Horse was famously a childhood favorite of J. K. Rowling's, and it does make a great place to start!) Jorie will be hosting a readalong of the historical novel Towers in the Mist , set in the late sixteenth century.  We've been saving our copies for this and we hope you can track one down too! I will be hosting a giveaway of The Dean's Watch , generously donated by Hendrickson Publishers.  I also hope you'll share your reading and favorite Goudge books with us!