The Bird in the Tree - Book 16

Everyone should read an Elizabeth Goudge book in the spring.  Her gorgeous, lush descriptions will give you a heightened sense of beauty and glory as you witness the flowering and greening of the earth.  You'll notice how beautiful the clouds are and how lovely the song of birds and the sound of the rushing wind.  She will give you a Psalmist's heart that delights in the bounty of the Lord.  You start to think like her and life will be a little bit richer and a little bit more meaningful.

Not that much action happens in this story, The Bird in the Tree.  David, a beloved grandchild of Lucilla, queen and matron of her family and her beautiful seaside estate, Damerosehay, comes home to break some bad news.   He is desperately in love with his uncle's ex-wife and he plans to marry her.  Nadine was very young when she married the much older George.  They had three children, now being cared for by Lucilla since the marriage fell apart.  He knows his grandmother, whom he has always been close to, will see this as adultery, as she is very religious and does not acknowledge civil divorce.  He knows this will throw the family asunder, but he is young and selfish, though he does not realize it.  In spite of this, he has a good heart and is someone who wants to do right, if he can figure out what 'right' is.  For him, as World War II looms over England (the novel is set in 1938) he thinks right is being true to himself and that means having Nadine.  Nadine also is not a bad person but very weak and only knows how to operate out of her self-centeredness.  She admires what is good but doubts that she can ever be like that.

But Lucilla wisely asks David and Nadine to stay with her for two weeks at Damerosehay and then tell her their decision.  She has a secret history to disclose to them that may change their way of thinking.  And then there are the other members of the family who each in their own way, teach David and Nadine to consider the harm their marriage would do them; Nadine's children Ben, Tommy and Caroline.  David's uncle Hillary and his aunt Margaret.  And then there is the sanctuary of Damerosehay itself; the mystery behind it, the power of its healing nature.

This novel is a profound and beautiful exploration of what love is.  Love is patient, love is kind. . . true love wills the good of the other, no matter what sacrifice it may take.  It is only in loving truly we are actually free, even though it is often painful.

I am sad that I read this on my Kindle because there were so many good quotes in it and unlike a book, I can't easily leaf back through the pages to read particularly inspiring or moving passages.

If you want to read a beautiful book, read this one.  This book is actually the first in a trilogy.  I am anxious to read the next book, Pilgrim's Inn.

For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.