Many years ago, when I was in my early twenties, I read all of Elizabeth Goudge’s novels and enjoyed them a lot. During the subsequent years I fell out of love with this author and, at some time, I gave the books away. I recently, and when I say recently I mean during the past five years, found a rather battered copy of The Herb of Grace on a book table somewhere and decided to buy it and read it again. The book I bought is a hardback first edition from 1948, without dustcover.
The book is the second in a trilogy, featuring the same family. It does, however, stand alone and there’s no problem reading it without any background. The story focusses on the Eliot family – Lucilla the matriarch, her sons George and Hilary, her grandson David whom she brought up when his parents died, and George’s wife Nadine and their children. Nadine and David fell in love and thought seriously about running away together, Nadine even left her husband, but in the end they decided that they couldn’t do it for the sake of the family. Nadine still loves David desperately and has an emotional hold on him which has driven him to physical and mental breakdown. This is where this story starts, but it is made clear during the early part of the book whet has happened.
The Eliot family home is a beautiful old house in the Hampshire countryside. When visiting it, George is convinced to buy an old inn nearby, in the woods, called the Herb of Grace. Nadine agrees, because she feels guilty about how she has treated her husband, and they move there with their five children. During the course of a year, and ending at a Christmas celebration, all the characters will consider their lives and make decisions about their future, David will fall in love with someone else, and Nadine will learn to let go.
The book is told from several viewpoints, including that of the children. It also introduces a travelling couple who have their own secrets but who will come to be part of household. There are lots of little subplots and plenty of detail about living in an old, country house. The author also includes some elements of folklore and superstition, although the book is very Christian. There are references to poetry, books and paintings, not all of which I knew.
This is a slow-paced book about relationships and personal growth. It is set at the time in which it was published so the aftermath of the war and rationing are part of the story. There is a lot of descriptive writing. I thought that the setting and the writing worked very well. I was, of course, amused by the number of servants needed for orderly family life and the inbuilt classism and sexism of the story. I, nevertheless, enjoyed it a lot and found much of it familiar once I had started reading.
The book, however, will not stay on my shelves or go to a charity shop because there are sixteen pages of text missing near the beginning of the start of the story, which must have slipped out of the binding in the past seventy odd years. I didn’t find this a problem in understanding the story but it isn’t what anyone wants in a book. I have, therefore, thrown the book in the bin.
Anne Is Reading 