The Story of Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden

And the Marne river flowing silent and slow beyond them all… The faded elegance of Les Oeillets, with its bullet scarred staircase and serene garden bounded by high walls Eliot, the charming Englishman who became the children’s guardian while their mother lay ill in hospital sophisticated Mademoiselle Zizi, hotel patronne, and Eliot’s devoted lover 16 year old Joss, the oldest Grey girl, suddenly, achingly beautiful. Rumer Godden s lovely fable about unexpected friendship and bittersweet love was inspired by a story Dorothy Wordsworth wrote for her brother, William, and is accompanied by stunning pen and ink drawings by William P ne du Bois. The dove’s tales fill The Mousewife with wonder and inspire her to take daring action. A friendship develops as the dove tells The Mousewife about things no house mouse has ever imagined, blue skies, tumbling clouds, tall trees, and far horizons, the memory of which haunt the dove in her captivity. Why don t you think about cheese? Then an odd and exotic new creature, a turtledove, is brought into the house and placed in a gilded cage. But what? Her husband, for one, can t imagine. It is a nice house and The Mousewife is for the most part happy collecting crumbs and preparing a nest for her future mouse babies yet she yearns for something more. Premlata and the Festival of Lights (1997)ĭay in and day out the dutiful mousewife works alongside her mousehusband in the house of Miss Barbara Wilkinson.

The Old Woman Who Lived in a Vinegar Bottle (1972).

The Story of Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden