Customer Reviews

The Goose Girl

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Goose Girl takes place in Germany in the mid 1800's. It begins with a poor but beautiful goose girl and her young lover Leopold. It is hard to explain the plot without giving the ending away, so I'll just say that the plot was clever and well developed with a happy ending. It is unfortunate that this book is so hard to get a hold of, it was a wonderful read.

One of my all-time favorite books, I never pass up a decent copy because I know I can give it to one of my adult daughters or a sister. It is completely romantic, impossibly full of coincidences, and perfectly improbable. It's about a goose girl and a princess, so you know it's a grown-up fairy tale. If you hate "Hollywood" endings, don't read it; but if happy endings make you happy and improbable plots don't bother you, it's a good, fun read that leaves you feeling satisfied at the end.

I've tried another book by the same author and found it unreadable, but I can see why this book was a best-seller in 1909--and can still enchant a reader over 100 years later.

This quaint costume drama is not about 100 years old. Nonetheless, it remains an enjoyable and intriguing tale of romance, mystery, and disguises, set in a picturesque little German dukedom in a time when war served to redress personal affronts. Macgrath takes his readers on a whimsical trip into history and moves them briskly through scene, character, and plot development, with several minor and one major crisis. There are but a few villains, but all the characters are variously flawed yet heroic people.

It is wonderful that this story continues to be read and made available through reprints. The oldest version I have seen is a 1909 Bobbs-Merrill edition with beautiful illustrations and gold-embossed lettering on the cover.

Historical romance-adventure tales do not suit standard modern tastes, but this is not necessarily a criticism of the book! The plot follows somewhat predictable formulas, such as the "darkest before dawn," and promotes traditional virtues of courage, equality of classes, forbearance, and kindness. This is wonderful light reading to take along on a trip. Read from home, however, it provides a timeless tour to a misty mythical monarchy.

Back at the turn of the 20th century there was a bit of a fad going on in which authors set their stories in fictitious Eastern European countries. Intrigue would abound concerning the ruling house, war would be threatening, and somehow a brash American would get deeply involved in the situation. Thus it is with The Goose Girl.

The beginning of this royal plot starts years ago when the infant Princess Hildegarde was abducted and went missing for 16 years until she's discovered singing with the opera. Restored to her position, Hildegarde is now expected to marry King Frederick of a neighboring country in order to keep peace between their peoples. She's willing to make the noble sacrifice although her heart really belongs to Carmichael, the American Consul.

Meanwhile, Gretchen, the said goose girl of the book's title, is in love with Leopold, the vintner. Leopold truly loves his little peasant girl but he's harboring a secret that's tearing him apart. Add to that several other mysterious figures in town who aren't what they appear to be and somehow or other are involved with the lead protagonists.

Who was involved with the kidnapping of the baby princess? Why did they do it? What is Leopold's secret? Is Princess Hildegarde really the princess? Really, it wasn't that hard to figure out what was going on. But still, you want to find out how the lovers finally get together.

I guess my complaint about the book was there wasn't that much action. Author George McCutcheon, who has written a whole string of books in the same vein, does do a better job of putting some excitement and action into his stories. On the other hand, his dialogue does get a little silly, which Harold MacGrath thankfully avoids.

Overall it's an easy read, moves at a good pace, and keeps you interested enough to see how it all ends. I also recommend the Graustark series of books by McCutcheon.