‘The Dean’s Watch’ by Elizabeth Goudge

Title: The Dean’s Watch

Author: Elizabeth Goudge

Published: Hodder and Stoughton, 1960

Genre: Novel

How I came to own it: I bought this online as a teenager after, on my English teacher’s recommendation, I had read and loved the copy in the school library.

What I thought: I read this book a few times a year, usually when I’m ill or depressed. It’s the only book that I keep rereading like this. It’s like… hot chocolate. Everything is bathed in a rosy glow. Not everything that happens in nice, and not all the characters are nice, and yet all are loved and lovable: there is ample sympathy, understanding and redemption for everyone. Every detail of the city is described in such loving detail. It’s an explicitly Christian book, and yet never didactic or preachy. There is the occasional moment where I think something has been laid on a bit thick but I can forgive this book anything because it’s so forgiving.

Rating: 5/5

How I’m doing: 4Still 42 to go.

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‘North and South’ by Elizabeth Gaskell

The Victorian Literature Challenge. My pre-challenge post is here.

Title: North and South

Author: Elizabeth Gaskell

Published: Penguin, 1986 (originally 1854-5)

Genre: Novel

How I came to own it: I bought it in the world’s most fantastic bookshop, an old train station in Alnwick, Northumberland.

What I thought: I was thoroughly enjoying this and then I went sneakily and watched the BBC adaptation. When I came back to the book, the story was just too fresh in my mind and it was spoiled. So I will read the whole thing again later (after the TBR pile is vanquished), when I have forgotten all the details, and I shall review then.

Rating: 4.5/5

How I’m doing: 42 to go.

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