Elizabeth Goudge

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Elizabeth Goudge bigraphy, stories - English fiction writer

Elizabeth Goudge : biography

24 April 1900 – 1 April 1984

Elizabeth de Beauchamp Goudge FRSL (24 April 1900 – 1 April 1984) was an English author of novels, short stories and children’s books as Elizabeth Goudge. She won the Carnegie Medal for British children’s books in 1946 for The Little White Horse. She was a best-selling author in both the UK and the US from the 1930s through the 1970s.

Goudge gained renewed attention decades later. In 1993 one of her books was plagiarised by Indrani Aikath-Gyaltsen; the "new" novel set in India garnered rave reviews in both The New York Times and the The Washington Post before its source was discovered. In 2001 or 2002 J. K. Rowling identified The Little White Horse as one of her favourite books and one of few with direct influence on the Harry Potter series.

Works

City of Bells series

  • A City of Bells (1936)
  • Towers in the Mist (1938)
  • The Dean’s Watch (1960)
  • Three Cities of Bells (omnibus) (1965)

Eliots of Damerosehay series

  • The Bird in the Tree (1940)
  • The Herb of Grace (1948) aka Pilgrim’s Inn (1948 )
  • The Heart of the Family (1953)
  • The Eliots of Damerosehay (omnibus) (1957)

Novels

  • Island Magic (1934)
  • The Middle Window (1935)
  • The Castle on the Hill (1941)
  • Green Dolphin Country (1944); U.S. title, Green Dolphin Street — historical novel adapted as the Hollywood movie Green Dolphin Street
  • Gentian Hill (1949)
  • The Rosemary Tree (1956)
  • The White Witch (1958)
  • The Scent of Water (1963)
  • The Child From the Sea (1970)

Children’s books

  • Sister of the Angels: A Christmas Story (1939)
  • Smoky-House (1940)
  • The Well of the Star (1941)
  • Henrietta’s House (1942) aka The Blue Hills
  • The Little White Horse (1946)
  • Make-Believe (1949)
  • The Valley of Song (1951)
  • Linnets and Valerians (1964) aka The Runaways
  • I Saw Three Ships (1969)

Collections

  • The Fairies’ Baby: And Other Stories (1919)
  • A Pedlar’s Pack: And Other Stories (1937)
  • Three Plays: Suomi, The Brontës of Haworth, Fanny Burney (1939)
  • The Golden Skylark: And Other Stories (1941)
  • The Ikon on the Wall: And Other Stories (1943)
  • The Elizabeth Goudge Reader (1946)
  • Songs and Verses (1947)
  • At the Sign of the Dolphin (1947)
  • The Reward of Faith: And Other Stories (1950)
  • White Wings: Collected Short Stories (1952)
  • The Ten Gifts: An Elizabeth Goudge Anthology (1965)
  • A Christmas Book: An Anthology of Christmas Stories (1967)
  • The Lost Angel: Stories (1971)
  • Hampshire Trilogy (omnibus) (1976)
  • Pattern of People: An Elizabeth Goudge Anthology (1978)

Nonfiction

  • God So Loved the World: The Story of Jesus (1951)
  • Saint Francis of Assisi (1959) aka My God and My All: The Life of St. Francis of Assisi
  • A Diary of Prayer (1966)
  • The Joy of the Snow: An Autobiography (1974)

Anthologies edited by Elizabeth Goudge

  • A Book of Comfort: An Anthology (1964)
  • A Book of Peace: An Anthology (1967)
  • A Book of Faith: An Anthology (1976)

Anthologies containing stories by Elizabeth Goudge

  • Dancing with the Dark (1997)

Short stories

  • ESP (1974)

Influence

J. K. Rowling, the creator of Harry Potter, has recalled that The Little White Horse was her favourite book as a child. She has also identified it as one of very few with "direct influence on the Harry Potter books. The author always included details of what her characters were eating and I remember liking that. You may have noticed that I always list the food being eaten at Hogwarts."Conversations with J.K. Rowling, Linda Fraser, Scholastic, 2001, ISBN 978-0439314558. p. 24., Lindsay Fraser’s interview with J. K. Rowling from The Scotsman, November 2002. Archived 5 February 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2013.