The Blue Hills

At turns thoughtful, and at others funny (so much so that you will laugh aloud), this book is a great read for a parent and a child with a vivid imagination. It is not for realists, but for those who can lose themselves in a good tale.

This is the third of Elizabeth Goudge's books to be set in Torminster (Wells) at the turn of the last century. It features the same cast of characters as A City of Bells and Sister of the Angels, romatic, artistic Henrietta, practical, self-satisfied Hugh Anthony, saintly Grandfather and sharp Grandmother, irresponsible poet Grabriel Ferranti, gentle Jocelyn and hsi vivacious wife Felicity, the haughty Dean, eccentric Mrs Jameson whose husband was eaten by cannibals, and an assortment of elderly clergymen and their wives. Going on a birthday picnic for Hugh Anthony, the principal characters all get lost and have very strange adventures, encountering (possibly) supernatural beings and having life-changing experiences. Being a children's book, the atmosphere is much lighter than in A City of Bells, and everyone's problems are resolved rather more easily than they would otherwise have been (mrs Jmeason is cured of her sazdness over her husband's gruesome end by acquiring a music box with a singing bird),but the characters are just as lovable and interesting as they are in the other books, and there is a lot of humour, as there is in all Miss Goudge's books.

The story of a young girl and other members of her small English village community, who wander into a mysterious wood, discovering beautiful secrets about themselves and their relationships with God and each other. Lyrical, intense, magical and childlike in the tradition of George MacDonald's "Curdie" books or C.S. Lewis, but a little more subtle and complex -- a great book for shy 13-year-olds or thoughtful adults.