Well she has been and gone, like the Persiad meteors a fleeting splendour. As Elizabeth says ” a shining star in every generation” and for us it is our daughter. The delight of the first visit since lockdown was mutual. Like David, she was returning to her childhood home, and while Riverside is no Damerosehay, it’s roots are even deeper going back to Saxon times and has it has it’s own myths and hosts of people to draw strength and a sense of achievement from.
Elizabeth has given us many archetypes during her writing career; the Matriarch, stern, loving, benign, the under valued hard working aunt, the struggling parish priest, the local workers, domestic, agricultural, the impoverished gentry, the misfits and outsiders, prisoners, the mentally disturbed.
All of these however hold one trait in common, they grow, evolve, into the best they can be at what they are.
Lucilla learns to be humble and to know her faith, Margaret is lauded by both David and Lucilla for being the under valued but indispensable person she has become, Hilary, blissfully unaware of the depth of his spiritual growth and power, Nadine and George’s acceptance of the wonderful life they have created, Michael’s rehabilitation, Cousin Mary’s grace.
Whenever my daughter is spending time with us I always want to be Lucilla, dispensing words of wisdom and comfort. It’s invariably the other way round, and I find myself being cast into the role of Margaret, being more than capable of looking after creature comforts.
Do you have a Goudge archetype that you relate to and who inspires and impacts on your daily life? I suspect like me it depends a little on the situation you are currently living through.
“All bereavement, whether fate inflicts it on you or whether the relinquishment is your own, changes you” said Lucilla, “Don’t people say that nature abhors a vacuum? Something lost in the present means something new flowing in from the future; often a new or stronger faith. In your loss and gain you are bound to change and look at things a little differently.”
Well what an interesting question! I would need your ideas on quite what archetype she is??, but I find Polly from “The Deans Watch” a good example for getting through the pandemic – kind,
loyal, cheerful, unjudgemental and above all recognising the value of the smallest things;-
cherry red ribbons, a warm cat on your bed and especially a good “-ot” cup of tea, to cheer the spirits.
So glad you have website up and running again
thank you.
To me an archetype is a typical example of a type of person or thing. For example, Lucilla is a typical example of a matriarchal figure head. Someone the rest of the family looks up to .
I think your view of Polly is stop on the most famous example of an archetype is the hero hero stories have certain elements in common heroes generally start out in ordinary circumstances and I called to adventure and in the end was confront their darkest fear in a conflict that deeply transforms them
Hope this helps
Oh, how this reminds me how much I miss my Elizabeth Goudge books. Three years ago our house was undergoing some reorganizing and my bookshelf got buried behind stacks and stacks of boxes, at which point, I was diagnosed with cancer and underwent three years of treatment.
Treatment is done now, and I am finally able to begin building up my strength. I can’t wait to get to my bookshelf!
As beautifully stated in the original post, the thing I love about Elizabeth’s writing is how her characters learn and grow. No matter what the heartache, and The Child From the Sea absolutely breaks my heart, she always finds a way to infuse her storytelling with beauty and hope.
I love Lucilla and her family in the Damerosehay novels!
So pleased that you are in the road to recovery. Finding favourite books is like meeting old friends. Enjoy them and your returning health.
Thank you so much!