The Scent of Water: Week 4

Heroines, Books, and Musical references in Elizabeth Goudge's novel

US edition of The Scent of Water by Elizabeth Goudge near our garden pond

“Appleshaw even more than most country places has the scent of water in its air," [said Paul.]

"The scent of water?" asked Mary.

"I don't mean that literally. 'For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.’ There's one thing blindness did for me, gave me a braille Bible. My father gave me one. If I'd kept my sight I'd never have read the Bible as I have, for I haven't many braille books."

"What is the scent of water?"

"Renewal. The goodness of God coming down like dew.…”

🌿 Elizabeth Goudge, The Scent of Water, ch 13

Goudge’s Heroines

It’s the end of May and the official end of our read-along for The Scent of Water, but I’m never really done with this book. Every time I open it, I’m transported back to Appleshaw and to the guidance of Cousin Mary, the real heroine of the story.

Christine Rawlins makes an interesting observation in her biography, Beyond the Snow, about the development of secure, single women later in Goudge’s works. She points out that in her early works the heroines are beautiful and beloved. In her later works, she makes room for women who are unmarried, childless, and who live cloistered lives. She sees the change as beginning in The Rosemary Tree, with Harriet, and finding its perfection in Cousin Mary and Miss Montague from The Dean’s Watch. Rawlins also mentions Froniga as Goudge’s most daring heroine in The White Witch,

Join us for a last discussion about the impact this book had on readers, some literary references, and the music include in The Scent of Water…

The spine and back of the dust jack of the US edition of The Scent of Water by Elizabeth Goudge