Vintage Kidlit Summer: Smoky House by Elizabeth Goudge

This week’s theme for Vintage Kidlit Summer is Moody and Mysterious. I chose to read Smoky House by Elizabeth Goudge, a story of a family living in Smoky House, an inn in Faraway, a fairytale village in the  west of England during the period following the Napoleonic wars in the 1800s. When a mysterious fiddler arrives, he uncovers  a secret band of smugglers and threatens life at the inn, but the children, their good dogs, and a fair amount of fairy intervention saves the day. 

I became a huge fan of Elizabeth Goudge a few years ago and I have been steadily reading through (and buying) all of her books. This year for my birthday, Brent ordered me four of her children’s books, republished by Girls Gone By Publishing in the U.K., Henrietta’s House, Sister of Angels, Smoky House, and Valley of Song. Her children’s books have the same rich sense of place and beautiful descriptions of nature as her adult books, but are also firmly rooted in fairyland. So you can expect a fair mix-up of prayers, angels, the inner thoughts of dogs, and fairies. While I definitely enjoy her adult novels more, this story brought to life the history of smuggling in  Devon in the 19th century and the folklore of that area. This edition also included an introduction with the story of Elizabeth Goudge’s own connection to the Devon area and her inspiration. The cover and illustrations by C. Walter Hodges were also really charming.