Shelf Candy Saturday (21)

Shelf Candy Saturday is an awesome weekly meme hosted by Five Alarm Book Reviews where each Saturday bloggers defy the saying "never judge a book by its cover" and showcase one that really catches their eye. Covers play a huge role in the books I choose so it's great to have the opportunity to showcase the pretties :)

My shelf candy for this week is The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge.

When orphaned young Maria Merryweather arrives at Moonacre Manor, she feels as if she’s entered Paradise. Her new guardian, her uncle Sir Benjamin, is kind and funny; the Manor itself feels like home right away; and every person and animal she meets is like an old friend. But there is something incredibly sad beneath all of this beauty and comfort—a tragedy that happened years ago, shadowing Moonacre Manor and the town around it—and Maria is determined to learn about it, change it, and give her own life story a happy ending. But what can one solitary girl do?


When I was a kid I found a book in the library that I absolutely adored. Eventually they asked for it back and all I could remember was that it was something to do with Moonacre. It wasn't until years later when I watched the movie The Secret of Moonacre with my grandparents I finally figured out what the actual title of the book was (it was on the back of the DVD case). So after getting a cheap paperback copy and raving hysterically to my Mum about how I'd found it again after all these years, she brought me the collectors edition hardcover which comes with it's own slipcase:

After doing a happy dance I sat down to peruse the awesomeness of this edition, and awesome it is. The internal covers show a map of Moonacre and the village of Silverydew with another map of Moonacre Manor at the back. I'm a sucker for maps in books and the vintage feel of these is gorgeous as is the purple colour scheme that matches the cover.

 

The book is also illustrated throughout with old fashioned line drawings. The book was originally written in 1946 and I believe these are the original illustrations. This one is a sketch of Maria and Loveday at the Parsonage Gate. They really add something special to the book :)



So what's your shelf candy this week?