When the four Linnet children are sent to live with their nasty grandmother, they decide at once that their new life is unbearable and run away. Making their way through the English countryside, they first charm the gruff but lovable Uncle Ambrose and his gardener, Ezra, then stumble upon the eccentric Lady Alicia, who seems to have lost her family. And then the real fun begins! The Linnets start their search for the missing Valerians-but will they be thwarted by the witch Emma Cobley and her magic cat?
When the book opens in the year 1912, the four Linnet children, Nan, Robert, Timothy, and Betsy (and their dog Absolom) are all locked in separate rooms, being punished by their stern grandmother. They can bear it no longer, and their daring escape over the garden wall leads them by fortunate chance to the home of their own uncle Ambrose, who is also stern, but deeply loving as well. He lives with Ezra, a man-of-all-work; Hector, an owl; and Jason, a shaggy pony, in a house, a garden, and a village that Goudge creates to be infinitely satisfying to a child’s heart. It is a whole world to explore, sometimes frightening, sometimes beautiful, sometimes mysterious and enchanting.
It’s not long before the children are caught up in the tragedy at the heart of village life: the disappearance of young Francis Valerian, eight years old. His mother, Lady Alicia, has hidden herself away as a recluse ever since. Her bitterness and sorrow, and the malice of the shopkeeper Emma Cobley, keep this book from being sentimental or silly; there’s an edge of danger and realism even to the moments of tenderness. Elizabeth Goudge has the great gift, rare among modern writers, of portraying goodness without making it sappy, and evil without making it attractive. As the Linnet children find their way to bringing good out of evil, the pure satisfaction and joy in the book makes every moment a pleasure.
A Favorite Book
England
