The Scent of Water: Week 1

Finding Refuge and Welcome in the Chilterns

The Scent of Water by Elizabeth Goudge on my front step with my tea this morning.

“Mary escaped into The Laurels with a marvelous sense of safety. As Paul said, you could go deeply in, finding refuge like a cony among the rocks.”

🌿 Elizabeth Goudge, The Scent of Water, ch 4

A welcome extended

While reading this past week, I have again been thinking about the welcome that Goudge extends for Mary in the wisteria and the rayburn. The wisteria hides the inner life of the house from the outside, and the warmth of the oven which also heats the whole place.

But it is the warmth and welcome of the people too that make it so special. When Mary accidentally lets the fire go out, Mrs Baker is soon there to light it again and get her a cup of tea.

How many of us need this same welcome, this same gracious invitation?

I have felt again the welcome of The Laurels this week, and I have realized that I find something even more here. On my dozenth read of this beloved book, I find that I myself can take refuge “deeply in” this book. Here in the quiet pages of The Scent of Water, it is as though the preparations that were preformed by Cousin Mary for her namesake, Mary Lindsey, are only a shadow of the real preparations that Goudge has made for each of her readers to come deep inside of her book.

So whether it is your first read or your seventh— welcome! I hope you too find peace and welcome in this beautiful novel this month of May.

A bird bath newly filled for our robins, plus Erigeron in the Entry Garden at Havenwood.

This week we will look at chapters 1-4 to find some important phrases in the book, the characters we meet, and some more views of the beautiful Chilterns…

Rest, Refuge or Restlessness: Character lists