Green Dolphin Street: Week 1

Goudge's Ragamuffins, Love's Fools and GDS Jazz

L'Ancresse Common, Guernsey. Photo by Peter Tiffin

“William could see very nearly the whole of it from the great granite cliffs of the southern end to St. Pierre and the long level stretch of the sea marshes to the north, from the islands of the west to the belt of woodland that cut off his view to the east, and it amazed him that such a small space could hold so much.

There were rocky bays and stretches of golden sand, old farms of grey granite braving the winds upon the cliffs or sheltering in the lee of stunted oak woods or green hills crowned with windmills.

There were fishing hamlets where the cottages were thatched and whitewashed and fuchsia bushes and tamarisk grew about the doors, and inland villages where old church towers showed above the trees.

There were holy wells embowered in ferns and old grey cromlechs upon windswept hillocks to tell of the length of life in this holy isle.

There were fields where flowers were grown for the English market and others of bright green grass where small, beautiful dun-colored cattle were browsing, and bright, fresh streams that ran swiftly through the water lanes to the sea below… It was surely Paradise.”

🌿 Elizabeth Goudge, Green Dolphin Street

Welcome to our discussion on Book 1 of Green Dolphin Street by Elizabeth Goudge

This week, I’d like us to consider the characters in Goudge’s tale who are “diamonds in the rough.” These “ragamuffin” characters are those who are obviously flawed, and yet they are seekers.

Ragamuffins often appear in Goudge’s stories, though they take many forms: in The Scent of Water, the old priest is a social mess but gives Cousin Mary the key to peace in the form of prayer; in The White Witch, Francis the spy finds a way to show mercy to his enemy; in The Dean’s Watch, Issac the clock maker finds his way from depression and fear to friendship and faith.

In Green Dolphin, we find several characters who have little raw virtue in themselves, and yet they have set out “in search of a lost home,” as Evelyn Underhill says.

There were some very heavy topics in this week’s reading, but we will take a quick look at those in context of the time period and character growth, as well as hear a 20th century jazz standard that was inspired by Goudge’s story!

Modern Guernsey with a road and bike trail along a seawall. Photo by TDR Studio