“The scent of a flower is a very close and intimate thing, she thought. It can seem to be a part of your body and blood.” 

Elizabeth Goudge, The Dean’s Watch

Books on my Nightstand June 2024. June 5, 2024.

With trepidation I put an Elizabeth Goudge novel on my nightstand. My reticence isn’t due to desire, but to the knowledge that I won’t be quite the same after reading it. Few authors have such ability. When I pick up one of her books it feels as if a veil is being pulled back to a gentle world and at the same time so flawed. Her gift for slowly pulling back the layers of her characters always leaves me questioning my own flawed self. Since finding her books I have also found many other women who love them for the same reasons. She had an uncanny gift for writing that transcends time and touches our inner core. And yet, her books are also cozy, magical, and hauntingly beautiful. It is hard to encapsulate her qualities that make her so unique, but I would say she writes to touch the conscience.

As a woman of faith, Goudge never sugar-coated the personal struggles of her characters in their development. They have their own up and downs with endings that are never perfect yet satisfying, hopeful, and redemptive. Legacy is also a prominent feature of Goudge’s books and it is usually connected with the history of the local setting. Her many-layers always guarantees that I will need some time between her books to absorb and saturate what I have just read. And then eventually a deeper thirst sends me looking for another of her books. As usual I chose my next book carefully after looking through her titles over and over again. So many tempting choices, but I finally settled on “The Dean’s Watch” which is one of her Cathedral city books.

The Dean’s Watch

“The Dean’s Watch” is the story of the friendship between two men as different as can be, but with their own shortcomings and struggles. In the backdrop of the cathedral city with a cathedral born out of repentance for the sins of the father and an ensuing history of struggle and expulsion and corruption, the current Dean of the cathedral and a local clockmaker meet quite by accident, but with life-changing results when their friendship lights the spiritual fire that has been dormant in each. Their friendship and consequent spiritual awakening will affect the community around them as well. You can read this book for free on Internet Archive here.

Looking at the book synopsis this has the feel of “iron sharpens iron” a feature which is also ever-present in other of Goudge’s books. Even looking at the cover of this book I already feel transported. She is an author I can’t recommend enough, and many other women will say the same. Her books bring a sense of purpose to reading, so that even while I am enjoying the book there is a discipline of character taking place. Goudge felt beauty was important in a dark world and her books are a wonderful testament to this.

Have a beautiful day!