Gentian Hill by Elizabeth Goudge, for the 1949 Club

My final book for the 1949 Club is a beautifully written, whimsical historical novel by Elizabeth Goudge (1900-84), a bestselling writer in her day, now best remembered for a children’s book, The Little White Horse, which won the Carnegie Medal for British children's books in 1946.

Gentian Hill is set during the Napoleonic Wars in the coastal town of Torquay in Devon in the southwest region of England (its most famous celebrity, born many years after this book takes place, is Agatha Christie, who considered it her true home). Goudge was inspired by a local legend of St. Michael’s Chapel. The narrative follows three characters who initially seem only to share an intensity that separates them from others, but Goudge weaves the threads of their individual stories together so the reader is impatient for the connections to be made. Anthony O’Connell is an orphaned fifteen year old, gently reared by his grandmother but forced to become a midshipman after her death. Lonely and bullied, he desperate to escape and deserts when the ship is docked in Torquay. Unable to find work, he stumbles around the countryside where he encounters Stella, a vibrant child who was rescued from a shipwreck and brought up by kindly farmers, who marvel at her loving nature. Calling himself Zachary, the boy and Stella recognize kindred spirits in each other:

The face of the boy at the window crumpled like the face of a child who is going to cry, then he abruptly disappeared. The little girl had been loving the cats just as she always loved them every night, making no special display for his benefit, but all the words in the world could not have told him more clearly how passionate was her concern for all the vagabond creatures who were outside the warm bright circle of love and home. She’d not betray him. Not she. She’d die first. From that moment on he loved her.

Dr. Crane, who eventually adopts Zachary is one of the influential adults in their lives, and the other is the inscrutable Abbé de Colbert, serving as the chaplain to the Catholic community near Torquay. The rest of his family was killed in France by the mob after the fall of the Bastille and, surviving the attack, he escaped to England and after much suffering, dedicated his life to God.

It is hard to describe Goudge’s writing style. She blends history, mysticism, simplicity, and humor while revealing the strengths and weaknesses of even the most beloved protagonists. Her books reveal a deep Christian faith, perhaps not surprising in the daughter of a divinity professor, but her books also reflect a spirituality that is less common for this era. She had a deep appreciation of the natural world, which is revealed through her characters. I remember reading her Linnets and Valerians as a child when the elderly gardener explains the importance of “telling the bees” important family news to avoid bad luck (in my family, we avoid bees altogether!). Goudge exhibits tenderness in her descriptions of people and their struggles that leads them to redemption and (in most cases) happy endings.

Several years ago, Girls Gone By Press brought back into print The World of Elizabeth Goudge by Sylvia Gower, a biographical and topographical guide that explores Goudge’s life, writing, and inspiring locations of her books. Gower describes how Goudge, her mother, and the nanny who never left them had moved to Marldon in Devon in 1939, intending on staying for a month’s holiday, but liked it so much they stayed for years. Goudge was much influenced by locations near their cottage that she incorporated into Gentian Hill, including the farm where Stella lives.

Another part of England that inspired Goudge’s writing was the cathedral town of Wells, which I visited four years ago. By chance, I had picked a hotel that looked out on Wells Cathedral and I took this amazing picture from my bedroom, where I spent an hour just gazing out at the scene as dusk fell.

Gentian Hill was a delightful read, and even more memorable than Green Dolphin Street, the book that made Goudge a bestseller, which I read for the 1944 Club eight years ago. It struck me that her openness to Catholicism in this book is unusual for someone of her background. Her writing reflects a faith that is straightforward and inclusive, never pious.

Title: Gentian Hill
Author: Elizabeth Goudge
Publication: Coward-McCann, hardcover, 1949
Genre: Historical Fiction
Source: Library

Reading Gentian Hill contributed to these challenges:

• 1949 Club
• Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2026