The White Witch

Set in seventeenth-century England at the outbreak of Civil War, The White Witch brings to life the fields, forests, and homes of rural Oxfordshire.

In the manor house, Margaret Haslewood and her twin children wait for news of her husband Robert, who has gone to fight for the cause of Parliament. At the hearth of wise and gentle Froniga, whose skill in healing and clarity of moral vision brings life and vigor to the Romani
community, and in the painter’s brush of young Francis Leyland, who puts his life in the service of the king, Elizabeth Goudge weaves a tale of enduring insight into what makes us feel at home in the world, and the forces that threaten to tear our homes apart.

Expansive and meditative, The White Witch explores the costs of zeal and the power of healing when the subtle lines of allegiance that hold village life together are strained and ruptured by national conflict.

Elizabeth Goudge (1900–1984) was a British novelist born into the home of an Anglican priest and theologian. She wrote children’s books as well as novels—herGreen Dolphin Street was made into a 1947 Academy-Award winning film starring Lana Turner, Van Heflin, and Donna Reed. In style and themes she parallels English writers such as the creator of the Miss Read series, as well mirroring the spiritual depth found in George MacDonald’s Victorian novels. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, she won the Carnegie Award in 1947 forThe Little
White Horse, which is J. K. Rowling’s favorite children’s book.