In describing herself the author once said, "I am not a serious chronicler of the very terrible contemporary scene, but just a storyteller. There is so much tragedy about us everywhere today that we surely don't want it in the storybooks to which we turn when we are ill or unhappy. We must escape somewhere."

In THE GOLDEN SKYLARK, a collection of short stories, Goudge provides that escape. Included are "The Cat and the Sailing Ship", "A Crock of Gold", "The New Moon", "The Dark Lady" and many others, all with her sympathetic knowledge of human nature and her marvelous skill at portraying the English countryside and the world of childhood.