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jessrock 's review for:
The Little White Horse
by Elizabeth Goudge
A sweet tale, and enjoyable enough to read, but so much of the story unnecessarily focuses on how important it is for women not to be curious. Don't ask questions, don't go exploring, wait for the men to explain things to you and tell you where to go. Additional important moral lesson: Don't ever quarrel with someone you love, because they will totally leave you forever.
The story is about a young girl who finds herself an orphan and moves from high-society London to her only surviving relative's castle in the countryside. Her cousin's town is a magical fairyland where everything is wonderful except that there are horrible people living in the woods and increasingly wreaking havoc (stealing food and animals at night, pretty much). Everyone in the town accepts Maria instantly as being the Chosen One who will mend ways with the bad people. She has to uncover the town's secrets - and those of its inhabitants - while all the time remembering not to be too curious in her pursuit of this information. She is routinely rewarded for not asking questions or going exploring on her own by being handed the piece of information she was waiting for in the next scene.
Everything in this book happens so much in Maria's favor that there isn't really any plot tension. The one time in the entire book that something goes wrong for her, it's completely clear that she will try again and get it on her second try. Also, the "secrets" in the book are made so painfully obvious that it's nearly impossible to be surprised with Maria when X is actually revealed to be Y!
Regardless, a sweet story at its core, though it really hasn't aged well, I don't think.
The story is about a young girl who finds herself an orphan and moves from high-society London to her only surviving relative's castle in the countryside. Her cousin's town is a magical fairyland where everything is wonderful except that there are horrible people living in the woods and increasingly wreaking havoc (stealing food and animals at night, pretty much). Everyone in the town accepts Maria instantly as being the Chosen One who will mend ways with the bad people. She has to uncover the town's secrets - and those of its inhabitants - while all the time remembering not to be too curious in her pursuit of this information. She is routinely rewarded for not asking questions or going exploring on her own by being handed the piece of information she was waiting for in the next scene.
Everything in this book happens so much in Maria's favor that there isn't really any plot tension. The one time in the entire book that something goes wrong for her, it's completely clear that she will try again and get it on her second try. Also, the "secrets" in the book are made so painfully obvious that it's nearly impossible to be surprised with Maria when X is actually revealed to be Y!
Regardless, a sweet story at its core, though it really hasn't aged well, I don't think.