The White Witch

Local squire Robert Haslewood is gripped by the prospect of war. Following his boyhood hero, he leaves his family and travels away from their Oxfordshire village to fight for the Parliamentarian cause.

Wise Froniga, Robert's cousin, is caught between two worlds. Divided between her Puritan family at the manor house and her relatives in the Romany community, she works to heal those in need.

Left behind with her brother, Robert's daughter Jenny grows up under the shadow of conflict. When she encounters mysterious royalist Francis Leyland, she must choose between family loyalty and her own heart.

As their lives entwine, the villagers struggle to stay true to their beliefs as war threatens to tear their community apart.

“About the novels of Elizabeth Goudge there is always something of a fairy-tale - The Scotsman”

About the novels of Elizabeth Goudge there is always something of a fairy-tale - 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.

The White Witch is a story set at the time of the beginning of the English Civil War and the men and women drawn into it on both sides. Robert Haslewood, the local squire turns puritan and follows his boyhood hero to war leaving his children and wife behind him. His cousin Froniga, half gypsy and the White Witch of the title, a wise woman with the power of healing lives in danger. Her gypsy cousins sometimes camp near her but will always move on. They have befriended Yomen, who conceals a grand past but is now a tinker and royalist spy. He loves the puritan Froniga. A journey man painter, Francis, delights in painting the Haslewood children while spying too for the royalist cause. Their lives entwine until the bloodiness of war forces them to be loyal to their side whatever their personal ties, threatening to destroy friendships and humanity and kindness in the process.

Local squire Robert Haslewood is gripped by the prospect of war. Following his boyhood hero, he leaves his family and travels away from their Oxfordshire village to fight for the Parliamentarian cause. Wise Froniga, Robert's cousin, is caught between two worlds. Divided between her Puritan family at the manor house and her relatives in the Romany community, she works to heal those in need. Left behind with her brother, Robert's daughter Jenny grows up under the shadow of conflict. When she encounters mysterious royalist Francis Leyland, she must choose between family loyalty and her own heart. As their lives entwine, the villagers struggle to stay true to their beliefs as war threatens to tear their community apart.

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