Katrina Robinson asked Christine Rawlins:

I am very much enjoying ‘Beyond the Snow’ and discovering Elizabeth Goudge. Definitely a help in my own life. Are there any other writers you would recommend?

Christine Rawlins Hello Katrina,
How lovely to receive your email and to know that you are reading Beyond the Snow and enjoying it. Better still, that you are discovering Elizabeth Goudge and feeling the benefit of her work in your own life. Her books have helped me so much over the years.
As to other authors, I would just say that I think there is no-one else quite like EG, with her unique mix of human frailty and powerful spirituality, poetry and beauty, sadness and happy endings. But I wonder if you have come across Rosamunde Pilcher? I've really enjoyed her books over the years and have read the best of them - like The Shell Seekers - more than once. Winter Solstice is one of my favourites.
Perhaps you'd also like Joanna Trollope - most of her books are about relationships and the complications of modern life. One aspect of EG that's so helpful to her readers is the way she creates characters who are struggling to cope with life, and two fairly recent books that come to mind are Elinor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman (such a bestseller you've probably come across it already) and Lost for Words by Stephanie Butland. Each about a woman who has had trauma in childhood, but despite this darker background they are both positive and ultimately uplifting.
The American best-selling author Anne Tyler also writes well about everyday life and people.
As I say, I don't think anyone else has ever captured the "magic" of EG but I hope you might find something to enjoy in the above.
Happy reading!
With best wishes, Christine

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