Goudge's Wings Literary Guild Review, 1948

The Herb of Grace, the White Deer, and the Eliots

The cover of the April 1948 edition of Wings, which features Elizabeth Goudge and her book, Pilgrim’s Inn, the second in the Eliot trilogy.

“Miss Goudge has been steeped in printer's ink from the time she wrote a magazine with some little boys in her neighborhood in the cathedral town of Wells, England, up to now when she is known throughout the world as the author of Green Dolphin Street. Pilgrim's Inn, her new story shows signs of being as widely read as her famous Channel Island novel. Like Jane Austen, or Galsworthy, or Trollope, she has the ability to bring out of her pages the living fabric not only of English life, but civilized life anywhere…”

Wings: The Literary Guild Review, April 1948

Civilized life at the Herb of Grace

As we read and discuss the end of David and Sebastian’s visit to the Herb of Grace in the third Eliot book, The Heart of the Family, I thought it would be a treat to share this little review book which was very kindly sent to me by a Goudge reader on Instagram, Jill Hardt. Wings was a publication of The Literary Guild, which was started as a monthly book club in 1927 and sought to sell books by giving their members a price break. You can see below in the gallery on the 4th page it says:

“Pilgrim’s Inn will be on sale in the publisher’s edition to non-guild members at $3.00. The Guild edition will be available at the member’s exclusive price of only $2.00.”

So this business supported Goudge’s book sales in the US, as early as the 1940’s. It is very interesting to read what they write about her work in their review, as well as what she wrote about herself and the Herb of Grace. The guild says:

“So here is the Guild's book for April, a choice sure to be approved by a great majority of members - many who will have read Green Dolphin Street, others who will have seen the movie made from that book, others who know that a book by Elizabeth Goudge is bound to be a book they want, since they know that in it they will find romance, enchantment, warmth and love. For these readers, the Guild presents Pilgrim's Inn.”

Christine Rawlins included some of this interview in Beyond the Snow, which I included last month in Chasing the White Deer for Pilgrim’s Inn.

I hope you enjoy a inside look at the rest of the review!

“…Beginning with rather small audiences for such novels as Island Magic, Towers in the Mist, and City of Bells, she has reached more and more readers through her own special charm, a kind of sit-by-the-fire mellowness combined with great storytelling ability and and a feeling for people. Those who like a warm, full-bodied and satisfying story can be thankful for a writer like Elizabeth Goudge.”

Wings: The Literary Guild Review, April 1948

Interior pages of the April 1948 Wings review: