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The Little White Horse

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Well, with regard to textual descriptiveness, Elizabeth Goudge’s 1946 The Little White Horse definitely reads like an on the surface most delightful plate of richly flavoured food, appealing to all of my senses and also making me very much and very strongly understand why The Little White Horse is such an enduring classic and fondly remembered by many (including it seems Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, who considers The Little White Horse as a personal favourite). And yes, if I had in fact encountered The Little White Horse during my own childhood, I would more than likely have been willing to for the most part focus on how beautifully lush and nuanced Elizabeth Goudge’s descriptions are and to also have been able pretty much ignore the oh so very many elements of pedantic didacticism (as well as the rather inherent and ever-present misogyny) of much of The Little White Horse.

For three, she doesn’t marry a prince. Indeed, pretty much nobody in this story ends up marrying within their social class, although Loveday was at one point at least closer to Sir Benjamin’s social class. Until, that is, she ran away and married an attorney and became a housekeeper. Miss Heliotrope, the daughter of a not exactly wealthy village rector, falls in love with a French marquis—although when they do eventually marry, that title has been left well behind. And Maria, the proud Moon Princess, marries a shepherd boy. Though since Robin can visit Maria in his dreams, that’s perhaps not that surprising. All Women Love Shoes: The first chapter in the book describes Maria as being plain but blessed with tiny feet. Because of this, Maria is described as taking more pride in her footwear than her dresses or other attire. I simply loved this one right from the start, mostly because there is something very magical about the atmosphere Goudge creates—she makes you want to almost step into the book and live in Moonacre manor which is a warm, welcoming place, with lovely surroundings—so are the other houses described, like the old parsonage and Loveday’s house. Her descriptions too are beautiful. As usual I never remember to mark them when I read them but this for instance:

About Elizabeth Goudge

The Little White Horse’ is one of a number of stories that Elizabeth Goudge wrote for children. It is set sometime in the 19th century, in the Devonshire countryside that the author so loved; and it is an engaging and old-fashioned tale, underpinned by both magic and faith. A completely adorable book from start to finish! I'm sorry I didn't run into this one sooner in my reading life, it's a sweet, perfectly balanced adventure for the young and imaginative, and is overloaded with all the best things one thinks of when one thinks of England. Miss Heliotrope is partial to the color purple, heliotropes are a flower that often sport purple blossoms. A fairy tale fantasy – that gave many readers a life-time longing for a circular tower room at the top of a spiral staircase. The Secret of Moonacre". Toronto International Film Festival 2008. Archived from the original on 6 September 2008 . Retrieved 20 September 2019.

Cogle, Fleur (5 October 2009). "The Secret of Moonacre". Stuff.co.nz . Retrieved 20 September 2019.The second is a scene where Maria is chided for being overly curious—going along with some other not very subtle women-bashing in the book. To counter this, however, the book’s general theme seems to be less against curiosity, and more for faith. And for all of the women-bashing at the beginning of the book (and there’s quite a bit of it), notably, at the end, the estate and the village are saved not by a man, but by a girl, and Maria, not a boy, is able to inherit and rule the estate in her own right. I think that this is a book that would work best read in childhood – and I do wish I had discovered it as a child – but it still has a great deal to offer to the grown-up reader who is still in touch with her inner child who loved books. I Am Not Pretty: Maria describes herself as plain in one chapter but she doesn't spend the book fretting over her appearance. You will notice that I left Wiggins off the list of helpers. This is because, although he is very definitely in most of the book and does a lot of eating, I don’t think that most readers would call him helpful.)

Marmaduke Scarlet – Sir Benjamin's cook and housekeeper. Also the owner of Zachariah the cat. He does not like feminine curiosity and sees his kitchen as a private domain. He is a wonderful chef. Nice to Maria. Elizabeth tells her story beautifully; she really was a mistress of the art of story-telling. Every sentence is beautifully wrought; every character is clearly and distinctively drawn; every place, every meal, every setting is perfectly explained; and there is a wealth of lovely detail. It is the marginalia of her stories which helps to give depth to her writing. Every setting and every person is detailed and important, a way of looking at life that Elizabeth liked in the paintings of the old masters, who never left anyone out, giving importance to the great and the small. Her stories became the tapestries that she tired to make during her Art College course in Reading.

a b c d e "The Secret of Moonacre (2009)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 2 December 2016 . Retrieved 1 December 2016. The third strike is the language. It's as contrived as an imitation of Jane Austen or the Brontes; it has the tone and diction of someone who is desperately trying to tell a fairy tale. Also, instead of saying that a character "exclaims" something, she says "ejaculated." I know, I should be more mature, but it was distracting. Everybody going around ejaculating all the time... it's just jarring. OH, and Maria [Sue] keeps going through all the book's events "with a beating heart." ...well, she's alive isn't she? Admittedly, the third strike is really against the editor who should've caught the vanity-pressness of the language. Adaptation Distillation: Basically, Gabor Csupo took the book's characters, and went off and did his own thing. Have it your own way," he said. "But if your 'lots to drink' is tea, I don't want it. Of all the wishy-washy, insipid beverages -"

Finding the key in the book's bookmark, Maria sneaks into the fortress, but is spotted by Robin's father Coeur de Noir. She gives him the key but he reveals that the casket is empty, accusing the Merryweathers of stealing them. Maria escapes and is led home by Wrolf. At the manor, she meets Loveday, who gives her more information: Loveday and Sir Benjamin were once engaged until Loveday revealed she was a de Noir; Sir Benjamin, furious, broke off the engagement and Loveday ran away. Maria then notices a painting of the first Moon Princess, who shows her where she hid the pearls in the forest. Maria sends forged letters to Sir Benjamin and Loveday convincing them to meet, then persuades Robin to help her. Meanwhile, Loveday and Sir Benjamin meet and discover Maria's deception. Together with Miss Heliotrope, Marmaduke, and the "halfwit" servant Digweed, they set out to search for her. a b "The Secret of Moonacre (2008)". British Board of Film Classification. 27 January 2009 . Retrieved 20 September 2019.a b "The Secret of Moonacre, aka The Moon Princess". The Hollywood Reporter. Associated Press. 8 September 2008 . Retrieved 2 October 2020. Marmaduke Scarlett is described as often wearing a red hat and scarlett refers to a type of fabric that was frequently dyed red. Seeing him in daylight without his hat, Maria immediately loved old Digweed. He had wide innocent blue eyes like a baby’s, a high wrinkled forehead and a completely bald head.”(Goudge 1946 p45) The writing is completely charming --in the sense that great charm is always allied to intelligence and wit. All of the sentences are beautifully wrought, and the magical setting ("Moonacre")is so lovingly described that the reader can perfectly imagine it. I had never heard of this classic English book until a friend said it was the favourite book of her childhood . . . and, indeed, a "comfort read" well into adulthood. Now I see it everywhere -- and I marvel that I could have been unaware of it for so long.

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