The Dean's Watch

When cathedral dean Adam Ayscough encounters clockmaker Isaac Peabody, their unlikely friendship touches the lives of the entire community.

Behind the dean's fearsome reputation lies a humble man crippled by shyness. Desperate to leave behind a lasting legacy of goodness, his only wishes are to serve God and his parishioners, and to be loved by his young and dissatisfied wife.

Haunted by the memories of a miserable childhood, gifted clockmaker Isaac Peabody has spent a lifetime perfecting his craft and rejecting all belief in God.

Despite their fundamental differences, both men find a common understanding, and discover that faith can come in many different guises.

“About the novels of Elizabeth Goudge there is always something of the fairy-tale, and THE DEAN'S WATCH is full of the enchantment of goodness - it has that timelessness which marks the author's best work. - The Scotsman”

Elizabeth de Beauchamp Goudge was born on April 24th 1900 in Wells, Somerset, where her father was Principal of Wells Theological College. Although she had privately intended writing as a career, her parents insisted she taught handicrafts in Oxford. She began writing in her spare time and her first novel ISLAND MAGIC, set in Guernsey, was a great success here and in America. GREEN DOLPHIN COUNTRY (1944) projected her to fame, netting a Literary Guild Award and a special prize of 30,000 from Louis B. Mayer of MGM before being filmed.

In her later years Elizabeth Goudge settled in Henley-on-Thames. She died on April 1st, 1984.

A rich and beautiful story, set in a cathedral city in the 1780's. There the formidable Dean struck up a friendship with a genius of a clockmaker, Isaac Peabody; there Job, who promised to develop into an even finer craftsman than Isaac, courted Polly, and irrepressibly happy maid-of-all-work; and there, many other events, some as delightful as they were unexpected, befell those living in the shadow of the great cathedral.

When cathedral dean Adam Ayscough encounters clockmaker Isaac Peabody, their unlikely friendship touches the lives of the entire community. Behind the dean's fearsome reputation lies a humble man crippled by shyness. Desperate to leave behind a lasting legacy of goodness, his only wishes are to serve God and his parishioners, and to be loved by his young and dissatisfied wife.Haunted by the memories of a miserable childhood, gifted clockmaker Isaac Peabody has spent a lifetime perfecting his craft and rejecting all belief in God.Despite their fundamental differences, both men find a common understanding, and discover that faith can come in many different guises.

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