Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Popular Library (1942), Mass Market Paperback
Description
Amid the chaos of the Second World War comes a charming story of courage and friendship, from the author of Green Dolphin Country and A City of Bells. In the summer of 1940, as the darkest days of the Second World War approach, a chance encounter on a train leads Miss Brown to become housekeeper at the Castle. Hidden in a quiet, rural corner of England, the crumbling castle is home to lonely historian Mr Birley and his nephews, fighter pilot Richard and fair, peace-loving Stephen. With young evacuees Moppet and Poppet, and mysterious violinist Jo Isaacson, this unexpected family of strangers come to rely on each other as the devastations of war rage on.
User reviews
LibraryThing member GeraniumCat
This is a gentle and sympathetic story about people coping with the horrors of war on the domestic front. Set in a castle on the south-east coast of England during World War II, it tells the story of Rupert Birley, the castle's owner, a widower and historian, his two nephews (one a fighter pilot),
Goudge is a deeply spiritual writer, and her conviction that faith can overcome vicissitude is heartening, though it may be more readily accessible to readers who enjoy the classics of English literature. For those who take to her, she is a rewarding writer.
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and three new arrivals: the new housekeeper, and two small girls who have been evacuated from London and the Blitz. It describes their attempts to adapt to each other and to overcome their personal monsters. Each character is handled with great sympathy and, as in the author's other books, strength of faith somehow finds a way to offer a bulwark even to those who have lost theirs. Goudge is a deeply spiritual writer, and her conviction that faith can overcome vicissitude is heartening, though it may be more readily accessible to readers who enjoy the classics of English literature. For those who take to her, she is a rewarding writer.
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LibraryThing member rshart3
Makes an interesting comparison with Elizabeth Jane Howard's "Cazalet" novels
LibraryThing member Figgles
Scary to think when this was written (1942) the outcome of the war was unknown. This adds an extra poignancy to a book that tells of the effect of the war on the lives of people from different social classes and foreshadows the changes that will come in the post-war world. Makes a stand for the
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survival of music and love! Show Less
LibraryThing member SueinCyprus
Compulsive reading set in the war years, featuring a middle-aged woman who has lost her home in the war, and a Jewish refugee musician. There are also two delightful small London evacuees. Compulsive reading with the horrors of war sensitively handled.
Language
Original publication date
1941
Physical description
319 p.; 7 inches
DDC/MDS
| Fic Gen Goudge |