It is 1842 and Maria Merryweather, a 13 year old orphan, is on a journey to Moonacre Manor somewhere in the west of England, accompanied by her governess, Miss Heliotrope and her dog Wiggins. There she meets her cousin Sir Benjamin Merryweather, one of the 'sun' Merryweathers and finds that she loves him straight away. She is a 'moon' Merryweather and they always take to each other - for a while.
This is a short synopsis of the start of The Little White Horse which I first discovered in my school library when I was about 14. It was lunchtime on a wet dreary day so we were all cooped up indoors and I remember wandering round the library for something to read. As the books never changed and sat undisturbed for years on their shelves, I had seen Elizabeth Goudge's book many times but had never looked at it. In desperation I took it down and started reading. An hour later I had to be dragged back into class and the book went in my satchel and came home with me where I sat and read it straight through that evening.
It is an absolutely delightful story, almost bordering on the whimsical but then pulled up at the last minute by a dash of commonsense. Maria is a disarming heroine, proud, rather plain and with a bad temper but when she finds she is destined to bring happiness back to Moonacre, right the wrongs of the past and reunite lost loves, she grits her teeth and gets on with it.
There is a wonderful cast of supporting characters, Wrolf, a dog who came out of the woods one day and sets himself by Maria's side as her guardian (he bears a passing resemblance to a lion), Serena the hare, Zachariah the cat and Robin, a boy she used to play with when she lived in London, and whom Miss Heliotrope never believed in, thinking he was Maria's imaginary friend. We also meet his mother, the wonderfully named Loveday Minette, who is unhappy and harbouring a secret, The Old Parson a French emigre who plays the violin and delivers blistering sermons and Marmaduke the cook, who produces the most amazing food. Just read this description and don't tell me your mouth doesn't water:
"Have no fear young mistress" came Marmaduke's voice soothingly behind her "there is sufficient plum cake, saffron cake, cherry cake, iced fairy cakes, eclairs, gingerbread, meringues, syllabub, almond fingers, rock cakes, chocolate cakes, parkin, cream horns, Devonshire splits, Cornish pasties, jam sandwiches, lemon curd sandwiches, lettuce sandwiches, cinnamon toast and honey toast to feed twenty or more and there is an unlimited supply of mulled claret"
This story is illustrated by the wonderful C Walter Hodges who I have written about before, though the 
latest paperback version does not have these wonderful drawings in which is a shame as they lend enchantment to this already enchanting story.
It has been brought to my attention that this is now being filmed, the only cast member I know being Colin Firth who is playing Sir Benjamin. As Sir Benjamin is a rather Falstaffian figure, this is certainly casting against type but as it is the divine Colin I will just have to grin and bear it. Though the idea of a film is wonderful I do hope that it is done well and they capture the atmosphere of this, one of my most favourite, books.
Elizabeth Goudge has written numerous books, some for children, some for adults and while I find some of them a bit 'fey' others are gripping and exciting. Green Dolphin Country is such an one, and for sheer pleasure of a story set in a Cathedral town - the Dean's Watch or a City of Bells. Elizabeth's father was a clergyman and the family lived in Ely and later when he became Professor of Divinity at Oxford, the family went to live in Christchurch and Towers in the Mist is set there. Apart from the Little White Horse, other children's books include Henrietta's House, the Valley of Song and my other favourite, Linnets and Valierian.
I am not sure how many of her books are in print at the moment. Of course, the Little White Horse is available, particularly since J K Rowling said it was one of her favourite books as a child. Publisher's whipped it out pretty quickly with said quote on front cover and it was in the shops sharpish.
No slouches when it comes to a serendipitous piece of publicity....
