Reviewing Elizabeth Goudge's "The Rosemary Tree"

Harriet Smith is a former nanny, former housekeeper, and currently permanent invalid trapped in the upper story of a vicarage in an English village tucked away from the world.

John Wentworth is the priest, practically raised by Harriet, with war-shattered nerves and a chronic inferiority complex that makes him weak, forgetful, and inattentive.

Daphne is John’s wife, who married him on a rebound when she was humiliatingly left at the altar. Pragmatic, ambitious, energetic, Daphne has no patience for anyone who isn’t—especially her husband.

The couple has three children: Pat, entering the typical teenage rebellion phase along with apathy toward her family, mocking her teacher, and using crass slang; Margary, a sensitive introvert who is mistreated at their school; Winkle (really Henrietta), the pudgy kindergartener with kleptomania and a tendency of not returning to class after a bathroom break.

The children go to a school marketed as an elite girl’s school, run by Mrs. Belling, an indolent woman who cares only about herself, and despite being disgustingly lazy still somehow commands the obedience of the children and her two employees.

Miss Giles teaches the older girls. She is middle-aged, bitter, and constantly sick. Her life is consumed with regret for the past and dread for the future. She’s universally feared and hated.

Mary O’Hara is a young, vivacious Irishwoman (and Mrs. Belling’s niece), who teaches the younger children. She’s universally loved.

Miss Wentworth is the spinster great-aunt of John Wentworth. She’s lived in the same family house all her life, and although John can’t afford it he can’t bear to sell the place and render her homeless. Although quite elderly, Miss Wentworth is still passionate and eccentric, particularly in her love of pigs.

Michael Stone is a newcomer to the village. Recently released from prison, homeless, unemployed, and haunted by family tragedy, personal failings, and memories of the war, he seeks the place out as a refuge instead of facing his old life.

These are the principle characters of The Rosemary Tree, the second book I’ve read by Elizabeth Goudge. I admit I was worried as I read the first few chapters because the plot is molasses-slow. Yet sometimes slow plots reward the patient reader, and this was one of those times for me. Goudge’s writing style is meticulous, detailed, both psychological and spiritual.

Sometimes when reading her prose I started to wonder if I were reading poetry or philosophy. It took a lot of concentration to understand her metaphors and symbolism, but her storytelling was so rich it was worth the effort. After I allowed myself to slow down to match the tempo of the book, I became engrossed in the characters.

Goudge focuses on one character’s perspective at a time, often hopping from John to Michael when the two characters meet. Handled the wrong way, this would have been annoying, but in this case it only built the drama as I was forced to leave one person’s story for the time being, and could only wonder about what would happen next until I rejoined that character a few chapters later.

I only disliked three things about the book. The strongest dislike is the occurrence of animal abuse (though the person who does it gets their punishment, and the animal is rescued). The other two things are points of taste. I personally did not care for Harriet’s character, feeling she was a bit too “no-nonsense wise woman,” trapped like an oracle up in her bedroom. And after how much I enjoyed the beginning of the story, I felt like the ending came up short, as if there was more to the story that Goudge forgot to tell.