Green Dolphin Street by Elizabeth Goudge

An extended meditation on the meaning of vocation

I only meant to read a few passages to remind myself of the highlights. At 1:45 a.m., I guiltily clicked off the lamp and trundled into bed, where my husband grunted his disapproval. All through the exhaustion of the following day, however, my happy soul reminded me that some books are better than a good night's sleep.

The first time I read Green Dolphin Street, I needed its core insight that vocation, and marriage in particular, has supernatural meaning. Now, looking at it as a middle-aged mother, I see so many interesting side lessons.

Marguerite and Marianne LePatournel are sisters in this pre-Victorian setting. The elder, Marianne, is short, dark, intelligent and fiercely independent. She is “unscrupulous in pursuit of her desires” and sets up a rivalry with her happy, fair and spiritual younger sister, Marguerite. Both women love William Ozanne, the son of their mother’s lost love. The girls and William are inseparable.

William leaves their island home between England and France, and after a disastrous career at sea, settles in New Zealand. He decides to send away for his love to join him among the Maori heathen. When writing the letter of marriage proposal to the girls’ father, William makes a terrible error. (We can't give away the plot, but there was whiskey involved.) He does marry one sister, and the other sister joins a convent. You’ll have to guess which one and why. What a story!

Just be careful not to apply modern day standards to this book, which was published in 1944 and displays objectionable racial prejudices and antiquated diction. Although it is out of print, you can easily purchase a used copy by consulting Thriftbooks.

(Also published under the title Green Dolphin Country, as recently as 1989.)

Discussion Questions:

1. Marianne is presented as the ideal of a woman who takes her vision of a man and molds him into a worldly success.  Conversely, Marguerite is idealized as the conduit of the Holy Spirit in William's life. In your life, which sister do you feel closer to, and why?

2. Samuel and Susanna Kelly separately counsel Mr. and Mrs. William Ozanne regarding the sacrificial requirements of a happy marriage. They find happiness, however, only when the sacrifice is revealed, and honesty prevails. Do you think happiness would have been possible without sacrifices if honesty had been introduced earlier?

3.  Both sisters experience separate crises over the adoption of their individual vocations at different points.  In both cases, it was the memory of one true love that helps stabilize Marianne and Marguerite, though in unique ways. Do you think romantic love is necessary to integrate one's personality before God? Why or why not?

4. Mrs. Goudge has painted a beautiful story.  All of the loose ends tie up at the end of the story in a way that is highly satisfying. Is this contrary to real life? Do you think the "tidiness" detracts from the moral lessons offered in the novel?