Customer Reviews

The Scent of Water

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have read this book numerous times and I never grow tired of it. It is one that I pick up whenever I am stressed or depressed and it never fails to uplift me. The story deals with a middle-aged woman who inherits a house in rural England shortly after WWII. She leaves her career and her beloved London to take up residence in her new home because she wants to experience life in the country before it is too late. As she becomes accustomed to her new life and acquainted with her new neighbors, she also gets to know herself and her cousin. The descriptions of both the countryside and the house are wonderful and the reader gets to know and care about the people just as Mary does. This is not a story of great drama but it is one of the most uplifting books I have ever read. If you loved The Secret Garden as a child, I believe that you will love this book.

This gentle and light-filled narrative, beginning with a death and ending with a birth in the tiny village of Appleshaw, weaves the enchanting story of the people in the village and their respective paths. Mary Lindsay, a handsome spinster, comes to Appleshaw to live the country life "before it and I disappear from the English scene." In discovering this life, she finds her capacities for maternity, love, friendship, and respect blossoming, along with a strong and sweet faith in a God she has forgotten. The other characters are as beautifully rendered as Mary herself. A book with deep roots in truth, whose unchanging message has made me stronger.

Others have described the book quite well, so I won't elaborate further, except to say that this is without a doubt my favorite book. It is a wonderful story that kept me reading non-stop and taught me so many things about life. I am not a person who re-reads books, but this is one that I feel the need to read again on a regular basis. I wish this would be published again so I could share it with more people. Just reading the book felt like someone had given me a special gift.

I concur with all of the reviews so far. This book has never failed to comfort and calm me; I have read it at least five times and learned new things each time. As in her other books, Miss Goudge blends past and present in a way that dispels loneliness. Her characters are delightful, her garden and interior descriptions beyond compare, and her capacity for understanding suffering and bringing it into the light of redemption a rare gift. If I meet a Goudge fan I know I've met a person who sees beneath the surface of things, into the heart.

It's hard to describe this lovely, enchanting book. It's one of my favorite books and I periodically reread it. It has lovely descriptions of Nature and is a story about the Most Sacred Mystery there is. Love, all kinds of Love. This is probably one of the most life-affirming books I have ever read.

This is one of those books you go deeply into and which becomes real to you. Indeed, while you are reading it, it is your reality! And what a truly Magickal reality is. This book weaves a Magick Spell. Pure Enchantment of the best kind.

So go to Appledore and like so many of us, become a citizen of this lovely town.

Ah...what Joy there is to be found in the pages of a really good book!!!

Over a period of 20 years I have read and re-read this book many times. It meets the true test of a wonderful book because it never grows tiresome. Instead, each re-reading is a new entrance to a magical world that seems to transcend time. As I read the book, I almost forget who and where I am, entering into Miss Elizabeth's magical kingdom. I am never sure which character I identify with more, because I love almost everyone in the book. I seem somewhat unable to describe how her writing moves me out of the present reality into her own world of children and mental illness and groundedness, but it does so ever so enchantingly. As I move forward and back in time within the book, I too discover the scent of water and move out on living water.

This is a book I read many years ago. Ms. Goudge's descriptions of light, refections, and shadows have stuck in my mind. I want to read this one again. Also, her descriptions of the garden (in the story) showed her appreciation and love for gardens. In the story, the main character, an older unmarried woman, inherits a house with lovely grounds which are visited by neighbor children...

From the beginning to the end this book has touched my soul.It's timeless in it's understanding of human nature as the story weaves a tale through three different time periods and brings it all togather in the 20th century life of one woman. It will leave you with a deep sense of goodness.

I first read "A Scent of Water" as a child. Somehow the story enchanted and made an impression on me those many years ago. It has never failed to work its enchantment on me as through the years I have reached for "Scent" to reread and reexperience "Appleshaw." In my mind I have walked through The Laurels and experienced the coziness of an English cottage. My eyes and fingers have, through Goudge's descriptions, caressed "the little things." The story's themes of love, healing, and redemption are timeless and always needed. I know that they have assuredly been needed in my life. A treasure I have lifted from the book and made a part of my life is the nine word, three sentence dart prayer shared by the troubled old Anglican priest with the young Mary before her Appleshaw days. "Lord, please forgive. Thee I adore. Into thy hands." Alas, I've never had an old cousin bequeath me a cottage in the heart of the English countryside. Instead, after retirement, I've created my own "The Laurels" in the heart of the Ohio countryside. My own little cottage and refuge from the world. Who will I leave my country cottage to after I am gone, could it be you?

Good, prompt service. Book in good condition. I just wish all her books could be reprinted! Elizabeth Goudge's novel of country life in a lovely village reads like an adult fairy tale. Full of love, laughter, poignancy and joy, this is a book to treasure and keep by your bedside.