serendipitysbooks 's review for:

The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge

4.0

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Somehow I never found this book when I was a child. Which is a pity because 10 year old me would have loved it. Maria is an orphan sent to live with a remote relative. Her new home has many mysteries and secrets and there is big trouble between the manor, the village and the dark men of the forest. It is up to Maria to put right the wrongs of the past and so ensure happiness for everyone in the future. Looking at this with an adult’s eye it was easy to find fault - many of the tropes eg the plucky orphaned heroine felt cliched, the ending was too neat and pat, and the tone was overly moralistic in places. However I don’t think it is fair to judge and children’s novel by adult standards. As a children’s novel - a particular type of children’s novel - it works very well.