Sebastian Weber, who has suffered enormously during World War II and is in very poor health, comes to stay at Damerosehay. This is a large house in Hampshire which is owned by David and Sally Eliot. Sebastian has come to work as David's secretary although he has an irrational dislike of him. On arrival, in the rain, he meets David and Sally's daughter Meg, and is totally beguiled by her. She is only four years old but has an old-world charm that makes her wiser than her years.
Shortly after Sebastian's arrival, David - who is an actor - returns after a tour of America. He is exhausted, and also rather jaded by the continual mask he has to wear to meet his audiences. He carries within him deep scars from his time as a pilot in World War II, and some fresh shame at temptations from America to which he nearly succumbed. Sally is heavily pregnant and easily tired, and David is strongly aware of Sebastian's dislike. However his homecoming is not all painful: his daughter Meg is the light of his life, and he that finds his son Robin, now two years old, has matured considerably in his absence.
'The Heart of the Family' has, perhaps, the least plot of the three books in this series. Although it could be read as a standalone novel it makes far more sense as the sequel to 'The Bird in the Tree' and 'The Herb of Grace'.
Nevertheless there are plenty of subplots and significant human interaction across the generations. Lucilla, beloved matriarch of the Eliot family now lives in a small cottage with her daughter Margaret. Lucilla is ninety-one, and sure that she does not have long to live. Nevertheless she usually knows what people are thinking, and still has a strong role in the organising of the family. She has a special bond with David, who was always her favourite grandson, and even more of an affinity with little Meg. Lucilla feels that those who are just beginning their life are closest to those who are nearing the end.
The book is also about Sebastian and his total acceptance into the Eliot family, filling a space which none previously knew existed. Despite his initial reluctance to be in the home of a man he hates, the peace of Damerosehay gets into his mind. He is perhaps most helped at first by the housekeeper Mrs Wilkes who ministers to him and mothers him in practical ways. Gradually more and more of his past is revealed, and the reasons for his bitterness and ill-health become clearer.
It's also about Sally coming to terms with her fears of childbirth, which she has previously been ashamed of, and it's about Lucilla's fears for every one of her descendants. It's about a young man falling in love with somebody his mother would not consider suitable, and it's about hope and integrity and faith. There's a mystical and religious underpinning of the conversations, as there is to some degree in all Elizabeth Goudge's books, with a sprinkling of poetry and classical allusions.
I have only read this book three times over several years. It never fails to move me as I empathise strongly with many of the characters. Elizabeth Goudge is brilliant at characterisation; all her people seem entirely believable, and she has a deep sensitivity which shines through all her writing. She understands both the elderly and the very young; she sympathises with the temptations that befall the middle-aged; she accepts as natural the fears that so many of us are hesitant to voice.
As with the others in the trilogy, this isn't a book to be read in a hurry, and I don't really recommend it to anyone who hasn't read at least 'The Herb of Grace' previously. It's long-winded, but not unpleasantly so; it's emotional and thought-provoking without leaving me drained. The ending is bittersweet, and provides good closure to the trilogy without leaving me longing for more. I am sad to say farewell to the characters each time I finish reading this book, and yet the ends are tied, the future is hopeful.
Recommended, preferably after reading the other two books in the series ('The Bird in the Tree' and 'The Herb of Grace').
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