The Little White Horse

The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge was one of the formative books of my childhood, and it was a such a joy to revisit it for the first time in many years, though I regret that my current copy doesn't have the delightful illustrations that were included in the edition I used to borrow over and over again from the Mt Hagen library.

One scene unfolds after another, each one a vignette of pleasure. Maria Merryweather, a thirteen year old orphan, her governess, Miss Heliotrope, and her self-satisfied spaniel, Wiggins, rattle through the night to their new home. Maria's bedroom in a tower of the manor house has a tiny door, just big enough for her, and has stars on the ceiling (I see from reviews that I was far from the only child reader who sighed for that perfect little bedroom).  Maria goes riding and rescues a hare, Serena, from the clutches of the Wicked Men of the pine forest. In due course, the Wicked Men are steered from their evil ways, pairs of lovers are reunited, and after some hair-raising adventures, peace and happiness are restored to the valley.

Early in the book, the author remarks that there are three kinds of person: those who receive consolation from clothes, those who receive it through food, and those who seek it in the written word. There is ample satisfaction for all three in The Little White Horse. Clothes are lovingly described, from Maria's trim riding habit to Loveday's white satin wedding dress to Sir Benjamin's embroidered flowery waistcoast. There is plenty of delicious food for humans and animals alike (the book was published just after the Second World War, when everyone was thinking longingly about food). And the story, though simple, is deeply satisfying, filled with complementary characters and images. 

We meet a dog, Wrolf, who is really a lion, and the little white horse that Maria glimpses from the carriage in the first pages proves to be a unicorn. There are pairs of hearty, energetic 'sun' Merryweathers, and pale, proud 'moon' Merryweathers. Everything fits together neatly in the end, and the harmony in the valley and the village of Silverydew gave me, as a child reader, a picture of Paradise on earth. Perfect comfort reading.