Elizabeth Goudge

Author Information
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  • Bibliography:
    61 Books (2 Series)
  • First Book:
    January 1919
  • Latest Book:
    November 1978
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About the Author

Elizabeth de Beauchamp Goudge was born on 24 April 1900 in the cathedral city of Wells, where her father, a clergyman, was vice-principal of the Theological College. When she was a child, the family moved to Ely and then to Oxford. Elizabeth attended Grassendale School and studied art at University College Reading. She went on to teach design and handicrafts in Ely and Oxford. Her first book, The Fairies' Baby and Other Stories (1919) was considered unsuccessful, but her first novel, Island Magic (1934) was an immediate hit. She was a best-selling author in both the UK and the USA from the 1930s through the 1970s. Elizabeth Goudge won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association for The Little White Horse in 1946; it inspired the British television mini-series Moonacre and the film The Secret of Moonacre. Green Dolphin Country (1944) was adapted as a film in 1948 under the title Green Dolphin Street. After her mother's death in 1951, Elizabeth Goudge moved to a cottage on Peppard Common, just outside Henley-on-Thames, where she lived for the last 30 years of her life. She became a founding member of the Romantic Novelists' Association in 1960 and later served as vice president. She died on 1 April 1984.

Full Series List in Order

The Eliots of Damerosehay

1 - The Bird in the Tree (1940)
2 - Pilgrim's Inn // The Herb of Grace (Jan-1948)
3 - The Heart of the Family (Jan-1953)

The Torminster Saga

1 - A City of Bells (Jan-1936)
2 - Sister of the Angels (Dec-1939)
3 - Henrietta's House // The Blue Hills (Jan-1942)

Book List in Order: 61 titles

  • The Fairies' Baby and Other Stories

    • / Action Adventure
    • Buy Buy

    "People are apt to envy fairies, and to think they always have the best of everything. The never have the measles, they never have to go to the dentist, it never rain in the Fairyland, and they have endless balls and parties. But what any fairy w...

  • Island Magic

    A lonely wanderer... A magical island... And Two People Bewitched By Love.... The Channel Islands were divided in allegiance between France and England. Of French blood, and yet subjects of Queen Victoria, the islanders were curious hybrid creatur...

  • The Middle Window

    Judy Cameron is ever so bored with modern London and her glamorous, perfect life. Stifled, her imagination seizes on a picture she sees in a shop window, a picture of the Scottish wilds. It inspires her. Strong-willed, she prevails on her parents ...

  • A City of Bells

    The Torminster Saga - 1

    The Torminster Saga #1 Who was Gabriel Ferranti? Why had he disappeared? Jocelyn Irvin has just returned from the Boer War with an incurably lamed leg. He heads for the cathedral town or Torminster, where he recovers his love of life in the inv...

  • A Pedlar's Pack

    Besides "A Pedlar's Pack" this collection includes "A Shepard and a Shepardess," "Doing Good," "Sweet Herbs," "Cloud-Capped Towers," "Picnic with Albert," "Escape for Jane," and "Rabbits in a Hat." The selection continues with "Punch and Judy," "...

  • Cloud-Capped Towers

    in White Wings

    Elizabeth Goudge's short-story...

  • Escape for Jane

    in White Wings

    Elizabeth Goudge's short-story...

  • The Hour Before Dawn

    in White Wings

    Elizabeth Goudge's short-story...

  • Punch and Judy

    in White Wings

    Elizabeth Goudge's short-story...



  • Rabbits in a Hat

    in White Wings

    Elizabeth Goudge's short-story...

  • A Shepherd and a Shepherdess

    in White Wings

    Elizabeth Goudge's short-story...

  • Sweet Herbs

    in White Wings

    Elizabeth Goudge's short-story...

  • Towers in the Mist

    • / Historical Romance
    • Buy Buy

    Christ Church, Oxford is the location of this tale of the Leigh family, set in the days of Queen Elizabeth I. Faithful Crocker, an impoverished young Londoner, heads for Oxford. He's bright, cheeky and good-looking, has a tremendous love of le...

  • Sister of the Angels

    The Torminster Saga - 2

    The Torminster Saga #2. In "Sister of the Angels," Elizabeth Goudge takes us back to the City of Bells, and tells an enchanting story about Henrietta, a young girl in love with every nook and cranny of her grandfather's cathedral. This is a perfec...

  • Smoky House

    Spring had come again to Faraway, and the men and women and children of the village, as they went about their business, were singing this song that the merry young Squire had written to welcome the spring....

  • The Bird in the Tree

    • / Historical Romance
    • Buy Buy
    The Eliots of Damerosehay - 1

    A Vibrant Novel About the Joys of Life ... and The Pangs of Love Love had come to David for the first time, glorious, overwhelming, passionate. It was far greater and far more lovely than he had ever dreamed possible. And it was returned in full m...

  • The Castle on the Hill

    It is the summer of 1940 and England is fighting for her life. In a rural corner of England the vagaries of war bring together a group of people wrestling the enemy within--fear, despair, loss of faith. A web of chance... a fateful meeting in a Lo...

  • The Well of the Star

    A delightful Christmas story, that tells how the three Wise Men lost sight of the star on their way to Bethlehem. Then, they met a young shepherd boy named David beside a mysterious well.... Perfect for reading aloud on a cold winter's night, this ta...

  • The Cat and the Sailing Ship

    in White Wings



  • A Crock of Gold

    in White Wings

  • The Dark Lady

    in White Wings

    Elizabeth Goudge's short-story...

  • The Golden Skylark

    in The Golden Skylark and Other Stories

    In THE GOLDEN SKYLARK, a collection of short stories, Goudge provides that escape. Included are "The Cat and the Sailing Ship", "A Crock of Gold", "The New Moon", "The Dark Lady" and many others, all with her sympathet...

  • The New Moon

    in The Golden Skylark and Other Stories

    Elizabeth Goudge's short-story...

  • Henrietta's House // The Blue Hills

    The Torminster Saga - 3

    Back to beloved cathedral town of Torminster in the early years of this century. One golden afternoon, Henrietta Ferranti, along with her family and friends, sets out for young Hugh Anthony's birthday party, and he's going to celebrate wit...

  • The Ikon On the Wall and Other Stories

    Amalgamation of three previous anthologies, includes A Shepherd and a Shepherdess; Sweet Herbs; Cloud-Capped Towers; Escape for Jane; Rabbits in A Hat; Punch and Judy; The Hour Before Dawn, Dogs of Peking; White Wings; The Strength in the S tone; The...

  • The Elizabeth Goudge Reader

    • / Action Adventure
    • Buy Buy

  • Green Dolphin Country // Green Dolphin Street

    A haunting love story set in the Channel Islands and New Zealand in the 19th century. William Ozanne, whose hypnotic, masculine presence made two sisters adore him with all their heart... The two beautiful daughters of a wealthy merchant of the Ch...

  • The Little White Horse

    In 1842, thirteen-year-old orphan Maria Merryweather arrives at Moonacre Manor, her family's ancestral home in an charmed village in England's West Country, and she feels as if she’s entered Paradise. Her new guardian, her uncle Sir Benjami...

  • At the Sign of the Dolphin



  • Pilgrim's Inn // The Herb of Grace

    The Eliots of Damerosehay - 2

    After WW II, Lucilla Eliot's soldier son George and his beautiful wife Nadine lived with their five children. They acquired an ancient pilgrim's inn on the river, that touches not only its new owners but also those strangers who stop there fo...

  • Make-Believe

    Follows the activities of the five lively du Frocq children and their parents on Guernsey in the English Channel in the late 1800s....

  • Gentian Hill

    They met as children--in a lush, enchanting land where anguish and strife did not exist. Even then, Zachary and Stella knew that one day they would be lovers. As they grew up, the world rushed into their magic kingdom. War raged--a war to challeng...

  • The Reward of Faith and Other Stories

    All Elizabeth Goudge's religious stories in one volume, including three specially written for this edition....

  • The Valley of Song

    In a 19th century English ship-building village, a beautiful ship, due to lack of funds, is slated to be destroyed. A local girl, Tabitha, rallies her community in obtaining materials to finish ship's construction. She visits The Workshop, a magi...

  • God So Loved the World

    The story of Jesus Christ's life from the time the Angels appeared to Mary until the Resurrection. For all believers of any sect and for all who read the Bible and for those who don't - a book which trumpets to Heaven love and faith - very mu...

  • Dogs of Peking

    in White Wings

    Elizabeth Goudge's short-story...

  • From Whence?

    in White Wings

    Elizabeth Goudge's short-story...

  • The Gap in the Hedge

    in White Wings

    Elizabeth Goudge's short-story...

  • The Hospitality of Mr. Pettigrew

    in White Wings

    Elizabeth Goudge's short-story...



  • Madame Ysabeau

    in White Wings

    Elizabeth Goudge's short-story...

  • Made from a Hazel-Nut

    in White Wings

    Elizabeth Goudge's short-story...

  • The Patience and Good Hope

    in White Wings

    Elizabeth Goudge's short-story...

  • Soldiers of the Queen

    in White Wings

    Elizabeth Goudge's short-story...

  • The Strength in the Stone

    in White Wings

    Elizabeth Goudge's short-story...

  • White Wings

    in White Wings

    Amalgamation of three previous anthologies, includes A Shepherd and a Shepherdess; Sweet Herbs; Cloud-Capped Towers; Escape for Jane; Rabbits in A Hat; Punch and Judy; The Hour Before Dawn, Dogs of Peking; White Wings; The Strength in the S tone; The...

  • The Heart of the Family

    The Eliots of Damerosehay - 3

    Despite the “crinkled pink petals strewn in the path of those who would have preferred red,” four generations of Eliots have survived the War and are moving forward. The family’s remarkable matriarch Lucilla is still with them, though she’s f...

  • The Rosemary Tree

    • / Historical Romance
    • Buy Buy

    Michael Stone was once a famous author. That was before he went to prison. Now, just released, he needs to get his bearings and a new beginning. It was a gray day in early April when Michael stumbled wearily into the tiny English village. Weighed dow...

  • The White Witch

    Set in 17th-century England, when Cavaliers struggle with Puritans to keep the throne safe for King Charles 1st. The wise and gentle Froniga Haslewood, is caught between two worlds. Divided between her Puritan family at the Oxfordshire village'...

  • The Dean's Watch

    Set in a Cathedral city in the 1870s, a remote town dominated by the great cathedral and its formidable Dean Adam Ayscough, who holds a deep love for his parishioners and townspeople. But the craggy, homely old Dean, lived locked in by shyness... wh...



  • The Scent of Water

    • / Historical Romance
    • Buy Buy

    Mary Lindsay met her little niece and namesake only once, but she saw in the quiet, imaginative child a kindred spirit to inherit her ancient house. Fifty years later her niece inherited the house with no knowledge of it beyond her indelible childhoo...

  • Linnets and Valerians // The Runaways

    The four Linnet children: Nan, Robert, Timothy and Betsy are sent to live with their strict grandmother while their father travels to Egypt. Locked away in separate rooms as punishment by their ruthless grandmother, the Linnets feel at once that thei...

  • A Book of Comfort

    A wonderful book, filled with poetry and writings of writers, saints and influential people, all of which do as the title suggests offer "consolation for the difficulties and challenges of life."...

  • The Ten Gifts

    Love, wonder, beauty, delight, compassion, understanding, faith, tranquility, truth, and courage -- these are the ten gifts....

  • A Christmas Book

    This anthology offers nine pieces celebrating the spirit of Christmas with "an amazing visitation of joy, a singing in the soul, a new power of generosity or insight or endurance." The settings of Elizabeth Goudge's stories--two of the...

  • A Book of Peace

    Elizabeth Goudge writes in her Preface: "Never have we longed for peace as we do now, when we are in danger of having our minds and souls battered to a uniform pulp. But in our much greater need we turn to the same sources of peace as our forefathers...

  • I Saw Three Ships

    Little orphan Polly Flowerdew lives with her two elderly maiden aunts, Dorcas and Constantia. Christmas is coming and she is bursting with excitement. She is absolutely sure that something special is going to happen this year. What will she find in h...

  • The Child from the Sea

    The Child From The Sea tells the rich, turbulent tale of Lucy Walter, secret wife of Charles II, and mistress-despite-herself to a gallant and reckless Irish nobleman in exile. It is a story filled with the passions and adventure of an age of glory a...

  • The Joy of the Snow: Autobiography

    Childhood in the cathedral city of Wells, summer holidays in Guernsey, and reminiscences of Edwardian clothes, nannies and aunts mark this autobiography by the popular novelist and writer of children's book and short stories....

  • The Lost Angel

    This collection contains seven of Goudge's loveliest stories, including: The Two Caves; The Silver Horse; Three Men; Lost - One Angel; Saint Nicholas; John; and Giovanni. All the stories contain her special blend of fairytale grace, warmth and sp...

  • A Book of Faith

  • Pattern of People

    An anthology arranged by Muriel Grainged....

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Elizabeth Goudge has published 61 books.

Elizabeth Goudge does not have a new book coming out soon. The latest book, Pattern of People, was published in November 1978.

The first book by Elizabeth Goudge, The Fairies' Baby and Other Stories, was published in January 1919.

Yes. Elizabeth Goudge has 2 series.
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