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The Castle on the Hill
Amid the chaos of the Second World War comes a charming story of courage and friendship, from the author of Green Dolphin Country and A City of Bells . In the summer of 1940, as the darkest days of the Second World War approach, a chance encounter on a train leads Miss Brown to become housekeeper at the Castle. Hidden in a quiet, rural corner of England, the crumbling castle is home to lonely historian Mr Birley and his nephews, fighter pilot Richard and fair, peace-loving Stephen. With young evacuees Moppet and Poppet, and mysterious violinist Jo Isaacson, this unexpected family of strangers come to rely on each other as the devastations of war rage on.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1941
27 people are currently reading
705 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Goudge
64 books892 followersElizabeth Goudge was an English author of novels, short stories and children's books.
Elizabeth de Beauchamp Goudge was born on 24 April 1900 in Wells, Somerset, in Tower House close by the cathedral in an area known as The Liberty, Her father, the Reverend Henry Leighton Goudge, taught in the cathedral school. Her mother was Miss Ida Collenette from the Channel Isles. Elizabeth was an only child. The family moved to Ely for a Canonry as Principal of the theological college. Later, when her father was made Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford, they moved to Christ Church, Oxford.
She went to boarding school during WWI and later to Arts College, presumably at Reading College. She made a small living as teacher, and continued to live with her parents. During this time, she wrote a few plays, and was encouraged to write novels by a publisher. As her writing career took off, she began to travel to other nations. Unfortunately, she suffered from depression for much of her life. She had great empathy for people and a talent for finding the comic side of things, displayed to great effect in her writing.
Goudge's first book, The Fairies' Baby and Other Stories (1919), was a failure and it was several years before she authored Island Magic (1934), which is based on Channel Island stories, many of which she had learned from her mother, who was from Guernsey. After the death of her father, Goudge and her mother went to Devon, and eventually wound up living there in a small cottage. There, she wrote prolifically and was happy.
After the death of her mother, and at the wishes of Goudge's family who wished her to live closer to them, she found a companion who moved with her to Rose Cottage in Reading. She lived out her life there, and had many dogs in her life. Goudge loved dogs, and much preferred their company to that of humans. She continued to write until shortly before her death, when ill health, successive falls, and cataracts hindered her ability to write. She was much loved.
Goudge was awarded the Carnegie Medal for The Little White Horse (1946), the book which J. K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter stories, has said was her favorite as a child. The television mini-series Moonacre was based on The Little White Horse. Her Green Dolphin Country (1944) was made into a film (under its American title, Green Dolphin Street) which won the Academy Award for Special Effects in 1948.
A Diary of Prayer (1966) was one of Goudge's last works. She spent her last years in her cottage on Peppard Common, just outside Henley-on-Thames, where a blue plaque was unveiled in 2008.
Elizabeth de Beauchamp Goudge was born on 24 April 1900 in Wells, Somerset, in Tower House close by the cathedral in an area known as The Liberty, Her father, the Reverend Henry Leighton Goudge, taught in the cathedral school. Her mother was Miss Ida Collenette from the Channel Isles. Elizabeth was an only child. The family moved to Ely for a Canonry as Principal of the theological college. Later, when her father was made Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford, they moved to Christ Church, Oxford.
She went to boarding school during WWI and later to Arts College, presumably at Reading College. She made a small living as teacher, and continued to live with her parents. During this time, she wrote a few plays, and was encouraged to write novels by a publisher. As her writing career took off, she began to travel to other nations. Unfortunately, she suffered from depression for much of her life. She had great empathy for people and a talent for finding the comic side of things, displayed to great effect in her writing.
Goudge's first book, The Fairies' Baby and Other Stories (1919), was a failure and it was several years before she authored Island Magic (1934), which is based on Channel Island stories, many of which she had learned from her mother, who was from Guernsey. After the death of her father, Goudge and her mother went to Devon, and eventually wound up living there in a small cottage. There, she wrote prolifically and was happy.
After the death of her mother, and at the wishes of Goudge's family who wished her to live closer to them, she found a companion who moved with her to Rose Cottage in Reading. She lived out her life there, and had many dogs in her life. Goudge loved dogs, and much preferred their company to that of humans. She continued to write until shortly before her death, when ill health, successive falls, and cataracts hindered her ability to write. She was much loved.
Goudge was awarded the Carnegie Medal for The Little White Horse (1946), the book which J. K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter stories, has said was her favorite as a child. The television mini-series Moonacre was based on The Little White Horse. Her Green Dolphin Country (1944) was made into a film (under its American title, Green Dolphin Street) which won the Academy Award for Special Effects in 1948.
A Diary of Prayer (1966) was one of Goudge's last works. She spent her last years in her cottage on Peppard Common, just outside Henley-on-Thames, where a blue plaque was unveiled in 2008.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
November 13, 2022
I’m so glad I saved a gem for last. This is quite a short novel compared to many of Goudge’s, but she can still bring a whole world to life beautifully in just under 300 pages. This story is set during WWII and Goudge was writing it as war raged. She takes on some of the hardest questions of the home front in her typical thoughtful way. Her characters aren’t spared the agony of war but beneath its horror is the deeper, more elemental goodness of life in all times: human connection (even, or maybe especially, unlikely connections), home and belonging, Beauty, love.
If you are a found family fan, this novel has a particularly lovely found family in it by the end which includes an English Jew. This was such a sensitive portrait of a Jewish man as a human being, which is such an opposite view to so many in Goudge’s own day. The Jewish character, Jo Isaacson, reminds me a lot of the “outsider” character in The Heart of the Family, which is the third novel in Goudge’s Eliot trilogy.
There are some wonderful homes in this. The castle is one, but I love Mrs Holly’s small house and especially Mrs Heather’s cottage. Goudge has that English ability to bring you right into a cozy fireside scene with good food and good cheer.
Mr Holly is the railway conductor who plays a small but pivotal role in the plot. He and Mrs Holly take in Jo and the relationship between the Hollys and Jo is reminiscent of the Ellerbecks with Tom Birkin in A Month in the Country. The Hollys and the Ellerbecks know the men they have taken under their wings have suffered, but it’s enough to bring the men into a circle of family warmth with good food and a consistent safe place to start the process of healing for both men. I also found it poignant that Mrs Holly is described as mothering Jo, even though he is a full grown man and Mrs Holly is childless. I found this a brave thing for Goudge to portray. We all need the nurture of a parent when we are suffering and mothering is a skill that even childless women can possess. Miss Brown is a good example of that as well.
In some ways, this story is pretty on the nose. I predicted three major plot points early in the story and was right about them all. Honestly though, I don’t think that matters. There is so much depth to plumb in the characters’ souls that the plot is a secondary consideration. I appreciated the novel’s brevity because it is so hard for me to read about war, but I also wanted it to be longer so Goudge could flesh out storylines even more than she does. There are such dear characters in this too that I can’t bear to leave them behind. I was only just getting to know them!
If only there had been a post-war sequel… But I’ll have to spin the stories of what-ifs in my head.
If you are a found family fan, this novel has a particularly lovely found family in it by the end which includes an English Jew. This was such a sensitive portrait of a Jewish man as a human being, which is such an opposite view to so many in Goudge’s own day. The Jewish character, Jo Isaacson, reminds me a lot of the “outsider” character in The Heart of the Family, which is the third novel in Goudge’s Eliot trilogy.
There are some wonderful homes in this. The castle is one, but I love Mrs Holly’s small house and especially Mrs Heather’s cottage. Goudge has that English ability to bring you right into a cozy fireside scene with good food and good cheer.
Mr Holly is the railway conductor who plays a small but pivotal role in the plot. He and Mrs Holly take in Jo and the relationship between the Hollys and Jo is reminiscent of the Ellerbecks with Tom Birkin in A Month in the Country. The Hollys and the Ellerbecks know the men they have taken under their wings have suffered, but it’s enough to bring the men into a circle of family warmth with good food and a consistent safe place to start the process of healing for both men. I also found it poignant that Mrs Holly is described as mothering Jo, even though he is a full grown man and Mrs Holly is childless. I found this a brave thing for Goudge to portray. We all need the nurture of a parent when we are suffering and mothering is a skill that even childless women can possess. Miss Brown is a good example of that as well.
In some ways, this story is pretty on the nose. I predicted three major plot points early in the story and was right about them all. Honestly though, I don’t think that matters. There is so much depth to plumb in the characters’ souls that the plot is a secondary consideration. I appreciated the novel’s brevity because it is so hard for me to read about war, but I also wanted it to be longer so Goudge could flesh out storylines even more than she does. There are such dear characters in this too that I can’t bear to leave them behind. I was only just getting to know them!
If only there had been a post-war sequel… But I’ll have to spin the stories of what-ifs in my head.
April 18, 2021
“...whatever happens I'll not be afraid again; for, when you've once pushed through the place of torment to the peace beyond, you know that you can do it again. You know there's a strength somewhere that you can call upon.”
I came to this novel completely blind, joining on a buddy read, ordering the paperback, and diving in the pages as soon as the book was delivered. And I didn’t stop, finishing it the following morning. From the beginning, I was enthralled by Goudge’s prose, beautiful and spellbinding. The omniscient narration hops from person to person, even a dog, and reminded me a little of Virginia Woolf - not a stream of consciousness per se but something more approachable, more cordial.
Fear, as in the quote above, permeated everything. Not a surprise since the narrative starts at the beginning of WWII, but Goudge analyses this somehow through all her characters, main and secondary. We experience each’s way of dealing with this insidious Fear as well as how War rips the tapestry of our lives, over and over. The other thing that struck me was that, considering the book was published in 1941 and that the author had no way of knowing how History would unfold, this tale is full of pervasive Hope, built by small acts of kindness.
My first Goudge but definitely not my last.
I came to this novel completely blind, joining on a buddy read, ordering the paperback, and diving in the pages as soon as the book was delivered. And I didn’t stop, finishing it the following morning. From the beginning, I was enthralled by Goudge’s prose, beautiful and spellbinding. The omniscient narration hops from person to person, even a dog, and reminded me a little of Virginia Woolf - not a stream of consciousness per se but something more approachable, more cordial.
Fear, as in the quote above, permeated everything. Not a surprise since the narrative starts at the beginning of WWII, but Goudge analyses this somehow through all her characters, main and secondary. We experience each’s way of dealing with this insidious Fear as well as how War rips the tapestry of our lives, over and over. The other thing that struck me was that, considering the book was published in 1941 and that the author had no way of knowing how History would unfold, this tale is full of pervasive Hope, built by small acts of kindness.
My first Goudge but definitely not my last.
June 1, 2017
A few years ago one of my English friends told me that Elizabeth Goudge's novel The Little White Horse was her favorite 'comfort' read from childhood. I had never heard of Goudge, but soon discovered that she was a prolific, highly esteemed author from mid-20th century England. In many ways, her writing reminds me of that of Dorothy Whipple and C.S. Lewis - mostly because there is a highly moral backbone to all of their stories which is certainly a reflection of the Christianity at the core of their world-view. They are not unrealistic about human nature, but they are deeply optimistic. I also think of the word 'humane'. This is only my second Goudge novel, but I suspect that she is probably more romantic and fanciful than either Whipple or Lewis. Although these qualities will not be to everyone's taste, they strike a deep emotional chord in me. She is an old-fashioned writer in many ways, but I love that about her work.
This novel is set just after the British evacuation at Dunkirk - and only later I realised that I read it during the anniversary of those dates (May 27 - June 4, 1940). Goudge was writing just a year after the events which take place in this book (the London Blitz, etc) and at that point there had not yet been a turning point in the war. No one knew that England would eventually be the victor, and indeed that outcome looked very unlikely. It gave me chills to think that Goudge was writing about fear and bravery during a time those qualities were being called upon every day.
One of the Goudge's themes is about how war rips apart the fabric and pattern of life - and how it might be possible to knit oneself back in again. At the beginning of the novel, a woman named Miss Brown meets a street musician (a Jewish refugee); both are at their very lowest ebb, and in an important way -which will have reverberations throughout the novel - their encounter leads to their salvation. Although these characters are very different, they have both lost their homes - and both have become unmoored from a sense of purpose and a sense of belonging. The novel employs what might seem like a series of unlikely coincidences; I was perfectly happy to accept them, though. Eventually, Miss Brown, the musician (Jo Isaacson) and two young girls who are evacuated from London end up at a castle in Torhaven (Devon) - home seat of many generations of the Birley family. Miss Brown becomes the housekeeper of the Castle, and very much bound up with the Birley men and their faithful old retainers.
There are elements of romance in this book, but it is more profoundly about the love of country than the love between men and women. Certainly, the latter is bound up in the former. Although it's a stretch to say that one could long for the upheavals and painful losses endured during the war, I do long for the brave and noble human qualities described in this book. Such a beautiful story.
This novel is set just after the British evacuation at Dunkirk - and only later I realised that I read it during the anniversary of those dates (May 27 - June 4, 1940). Goudge was writing just a year after the events which take place in this book (the London Blitz, etc) and at that point there had not yet been a turning point in the war. No one knew that England would eventually be the victor, and indeed that outcome looked very unlikely. It gave me chills to think that Goudge was writing about fear and bravery during a time those qualities were being called upon every day.
One of the Goudge's themes is about how war rips apart the fabric and pattern of life - and how it might be possible to knit oneself back in again. At the beginning of the novel, a woman named Miss Brown meets a street musician (a Jewish refugee); both are at their very lowest ebb, and in an important way -which will have reverberations throughout the novel - their encounter leads to their salvation. Although these characters are very different, they have both lost their homes - and both have become unmoored from a sense of purpose and a sense of belonging. The novel employs what might seem like a series of unlikely coincidences; I was perfectly happy to accept them, though. Eventually, Miss Brown, the musician (Jo Isaacson) and two young girls who are evacuated from London end up at a castle in Torhaven (Devon) - home seat of many generations of the Birley family. Miss Brown becomes the housekeeper of the Castle, and very much bound up with the Birley men and their faithful old retainers.
There are elements of romance in this book, but it is more profoundly about the love of country than the love between men and women. Certainly, the latter is bound up in the former. Although it's a stretch to say that one could long for the upheavals and painful losses endured during the war, I do long for the brave and noble human qualities described in this book. Such a beautiful story.
January 6, 2015
Three and a half stars. It's nowhere near as strong a book as The Dean's Watch, but it is thoughtful and thought-provoking, a gentle study of the way English character and class were reshaped by the chance happenings of World War 2. I've probably read too many books on the subject and that made The Castle on the Hill somewhat less than compelling for me.
The plot, such as it is, unfolds extremely slowly with many inner philosophical monologs that got a bit wearing. I loved the characters, though, and Miss Brown is drawn with such sensitivity and developed so beautifully that it was worth reading the book just for the pleasure of getting to know her. She is a quiet soul who would probably never exist in our busy times; she is courageous without bravado, caring despite shyness, her life is shaped by duty and hard work--and despite the hardships she never succumbs to bitterness.
Content: G for general audiences.
The plot, such as it is, unfolds extremely slowly with many inner philosophical monologs that got a bit wearing. I loved the characters, though, and Miss Brown is drawn with such sensitivity and developed so beautifully that it was worth reading the book just for the pleasure of getting to know her. She is a quiet soul who would probably never exist in our busy times; she is courageous without bravado, caring despite shyness, her life is shaped by duty and hard work--and despite the hardships she never succumbs to bitterness.
Content: G for general audiences.
May 22, 2023
Another lovely novel by one of my favorite authors, Elizabeth Goudge! This was my first time reading The Castle on the Hill and I really liked it. As always, the characters were deep and thoughtful and the writing was beautiful.
Elizabeth Goudge is known for her wonderful domestic details and lyrical prose. I marked at least 10 passages that touched my heart in a wonderful way. Especially when describing the Castle and Mrs. Heather's cottage. Warm and cozy surroundings never fail to comfort me and bring me joy!
Overall, the book had a somber tone (understandably because of the war), but it also included a few little points of happiness for each of the characters. I think I liked Mrs. Heather's character the most (even though she played only a small part of the story) and also Stephen. It impressed me how he thought of life and people and the ways that he faced difficult situations with bravery and clarity.
Miss Brown, Jo the Musician, Mr. Birley, Prunella and the twins were also unique and likeable characters that gave me many insights about life and dealing with grief.
This will certainly be a book to read again.
Elizabeth Goudge is known for her wonderful domestic details and lyrical prose. I marked at least 10 passages that touched my heart in a wonderful way. Especially when describing the Castle and Mrs. Heather's cottage. Warm and cozy surroundings never fail to comfort me and bring me joy!
Overall, the book had a somber tone (understandably because of the war), but it also included a few little points of happiness for each of the characters. I think I liked Mrs. Heather's character the most (even though she played only a small part of the story) and also Stephen. It impressed me how he thought of life and people and the ways that he faced difficult situations with bravery and clarity.
Miss Brown, Jo the Musician, Mr. Birley, Prunella and the twins were also unique and likeable characters that gave me many insights about life and dealing with grief.
This will certainly be a book to read again.
April 25, 2014
This is a story of the darkest days of World War II, when only England stood against the Nazi forces advancing across Europe, and when the fear of invasion was very, very real. Elizabeth Goudge lived on the south coast of England then, close to the eye of the storm, it was during the war that she wrote this book, and it was clear as I read that she knew and she that understood.
She write of a group of people who were drawn together, at a castle on a hill.
Miss Brown was a very English lady; quiet, polite and unassuming. She had grown up in a sleepy seaside town, but she had moved to London when the family home that she had turned into a boarding house was requisitioned by the military, and when she was turned out. It had seemed to be the sensible thing to do, but she had been unable to find a job and she was weary of staying with relations; her spirits were low, and when the news came that her home had been destroyed in a bombing raid they sank even lower. She feared for her future; all she had in the world was a train ticket, bought for a visit to a relation in the country, and a few coins.
Mr. Isaacson was an Englishman of Jewish descent, who had travelled to Leipzig for his musical training and settled there. He achieved success as a musician, even though he was rather too fond of a drink, but the growing persecution of the Jews forced him to flee, across Europe, back to his homeland. He scraped a living, playing for pennies on the streets of London, but he was terribly afraid that he would soon face persecution there too.
It was as she sat on a bench in front of the London Free Library that Miss Brown heard music; a lovely melody that she had never heard before. It lifted her spirits, and so that she rose from her seat to find the musician. She found Mr Isaacson and she spoke to him, wanting to know what the tune was. He responded eagerly and she put a shilling in his hat before she left to catch her train.
That shilling left Mr Isaacson in a quandary. He had decided, some time earlier, that he would use the next shilling he earned to fuel the fire in his rented room, so that he could gas himself. It wasn’t what he wanted but he saw no alternative, no future for himself. He just hadn’t expected the moment to come so quickly.
But when Mr Isaacson arrived home he found that maybe he could seize another moment. His landlady’s two small daughters were being evacuated to the country that day and their mother was anxious that they would be too late to report to their school; as he was fond of the children Mr Isaacson found himself volunteering to take the girls to the station. The bus fares swallowed his shilling.
An extraordinary series of coincidences – or maybe the hand of fate – or maybe the guidance of a higher power – saw the two adults onto the same train to the same destination.
I found it easy to accept. Elizabeth Goudge writes so beautifully, with rich descriptions catching every detail, catching the wonder of the world and being alive; and she brings her characters to life with such wonderful understanding, setting out their hopes, their fears, all of their emotions as they react to everything that happens.
That makes her books very slow, but very rewarding; I love them, but I can understand why others don’t.
When Miss Brown missed her station a gentleman saw her distress and offered assistance. Mr Birley was a historian – Miss Brown recognised his name, and had read his books – and that helped him to draw her out, and gave her the confidence to explain her circumstances. And that gave Mr Birely an idea. He was returning from a trip to London, where he’d had no success in engaging a suitable housekeeper for his home, Birley Castle. Might Miss Brown be the woman for the job? He persuaded her that she was!
In another part of the train evacuees were on their way to Torhaven, the nearest village to Birley Castle. And Mr Isaacson is in the guard’s van. He hadn’t eaten for some time and not long after he handed the girls over to their teacher he collapsed into the baggage car. The guard, Mr Holly, found him there and, thinking that the children Mr. Isaacson was accompanying were his own, he offered him a place to stay until he could find a job and establish himself in Torhaven.
It was almost too fortuitous, but I was completely caught up with the characters and the story. And I wanted the best for each and every person I met in the pages of this book.
Miss Brown found the role and the place in the world that she had so needed as she settled in as the castle’s housekeeper. Moppet and Poppet were billeted there and, though they missed their mother and their home terribly, they were pleased to see the lady who had rescued a drooped teddy bear at the station again and to have such a wonderful new home to explore. They were even more pleased when they spotted Mr Isaacson in the village: he was still lodging Mr Holly, but he had established himself as a street musician and a music teacher and he was paying his way.
Meanwhile Mr. Birley was able to return to his books, free of domestic distractions; his elder great nephew, Richard, a fighter pilot, came and went between missions; his younger great-nephew, Stephen, a conscientious objector, left to work with the emergency services as they struggled to cope with the casualties and the damage caused by the bombing of London; and, in the village, Prue, the doctor’s daughter, who was drawn first to the quiet Stephen but then formed a deeper attachment with his dashing elder brother, struggled with her feelings.
In the castle Mr Boulder, the butler who was loyal but horribly aware that he was aging, was resistant to Miss Brown at first but quickly won over; and in the lodge the widowed Mrs Heather, who knew she was blessed, was a reassuring presence.
Each and every one of them was fully realised; a real human being, living and breathing at a particular point in history.
There were flaws – Mr Isaacson’s character seemed unfocused; the naming of Moppet and Poppet – but emotionally and spiritually the story rang true.
And it said so much about their times.
Mr Boulder’s story explored the feelings of generation too old to go to war, who had fought in another war and had not thought that there would be another; Miss Brown’s story spoke of class divisions that it seemed would always remain; Stephen’s story, his feelings about the war and the way they changed in the light of his experiences and his family’s feelings, was particularly striking. And all of their stories caught the mixture of faith, pride and fear that sustained them through those difficult war years.
They were all changed by events, by their circumstances, as the story moved forward. And above all the story spoke about people coming together to live through difficult times.
Coincidence – or fate – or a higher power – continued to play a part – but the natural falling into lace of the earlier part of the story did not. There would be tragedy, there would be losses, lives would be changed irrevocably, before and ending that felt right but was by no means final. The war was not over and the world was changing.
But this story caught those early years of the war, and the people who lived through them quite perfectly.
She write of a group of people who were drawn together, at a castle on a hill.
Miss Brown was a very English lady; quiet, polite and unassuming. She had grown up in a sleepy seaside town, but she had moved to London when the family home that she had turned into a boarding house was requisitioned by the military, and when she was turned out. It had seemed to be the sensible thing to do, but she had been unable to find a job and she was weary of staying with relations; her spirits were low, and when the news came that her home had been destroyed in a bombing raid they sank even lower. She feared for her future; all she had in the world was a train ticket, bought for a visit to a relation in the country, and a few coins.
Mr. Isaacson was an Englishman of Jewish descent, who had travelled to Leipzig for his musical training and settled there. He achieved success as a musician, even though he was rather too fond of a drink, but the growing persecution of the Jews forced him to flee, across Europe, back to his homeland. He scraped a living, playing for pennies on the streets of London, but he was terribly afraid that he would soon face persecution there too.
It was as she sat on a bench in front of the London Free Library that Miss Brown heard music; a lovely melody that she had never heard before. It lifted her spirits, and so that she rose from her seat to find the musician. She found Mr Isaacson and she spoke to him, wanting to know what the tune was. He responded eagerly and she put a shilling in his hat before she left to catch her train.
That shilling left Mr Isaacson in a quandary. He had decided, some time earlier, that he would use the next shilling he earned to fuel the fire in his rented room, so that he could gas himself. It wasn’t what he wanted but he saw no alternative, no future for himself. He just hadn’t expected the moment to come so quickly.
But when Mr Isaacson arrived home he found that maybe he could seize another moment. His landlady’s two small daughters were being evacuated to the country that day and their mother was anxious that they would be too late to report to their school; as he was fond of the children Mr Isaacson found himself volunteering to take the girls to the station. The bus fares swallowed his shilling.
An extraordinary series of coincidences – or maybe the hand of fate – or maybe the guidance of a higher power – saw the two adults onto the same train to the same destination.
I found it easy to accept. Elizabeth Goudge writes so beautifully, with rich descriptions catching every detail, catching the wonder of the world and being alive; and she brings her characters to life with such wonderful understanding, setting out their hopes, their fears, all of their emotions as they react to everything that happens.
That makes her books very slow, but very rewarding; I love them, but I can understand why others don’t.
When Miss Brown missed her station a gentleman saw her distress and offered assistance. Mr Birley was a historian – Miss Brown recognised his name, and had read his books – and that helped him to draw her out, and gave her the confidence to explain her circumstances. And that gave Mr Birely an idea. He was returning from a trip to London, where he’d had no success in engaging a suitable housekeeper for his home, Birley Castle. Might Miss Brown be the woman for the job? He persuaded her that she was!
In another part of the train evacuees were on their way to Torhaven, the nearest village to Birley Castle. And Mr Isaacson is in the guard’s van. He hadn’t eaten for some time and not long after he handed the girls over to their teacher he collapsed into the baggage car. The guard, Mr Holly, found him there and, thinking that the children Mr. Isaacson was accompanying were his own, he offered him a place to stay until he could find a job and establish himself in Torhaven.
It was almost too fortuitous, but I was completely caught up with the characters and the story. And I wanted the best for each and every person I met in the pages of this book.
Miss Brown found the role and the place in the world that she had so needed as she settled in as the castle’s housekeeper. Moppet and Poppet were billeted there and, though they missed their mother and their home terribly, they were pleased to see the lady who had rescued a drooped teddy bear at the station again and to have such a wonderful new home to explore. They were even more pleased when they spotted Mr Isaacson in the village: he was still lodging Mr Holly, but he had established himself as a street musician and a music teacher and he was paying his way.
Meanwhile Mr. Birley was able to return to his books, free of domestic distractions; his elder great nephew, Richard, a fighter pilot, came and went between missions; his younger great-nephew, Stephen, a conscientious objector, left to work with the emergency services as they struggled to cope with the casualties and the damage caused by the bombing of London; and, in the village, Prue, the doctor’s daughter, who was drawn first to the quiet Stephen but then formed a deeper attachment with his dashing elder brother, struggled with her feelings.
In the castle Mr Boulder, the butler who was loyal but horribly aware that he was aging, was resistant to Miss Brown at first but quickly won over; and in the lodge the widowed Mrs Heather, who knew she was blessed, was a reassuring presence.
Each and every one of them was fully realised; a real human being, living and breathing at a particular point in history.
There were flaws – Mr Isaacson’s character seemed unfocused; the naming of Moppet and Poppet – but emotionally and spiritually the story rang true.
And it said so much about their times.
Mr Boulder’s story explored the feelings of generation too old to go to war, who had fought in another war and had not thought that there would be another; Miss Brown’s story spoke of class divisions that it seemed would always remain; Stephen’s story, his feelings about the war and the way they changed in the light of his experiences and his family’s feelings, was particularly striking. And all of their stories caught the mixture of faith, pride and fear that sustained them through those difficult war years.
They were all changed by events, by their circumstances, as the story moved forward. And above all the story spoke about people coming together to live through difficult times.
Coincidence – or fate – or a higher power – continued to play a part – but the natural falling into lace of the earlier part of the story did not. There would be tragedy, there would be losses, lives would be changed irrevocably, before and ending that felt right but was by no means final. The war was not over and the world was changing.
But this story caught those early years of the war, and the people who lived through them quite perfectly.
September 24, 2025
2025 - This is a reread for the Elizabeth Goudge bookclub, though I will miss the upcoming online discussion. I don’t know if it was the fact that I was busy this week but I had a terrible time staying engaged with this one and it took me an unusually long time to read. Interesting to see the English experience of World War II and the bombings in real time, written in 1940, so just as everything was getting started
2015 - More a character study than an plot driven novel, this quiet and slow story takes us to the English Countryside during World War II, involving a spinster (who is the same age as me, and yet manages to have perfect skin belying her age - rolls eyes), two orphans being moved out of London, the heirs of a Castle, and a homeless musician.
2015 - More a character study than an plot driven novel, this quiet and slow story takes us to the English Countryside during World War II, involving a spinster (who is the same age as me, and yet manages to have perfect skin belying her age - rolls eyes), two orphans being moved out of London, the heirs of a Castle, and a homeless musician.
October 27, 2016
Miss Brown, in her early forties, is alone and at a loss as to what to do. Living in the early years of WW2 England, she is overtaken by fear, having just lost her home and her livelihood due to the destruction of the bombings.
“Cousin Emmie did not like her and did not want her but was willing to house her for a week or so while she looked about her for a job. But she could not find a job...no one wanted a shop assistant. No one seemed to want housekeepers or companion helps either; they could not afford them or they already had five hundred applications for the post. She could not get any war work to do; at present they wanted only strong young women and she was forty-two and looked fragile.
As the days had gone by a leaden despair had grown in her. When she had heard by this morning’s post that her beloved house and all her possessions had been blown sky-high she had hardly been surprised; she had said to herself that it merely meant that now there was no past as well as no future; only today with its fear.”
On the way to visit her cousin, Miss Brown almost misses her train, but a hand reaches out to her and pulls her up into his (first class) carraige. And thus we are introduced to Mr. Birley, an English gentleman. The reader will find Mr. Birley to be not only part of the English gentry, a vanishing class, but also kind, patriotic, and stoic.
During the journey he begins to gently question Miss Brown (her real name is Dolores. The reader is told this in the early pages of the novel but she is ever after referred to as “Miss Brown”), and finding that she is both home-and-job-less, he takes pity on her and engages her as his housekeeper.
What Goudge tries to do in this novel of the early years of England during the war, is shown through three main characters: Stephen Birley, Mr. Birley’s son; Jo Isaacson, an exiled, persecuted Jew, and Miss Brown, the aging, principled spinster.
Three classes, three separate stories, three dilemmas. Stephen is a pacifist (not a popular position to have during war-time England!) Miss Brown’s conflict is fear and finding a place she can make into a home, and a way to support herself. And Jo Isaacon’s dilemma is not only to simply survive, but also somehow find meaning in life itself. Jo Isaacson is a transient Jew, having fled from first Germany, then Vienna, and now to England with no home and his only means of earning a living through his talent playing the violin on the streets.
“It’s because we’re all shut up in England now like beleaguered people in a castle on a hill,” said Miss Brown. “Outside is that great evil army battering to get in; and it does not do to think of it too much. It does not do to think of tomorrow either. It is right that we should all be friendly, for we have only today, each other and our pride.”
‘The Castle on the Hill’ illustrates what it was like for the children were sent to the country during the war for safety, only to lose their parents in the Blitz. It shows the sheer doggedness of England, digging out in the rubble of bombed streets and churches, all the while saying “I can’t go on” and yet going on because one must. It brings home to the reader that even in the darkest hours, there is value to life; that courage is an attainable thing, and there is always something to strive for.
E. Goudge has a talent for exposing all of the pathos and emotion of the human heart.
Out of all the books I have read by this author, although I enjoyed this one and found much to think about, I also found it to be more difficult to pinpoint exactly what she is trying to say. I am still mulling over some of the ideas Goudge expresses in this novel. I guessed that she is exploring (through her characters), more than giving the reader ‘an experience’.
And Goudge does a LOT of exploring in this novel. She presents not only the concept of pacifism during war-time and whether it is a justifiable viewpoint when life itself is threatened, but she also stresses the importance of the home in order to survive the worst life has to offer. For Goudge, making a place of safety for someone in need, whether or not one is related by blood, is of immense value. She also scrutinizes the choices we individually make and their impact on those around us and then cleverly weaves it all into a historic vignette. Along with Mr. Birley and others in this book, we mourn the loss to society all the way from feudal times in England up to the class structural changes that the Second World War ushered in.
Miss Brown is presented with a difficult choice: “Desperately she sought for the answer, searching her own character, remembering that day when she had knelt by her bed and said to herself, “I’m not a self-sufficient woman. I can’t get along unless I can be indispensable to someone.” Did it matter much, with a nature like hers, to whom one was indispensable? “
Change is always difficult, but perhaps the author is attempting to give the reader hope that in our frailty itself there is strength if we learn to rely on One greater than we are, that has experienced all that we have and triumphed in it.
“Cousin Emmie did not like her and did not want her but was willing to house her for a week or so while she looked about her for a job. But she could not find a job...no one wanted a shop assistant. No one seemed to want housekeepers or companion helps either; they could not afford them or they already had five hundred applications for the post. She could not get any war work to do; at present they wanted only strong young women and she was forty-two and looked fragile.
As the days had gone by a leaden despair had grown in her. When she had heard by this morning’s post that her beloved house and all her possessions had been blown sky-high she had hardly been surprised; she had said to herself that it merely meant that now there was no past as well as no future; only today with its fear.”
On the way to visit her cousin, Miss Brown almost misses her train, but a hand reaches out to her and pulls her up into his (first class) carraige. And thus we are introduced to Mr. Birley, an English gentleman. The reader will find Mr. Birley to be not only part of the English gentry, a vanishing class, but also kind, patriotic, and stoic.
During the journey he begins to gently question Miss Brown (her real name is Dolores. The reader is told this in the early pages of the novel but she is ever after referred to as “Miss Brown”), and finding that she is both home-and-job-less, he takes pity on her and engages her as his housekeeper.
What Goudge tries to do in this novel of the early years of England during the war, is shown through three main characters: Stephen Birley, Mr. Birley’s son; Jo Isaacson, an exiled, persecuted Jew, and Miss Brown, the aging, principled spinster.
Three classes, three separate stories, three dilemmas. Stephen is a pacifist (not a popular position to have during war-time England!) Miss Brown’s conflict is fear and finding a place she can make into a home, and a way to support herself. And Jo Isaacon’s dilemma is not only to simply survive, but also somehow find meaning in life itself. Jo Isaacson is a transient Jew, having fled from first Germany, then Vienna, and now to England with no home and his only means of earning a living through his talent playing the violin on the streets.
“It’s because we’re all shut up in England now like beleaguered people in a castle on a hill,” said Miss Brown. “Outside is that great evil army battering to get in; and it does not do to think of it too much. It does not do to think of tomorrow either. It is right that we should all be friendly, for we have only today, each other and our pride.”
‘The Castle on the Hill’ illustrates what it was like for the children were sent to the country during the war for safety, only to lose their parents in the Blitz. It shows the sheer doggedness of England, digging out in the rubble of bombed streets and churches, all the while saying “I can’t go on” and yet going on because one must. It brings home to the reader that even in the darkest hours, there is value to life; that courage is an attainable thing, and there is always something to strive for.
E. Goudge has a talent for exposing all of the pathos and emotion of the human heart.
Out of all the books I have read by this author, although I enjoyed this one and found much to think about, I also found it to be more difficult to pinpoint exactly what she is trying to say. I am still mulling over some of the ideas Goudge expresses in this novel. I guessed that she is exploring (through her characters), more than giving the reader ‘an experience’.
And Goudge does a LOT of exploring in this novel. She presents not only the concept of pacifism during war-time and whether it is a justifiable viewpoint when life itself is threatened, but she also stresses the importance of the home in order to survive the worst life has to offer. For Goudge, making a place of safety for someone in need, whether or not one is related by blood, is of immense value. She also scrutinizes the choices we individually make and their impact on those around us and then cleverly weaves it all into a historic vignette. Along with Mr. Birley and others in this book, we mourn the loss to society all the way from feudal times in England up to the class structural changes that the Second World War ushered in.
Miss Brown is presented with a difficult choice: “Desperately she sought for the answer, searching her own character, remembering that day when she had knelt by her bed and said to herself, “I’m not a self-sufficient woman. I can’t get along unless I can be indispensable to someone.” Did it matter much, with a nature like hers, to whom one was indispensable? “
Change is always difficult, but perhaps the author is attempting to give the reader hope that in our frailty itself there is strength if we learn to rely on One greater than we are, that has experienced all that we have and triumphed in it.
April 30, 2025
A simply wonderful book. I have little to add to the excellent reviews already here. The Castle itself, though a physical refuge in the book, is a metaphor for England and its glorious and inglorious past as it is under attack in the early days of WWII. The German planes fly over every night on their bombing missions. The young Birley brothers who are the current residents of the family estate are constitutionally different: the elder heir is a risk-loving RAF pilot, and the younger a pacifist who was about to embark on his architectural training. Their uncle, a writer and historian, represents the old guard. Into their home comes the capable Miss Brown as a housekeeper and two evacuee little girls from a 'decent' but poor household in London. A down-on-his-luck Jewish violinist plays a pivotal role and represents the masses of Jews who had been discriminated against, driven into exile, and murdered by the millions historically, as well as particularly at that time. While this book is full of the love of country, Goudge is careful not to overly glamorize the feudal past and gives voice to concerns for the poor and working classes as well as for the traditions of the landed class who were the fighting knights of the past and represented in the histories and culture. She bridges both worlds wonderfully with the cast of characters from London as well as the estate and the nearby village. There is a little romance as well as unrequited love of the gentlest kind. Perhaps the plotting relies too much on coincidence, but I found that didn't bother me at all. Some characters have a mystical connection to the past which tends to bleed into the present, and though fanciful, it alludes to the history of the castle and the country itself. Goudge always has a deep spiritual tone in her writing, but she's never preachy or too starchy, and her characters are flawed and believable. Though things work out in the end, it is often through much sacrifice. As another reviewer pointed out, this was written in 1941 long before the end result of the war was known, and thus makes it more poignant. Goudge's style is old-fashioned, lush and romantic, with beautiful detailed descriptions of the landscape, and mostly interior musings with much less dialogue. I found that every few pages or so I wanted to write down a quote. I didn't take the time to, so will definitely have to re-read in the future.
January 27, 2024
I struggled through parts of this book and I'm not sure if that was because of the writing or, more probably, because I was reading a Large Type edition that was poorly formatted. I sat down and finished the last half in one long sitting and found it well worth my time. If I read this again, it will be in normal type formatting 😊
January 24, 2025
enchanting.
"that to be one an' love each other is man's inheritance that do be lost out of the world" (198).
I love how Goudge can take separate stories and weave them together so beautifully by the end of the book. This seems to reinforce her underlying message that the way to overcome evil and hardship is through unity and love of one's fellow creatures. Here she vividly shows the transformative power of the death to self and subsequent new life that flows from it. She captures the beautiful truth that the atmosphere of home, place, and belonging are powerful enough to push back the darkness in the world.
"that to be one an' love each other is man's inheritance that do be lost out of the world" (198).
I love how Goudge can take separate stories and weave them together so beautifully by the end of the book. This seems to reinforce her underlying message that the way to overcome evil and hardship is through unity and love of one's fellow creatures. Here she vividly shows the transformative power of the death to self and subsequent new life that flows from it. She captures the beautiful truth that the atmosphere of home, place, and belonging are powerful enough to push back the darkness in the world.
April 14, 2024
Written and published and set during world war two, this novel is a rare gem of its day, and even of now. Being "current" in its time, it is a refreshing read void of any propaganda that all post wwii literature inadvertently contains. It's simply a raw story of what the war was like in England, and there's no politics or moralizing. It's simple, straightforward, and self-sacrificing.
It centers around a middle-aged woman looking to be in the pattern of things, and a Jewish fiddler ready to put an end to his pattern. Both their lives are disrupted by little children who need them and an old historian, Mr Birley, who needs help in his ancient castle. With him lives a patriotic pilot and a pacifist architect. There's also the young girl who lives with her doctor, Grandpa, who loves the brothers and is loved by them.
The setting and publication date combo alone make it a worthy read. The ending is charmed. The entire book is like a cup of tea on a stormy night. Comforting even though you don't know that all might end well.
It centers around a middle-aged woman looking to be in the pattern of things, and a Jewish fiddler ready to put an end to his pattern. Both their lives are disrupted by little children who need them and an old historian, Mr Birley, who needs help in his ancient castle. With him lives a patriotic pilot and a pacifist architect. There's also the young girl who lives with her doctor, Grandpa, who loves the brothers and is loved by them.
The setting and publication date combo alone make it a worthy read. The ending is charmed. The entire book is like a cup of tea on a stormy night. Comforting even though you don't know that all might end well.
March 17, 2025
The author must have dug very deep into her faith the write this novel at the height of the Battle of Britain and to be unsure which way the war would go.
Given the various conflicts around the world, this has resonated very deeply with me. Of course, deaths do occur but they are dealt with sensitively and used to move this character-driven plot forward.
I cannot promise you will not cry in reading this, but I feel like my heart has expanded. For me, having my heart and mind expanded is the whole reason that I continue to hoard so many books.
Given the various conflicts around the world, this has resonated very deeply with me. Of course, deaths do occur but they are dealt with sensitively and used to move this character-driven plot forward.
I cannot promise you will not cry in reading this, but I feel like my heart has expanded. For me, having my heart and mind expanded is the whole reason that I continue to hoard so many books.
February 11, 2021
I thought early on in the book it might be one of my very favourite Elizabeth Goudge books, but found some later twists amd turns to be too dark. Fabulous characters as always. However I'm very interested in books set in the War, especially as she didn't know how this would end, just like Exile for the Chalet School and other similar books. Many little sentences and passages that I read over for her wisdom and insight, and very pertinent to 2021, the fact that she writes with that since Ethelred the Unready, England has never been ready for a calamity, and they weren't ready for the Blitz and I'm sure if Goudge were still alive today she would say the same about the Pandemic!
July 18, 2014
Elizabeth Goudge had a gift for understanding the human heart and she never fails to move me with her words and stories. This novel deals with some difficult subjects--war, fear, despair, hopelessness--and Goudge handles them with unusual compassion and sensitivity. As always, her faith and love of God shine through her fiction, bringing enlightenment and hope to her characters, and to her readers as well. I closed this one thinking, Oh wow, she did it again!
October 30, 2022
This story was so sorrowful and so beautiful. I have read few books more richly saturated with death and life. This isn’t just a book set in WWII. It was written during the war, and one can feel the battle for life and England on every page. This book is a masterful weaving of the “two countries” - the life now and the life to come. Yet again, I am in awe of Elizabeth Goudge.
July 30, 2016
I was a bit unsure how many stars to give this. It is so poignant, refreshing, astonishing, and so well-written I didn't want it to end. Although it is written during World War 2, you still have a feel of the 1800s as a lot of the book surrounds the castle in Tornhaven.
I love the characters Elizabeth Goudge creates. Miss Brown, nothing special about her, with no hope for the future after he home is bombed hears a man play the violin and feels happier. She then becomes a housekeeper at the castle. There Mr. Birley, the owner, is old and has deep reference toward his country. His nephews reside with him: Richard, an RAF pilot, who throws himself at his job with passion. And Stephen, a pacifist, who hates war and wants to become an architect. Then there is Boulder, the butler, who is somewhat kind under his dreadful personality. Mrs. Heather who always smiles. Mr. Isaacson, the Jew and violinist, who has no hope for his life. Moppet and Poppet, evacuated children from London, whose cheery personalities add light to the story. And Purnella, although not beautiful, has spice and vitality.
The last paragraph was profound in its address to Jesus Christ as our protector.
Content:
-several swear words
-a young lady gets pregnant out of wedlock (*not* detailed)
-a couple kisses
-mention of digging people out of bombed buildings (little detail)
Also, the style of writing might not be everyone's cup of tea. There is a lot of description of feelings, sorrow, and characters lives.
I love the characters Elizabeth Goudge creates. Miss Brown, nothing special about her, with no hope for the future after he home is bombed hears a man play the violin and feels happier. She then becomes a housekeeper at the castle. There Mr. Birley, the owner, is old and has deep reference toward his country. His nephews reside with him: Richard, an RAF pilot, who throws himself at his job with passion. And Stephen, a pacifist, who hates war and wants to become an architect. Then there is Boulder, the butler, who is somewhat kind under his dreadful personality. Mrs. Heather who always smiles. Mr. Isaacson, the Jew and violinist, who has no hope for his life. Moppet and Poppet, evacuated children from London, whose cheery personalities add light to the story. And Purnella, although not beautiful, has spice and vitality.
The last paragraph was profound in its address to Jesus Christ as our protector.
Content:
-several swear words
-a young lady gets pregnant out of wedlock (*not* detailed)
-a couple kisses
-mention of digging people out of bombed buildings (little detail)
Also, the style of writing might not be everyone's cup of tea. There is a lot of description of feelings, sorrow, and characters lives.
April 21, 2020
Hands down, one of the most exquisite novels I have ever read. This is the kind of book you have to sit with for a while, though. So much goes on beneath the surface. Elizabeth Goudge's prose reads like poetry, and she has a gift for describing the nature and landscape in such detail that you can see it, taste it, smell it, and feel it with such clarity that you are a part of the story--not just an observer.
I didn't agree with every conclusion she came to, but I appreciated her tackling some of the huge questions of life with a deft hand, wrestling with them through her characters, and taking the time to ponder the heartaches and joys of life throughout the book.
One of the biggest themes in this book is reconciliation--to one's past, to one's present, to one's family, to one's God--and it's handled with reverence and care. While this novel does lean to the philosophical side, that is Goudge's strength, and if you want a book that makes you ponder, this one will do it. Reminds me of Gene Stratton-Porter and other older writers who could tackle human plots, nature writing, and cosmological questions all in one book, and do it with breathtaking beauty. It's joyous and heartbreaking all in one book. The characters don't all get what they wanted in life--in fact, none of them gets what they thought they wanted--but they do get what is good for them, and what grows them as people...an important distinction.
Just beautiful. I highly recommend it, but only if you like that type of book!
I didn't agree with every conclusion she came to, but I appreciated her tackling some of the huge questions of life with a deft hand, wrestling with them through her characters, and taking the time to ponder the heartaches and joys of life throughout the book.
One of the biggest themes in this book is reconciliation--to one's past, to one's present, to one's family, to one's God--and it's handled with reverence and care. While this novel does lean to the philosophical side, that is Goudge's strength, and if you want a book that makes you ponder, this one will do it. Reminds me of Gene Stratton-Porter and other older writers who could tackle human plots, nature writing, and cosmological questions all in one book, and do it with breathtaking beauty. It's joyous and heartbreaking all in one book. The characters don't all get what they wanted in life--in fact, none of them gets what they thought they wanted--but they do get what is good for them, and what grows them as people...an important distinction.
Just beautiful. I highly recommend it, but only if you like that type of book!
July 7, 2014
I don't generally read "war stories" as they usually give me nightmares. But "Castle on the Hill" was different. The characters, facing WWII in England, were also facing their fears of war, and each managing to conquer his or her fear in a different way. Although nothing turned out the way the characters might have wished, they were able to overcome and carry on, and even grow and mature through their experiences. I loved Miss Brown and Moppet and Poppet.
The book itself was a long read, and I occasionally got tired of the characters' long reflective soliloquies. But Goudge is very adept at description and she could really make you feel the warmth and golden light of the sunshine and the green, wavy light in the forest, and the brilliance of scarlet geraniums in a window.
I think this was a very encouraging sort of read - watching characters overcome their weaknesses and build relationships, and conquer their fears. I believe I read somewhere that Goudge herself was immersed in WWII in the English countryside, and if so, this book probably grows out of her personal experience.
The book itself was a long read, and I occasionally got tired of the characters' long reflective soliloquies. But Goudge is very adept at description and she could really make you feel the warmth and golden light of the sunshine and the green, wavy light in the forest, and the brilliance of scarlet geraniums in a window.
I think this was a very encouraging sort of read - watching characters overcome their weaknesses and build relationships, and conquer their fears. I believe I read somewhere that Goudge herself was immersed in WWII in the English countryside, and if so, this book probably grows out of her personal experience.
May 11, 2010
What a nice gem this book turned out to be. Published in 1941, it is a contemporary story of England dealing with the continual assault from Germany. The author starts with a middle aged woman whose profession and home have been entirely disrupted by that war. As she starts interacting with the other characters in the book the reader follows them each as they strive to reposition themselves into the pattern of life, when war has imposed a major shift in the pattern. Although the German bombers fly overhead every night, and some one is always stationed as the sentinel on the hill, this novel is more about the inner battles of people in a country town than of the force of arms. In portraying these people and their environment, Elizabeth Goudge wields a well-honed gift of prose in beautiful descriptions that more than paint a pretty picture, but give depth to her storytelling. Her tale is an insightful probing into what people do when they can't have the desire of their hearts.
September 24, 2015
This was a unique read for me. Written in 1940 in England during probably the scariest time of WWII for the English it is a story full of sadness and loss... and yet -- and yet it's more than that. It's also story of how people find hope and happiness in the midst of a dark, scary, uncertain time when they are full of grief over the loss of loved ones and the loss of life as they knew it.
I've only read a handful of Goudge's books, but while I did appreciate this book and am glad I read it, I can't say it was a favorite. There was a lot of depth to this book, some of which I felt went over my head (i.e. the discussions about life and God were a little out there at times.)
Overall I thought the book ended on a bittersweet note, with promise of better -- different, but better times ahead.
I particularly liked the character of Miss Brown and was happy to see her get her happy ending even if it wasn't how she first envisioned it when she came to the castle.
I've only read a handful of Goudge's books, but while I did appreciate this book and am glad I read it, I can't say it was a favorite. There was a lot of depth to this book, some of which I felt went over my head (i.e. the discussions about life and God were a little out there at times.)
Overall I thought the book ended on a bittersweet note, with promise of better -- different, but better times ahead.
I particularly liked the character of Miss Brown and was happy to see her get her happy ending even if it wasn't how she first envisioned it when she came to the castle.
July 14, 2016
This beautifully written novel takes place in England during the Second World War and was published during the Second World War. The author's description of her characters' thoughts and emotions draws you into their lives in a manner that few other authors are able to achieve. Over the years, I've read several Elizabeth Goudge books, but I had never heard of this one, and I would have to say, it is my favorite. There is tragedy, but ultimately, triumph.
May 20, 2022
I love Elizabeth Goudge's writing so much, yet even so this story was a bit harsh for me... the war aspect was hard for me to get through. I'm still glad I read it and completely recommend it to others, but this wasn't my favorite Goudge novel out of those I've read so far.
March 6, 2024
Elizabeth Goudge tackles the Second World War.
Apparently this book was written actually during the war, but there is no hint of petrol rationing or any shortages of food - the author's traditional stout and happy minor characters laying a lavish table as an expression of love sit rather oddly in this context, and I'm afraid I didn't find that this contemporary novel worked nearly so well as the 'historicals' (the simplistic and quasi-feudal relationship between the Birleys and the villagers, for example, would have been hard to swallow in the Civil War setting of The White Witch, never mind mid-20th-century England). And I found that a lot of the prose in this book tended to feel like a pastiche of 'classic' Goudge tropes; I had guessed that this was probably a late book by an author who had waned into self-parody, but in fact it turns out to be a relatively early one. But since it was preceded by such novels as A City of Bells and The Bird in the Tree (itself set in the present day preceding WW2), one cannot simply write it off as the work of an inexperienced writer either. My best guess is that perhaps she produced it as a conscious propaganda effort, her authorial contribution to the war, and that the ends outweighed the means for once. At any rate I was excited to stumble across a fresh Elizabeth Goudge novel that I had never read, only to realise at a fairly early stage just why, alas, it was unknown to posterity ...
Other reviewers have commented that the book is uncharacteristically 'dark' in comparison with her other novels, but I'm not sure that is the case; I think it's more an issue of the rather trivial treatment of those elements, in comparison, say, to the various morally harrowing disasters of "The White Witch" or Green Dolphin Country. Bad Things happen- buildings are bombed, pilots are shot down, unselfish love is rejected - but they tend to get tied off quite quickly with rather unsatisfying endings. (Though as for Poppet and Moppet's presumably orphaned brothers, we never do hear anything further about them!)
There are some interesting ideas, such as the genteel spinster with a sensitivity for beauty but an irredeemably trite vocabulary in which to express it, and the two brothers who find their opposed political views progressing towards one another as a result of their respective wartime experiences but a lot of the material here recurs elsewhere and better in the author's other books. It's not badly written, but it's not a particularly good Elizabeth Goudge novel... and it's not a particularly good novel about pacifism, evacuees, fighter pilots, Jews, the Blitz, or the dying days of the English landed gentry, either. I think that may be part of the trouble; perhaps it spreads itself too thinly over too many characters and fails to really focus in. But a lot of her other books cover a wide sweep, and this is a relatively short one.
Apparently this book was written actually during the war, but there is no hint of petrol rationing or any shortages of food - the author's traditional stout and happy minor characters laying a lavish table as an expression of love sit rather oddly in this context, and I'm afraid I didn't find that this contemporary novel worked nearly so well as the 'historicals' (the simplistic and quasi-feudal relationship between the Birleys and the villagers, for example, would have been hard to swallow in the Civil War setting of The White Witch, never mind mid-20th-century England). And I found that a lot of the prose in this book tended to feel like a pastiche of 'classic' Goudge tropes; I had guessed that this was probably a late book by an author who had waned into self-parody, but in fact it turns out to be a relatively early one. But since it was preceded by such novels as A City of Bells and The Bird in the Tree (itself set in the present day preceding WW2), one cannot simply write it off as the work of an inexperienced writer either. My best guess is that perhaps she produced it as a conscious propaganda effort, her authorial contribution to the war, and that the ends outweighed the means for once. At any rate I was excited to stumble across a fresh Elizabeth Goudge novel that I had never read, only to realise at a fairly early stage just why, alas, it was unknown to posterity ...
Other reviewers have commented that the book is uncharacteristically 'dark' in comparison with her other novels, but I'm not sure that is the case; I think it's more an issue of the rather trivial treatment of those elements, in comparison, say, to the various morally harrowing disasters of "The White Witch" or Green Dolphin Country. Bad Things happen- buildings are bombed, pilots are shot down, unselfish love is rejected - but they tend to get tied off quite quickly with rather unsatisfying endings. (Though as for Poppet and Moppet's presumably orphaned brothers, we never do hear anything further about them!)
There are some interesting ideas, such as the genteel spinster with a sensitivity for beauty but an irredeemably trite vocabulary in which to express it, and the two brothers who find their opposed political views progressing towards one another as a result of their respective wartime experiences but a lot of the material here recurs elsewhere and better in the author's other books. It's not badly written, but it's not a particularly good Elizabeth Goudge novel... and it's not a particularly good novel about pacifism, evacuees, fighter pilots, Jews, the Blitz, or the dying days of the English landed gentry, either. I think that may be part of the trouble; perhaps it spreads itself too thinly over too many characters and fails to really focus in. But a lot of her other books cover a wide sweep, and this is a relatively short one.
March 4, 2025
Elizabeth Goudge loves to set her books during or after wars, be it the Napoleonic Wars or the English Civil War or World War II. But this is the only one of her books that I know of (and I admit that I haven't yet read A Bird in the Tree) that she both wrote and set during the middle of World War II. Just the fear in this book is tangible. The Castle on the Hill may not be Goudge's strongest or best developed books, but it has a poignancy all its own because everything she wrote about she was living through. It's unlike any World War II book I've ever read since it was written when no one knew what the outcome of the war would be. As her characters hear bombers flying over their heads every single night and know that somewhere someone's home is being bombed and someone's family is being torn apart, as they face the fear of their own death or the death of their loved ones, as they grapple with the questions of life's eternity and war's horror, as they wonder whether the life and country they know will survive or be blasted to the heavens, it physically hurts because you know that these were Goudge's questions and fears and the questions and fears of countless others.
I think maybe this book has made me a little more human
I think maybe this book has made me a little more human
October 30, 2025
Elizabeth Goudge lived through WWII in her late 30s, and published this book just into her 40s -- not much older than I am now. It is a wartime story and wrestles with both the local and personal homefront experience of this particular war, and philosophical perspectives on war in general.
Usually, I feel like Elizabeth Goudge's books get off to a slow start but become unputdownable and the endings are perfection. I had a different experience with this one: it drew me in right away, but I'm not sure how I feel about the ending.
Maybe this ending is what honesty required, though. The war genuinely destroyed things -- there are some things that just can't be restored or undone.
This story contains loss upon loss upon loss Might be a contender for saddest book I have ever read. But because its Elizabeth Goudge, it is not without redemption.
It felt a little more heavy handed and sententious at times than others of her works I have read, but I read this also as a preaching to herself and a processing in real time the unimaginable war she had just lived through, and so I don't really want to critique.
I was also struck by her treatment of a Jewish character in this work, which seemed unusual and perceptive for someone of her background.
Usually, I feel like Elizabeth Goudge's books get off to a slow start but become unputdownable and the endings are perfection. I had a different experience with this one: it drew me in right away, but I'm not sure how I feel about the ending.
Maybe this ending is what honesty required, though. The war genuinely destroyed things -- there are some things that just can't be restored or undone.
This story contains loss upon loss upon loss Might be a contender for saddest book I have ever read. But because its Elizabeth Goudge, it is not without redemption.
It felt a little more heavy handed and sententious at times than others of her works I have read, but I read this also as a preaching to herself and a processing in real time the unimaginable war she had just lived through, and so I don't really want to critique.
I was also struck by her treatment of a Jewish character in this work, which seemed unusual and perceptive for someone of her background.
November 10, 2020
I don’t think I have been most captured by a book as much as this. Quite brilliant a bit slow at the start but once you get into the story of each of the characters you can’t be, but utterly engrossed. My personal favourite was Jo Isaacson( who if it was made into a movie I would imagine Gabriel Byrne as indeed it was him I pictured throughout the whole novel) he was a fascinating man and I would have liked to have known more about him. Miss Brown was also an interesting character and I would of liked her character to have been the main plot, but alas every character was as equally important. If there was one thing that annoyed me was the presumption that Miss Brown was some old dear instead of a 41 year old. I know back then once you hit 40 you are considered over the hill, but when you think of the likes of Jean Arthur who in her 40’s was starring in romantic comedies, 40 odd is not old. Anyway enough of my rant. It’s worth a read. Must admit its my first Elizabeth Goudge book.
August 31, 2025
Well written, found the story compelling enough that I kept reading. It just didn't connect with me very well at all.
I've read 2 other Elizabeth Goudge books, and noticed that she has a tendency to make some strange connections and throw in elements that seem odd to me. This book felt over the top that way. It seemed like everyone would have strange visions, notice ghosts, have unusual ways of describing life circumstances, and overall there was so much philosophizing that it got annoying.
At one point in the book she talks about the 'artist soul' verses the non-artist soul, and how the artist is always looking for and affected by the meaning behind the thing where the non-artist just takes the thing at face value and can't understand the artist's reactions. That's exactly how I felt - like she was pulling all this meaning and connection from every little thing and her big conclusions about life and death really didn't make sense to me.
I've read 2 other Elizabeth Goudge books, and noticed that she has a tendency to make some strange connections and throw in elements that seem odd to me. This book felt over the top that way. It seemed like everyone would have strange visions, notice ghosts, have unusual ways of describing life circumstances, and overall there was so much philosophizing that it got annoying.
At one point in the book she talks about the 'artist soul' verses the non-artist soul, and how the artist is always looking for and affected by the meaning behind the thing where the non-artist just takes the thing at face value and can't understand the artist's reactions. That's exactly how I felt - like she was pulling all this meaning and connection from every little thing and her big conclusions about life and death really didn't make sense to me.
January 12, 2021
Goudge is adept at taking those on the outskirts of society and weaving tapestries of their lives. In this novel we have pacifist, a spinster, a Jewish refugee, orphans, an aging gentleman's gentleman, and an out-of-wedlock pregnancy all living in England during 1940-41.
I loved the plot. I didn't always love the way it was carried out. There are plenty of thoughtful musings on life and living through history that, this week and this pandemic year, I identified with more than normally.
Just as she created a whole 200- year history of a town in The Dean's Watch, here she creates a family. The ending felt a little forced and the stories that I cared about were never really resolved. Also I wanted more background, which never came, on Jo. This was very uncharacteristic of her normal style.
I loved the plot. I didn't always love the way it was carried out. There are plenty of thoughtful musings on life and living through history that, this week and this pandemic year, I identified with more than normally.
Just as she created a whole 200- year history of a town in The Dean's Watch, here she creates a family. The ending felt a little forced and the stories that I cared about were never really resolved. Also I wanted more background, which never came, on Jo. This was very uncharacteristic of her normal style.
August 31, 2020
The most amazing thing about this book is that it was written in 1941, long before it was obvious that Britain and her allies would win the war. The hope and optimism, coupled with a not over the top patriotism, in this book made me forget numerous times that it wasn't written in the post-war period.
This has the usual Elizabeth Goudge mixture of unlikely but believable characters brought together by chance and changing each other's lives for the good. There's some philosophising and poetry-quoting as you expect from her; also some truly marvellous descriptions of the countryside of the West Country. I usually skip descriptions, but Elizabeth's make me see what she is describing. This book is wonderful. I love it.
This has the usual Elizabeth Goudge mixture of unlikely but believable characters brought together by chance and changing each other's lives for the good. There's some philosophising and poetry-quoting as you expect from her; also some truly marvellous descriptions of the countryside of the West Country. I usually skip descriptions, but Elizabeth's make me see what she is describing. This book is wonderful. I love it.
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