"[I]t was homemaking that mattered. Every home was a brick in the great wall of decent living that men erected over and over again as a bulwark against the perpetual flooding in of evil. But women made the bricks, and the durableness of each civilization depended on their quality, and it was no good weakening oneself for the brick-making by worrying too much about the flood.”
~ 'Herb of Grace', Elizabeth Goudge
This is a quote from one of my new most favourite books. The lovely Dulce Domum sent me a copy a while ago and I loved it. The book is Herb of Grace by Elizabeth Goudge (which may be familiar to any American readers as 'Pilgrim's Inn'). It's a simply beautiful book the second of a trilogy - but I enjoyed it immensely without having read the first in the series. It was written in 1948 and is about the Eliot family, set in the Hampshire countryside. The Herb of Grace is an old medieval pilgrim's inn. The story is about family, home and healing of past hurts and dreams.
Well now, joy of joys, my estimable friend has sent me two further Elizabeth Goudge books: The Heart of the Family (follow-up to the Herb of Grace) and also The Scent of Water.Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them.
~ Arnold Lobel
I'll let you know if I grow a beard. :P
6 comments:
Ooh, Goudge. What a joy she is! I'm glad I passed on the Goudge-y love. Is that a Pashley I see on your sidebar, old bean?
I'm not sure. It's a picture from Flickr (not one of mine - links to the photographers further down the sidebar). I thought at first it was Oxford but it's actually taken in Dean's Court, London.
I can romantically see myself riding a Pashley around the place with a cat in my basket and lavendar in my hat, and all the children saying, "Here comes crazy cat-woman".
like that poem by Arnold Lobel. :) cute. I have a very long list myself...and not sure when I'll get to them. :)
But will you grow a beard? ;)
Thanks for comment[s] on my blog - as requested, one published, one rejected!!
Not read any EG myself - must do that this summer if I can
Isnt it embarrassing when one's children know more than one does oneself?
summer blessings x
Thanks Angela. And my children regularly correct me now...*sigh*
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