The Snow Goose

By Paul Gallico

A stunning new edition of a beloved children’s classic.

On the desolate Essex marshes, a young girl, Fritha, comes to seek help from Philip Rhayader, a recluse who lives in an abandoned lighthouse. She carries in her arms a wounded snow goose that has been storm-tossed across the Atlantic from Canada. Fritha is frightened of Rhayader, but he is gentler than his appearance suggests and nurses the goose back to health. Over the following months and years, Fritha visits the lighthouse when the snow goose is there. And every summer, when it flies away, Thayader is left alone once more.

The Snow Goose is set in the years running up to the evacuation of Dunkirk in the Second World War. Originally published in 1940 in the Saturday Evening Post, it was brought out in book form the following year by Knopf, Michael Joseph and M&S simultaneously. It won the prestigious O Henry prize that same year and has been continually in print ever since. The Snow Goose has inspired a number of musical scores and albums, has been made into two feature films and moved generations of readers. A new feature film will be released in the coming year.

Beautifully written, with a powerful ending, and breathtakingly illustrated, this is an exquisite edition of Gallico’s masterpiece.


From the Hardcover edition.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Sep 28, 2011
• ISBN: 9781551996714

Paul Gallico

Paul William Gallico (July 26, 1897 – July 15, 1976) was a successful American novelist, short story and sports writer. Many of his works were adapted for motion pictures. He is perhaps best remembered for his short story, The Snow Goose and for the novel The Poseidon Adventure, which was made into a very famous film adaptation in 1972.

Reviews for The Snow Goose

[scott4r · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was startled to find this volume on a bookshelf in my mother's apartment. It had been given to her mother 70 years ago by a friend who wrote on the last page "An interesting but pathetic story."Just a few months earlier, I had tracked down a rough online copy of the British movie made from this story that, when it aired as a Hallmark television special in 1971, deeply affected my preteen self. Lately, I had become obsessed with seeing it again, but discovered the award-winning film with Jenny Agutter and Richard Harris was never (and apparently never will be) sanctioned for reproduction. Though I do not normally condone unauthorized copying, I was grateful to have the chance to spend an hour reacquainting myself with that influential picture.Last week, book unexpectedly in hand, I gulped down the story in a matter of minutes, tracking the video version across the pages and finding only occasional alterations.That is all to say any rating or review I impart on this book is inextricably tied to my first and second exposures to the story. I am happy now to know the picturesque and compassionate source of the heartrending film, and appreciate Gallico's genuine accounting in the original. Next times through I'll pace myself, allowing the words to repaint my mind's eye, so I can enjoy two visions of one moving tale.

[fred_mouse · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another perspective on how war affects those left behind, WWII Essex coast version. Mostly about two lonely people, a little about Dunkirk.

[bookwren · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Beautiful and heart-wrenching, but full of the reality of life and war. I try to read this every year around Christmas. I'm not sure why I associate it with the holiday. I have a vague recollection of my parents introducing it to me then. Beth Peck's lovely oil paintings add poignancy to the already poignant story. Oils are not usually my preferred medium, but they do the story justice with their texture and light. I always wonder what Frith does with her life after Philip and the snow goose are gone. My hope is that she honors their bravery and loyalty by living a good and honest life.

[empress8411 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Synopsis: They tell the story of the Snow Goose today in London, in Dover, in the Channel ports - wherever there are men gathered who say the mighty bird soar calm and unafraid through the leaden death and blanketing smoke of Dunkirk, and who owe their safety to the dark twisted man and the small boat that those great black-tipped wings convoyed. They tell of the Snow Goose, all they know of her; but what they tell is only a little of the story. The truth lies far from blazing Dunkirk, the terrible Stukas, the offshore transports, and the huddled men on the beaches. The truth lies in the distance Channel marsh , up a winding estuary away from the sea; and it involved not alone the Canada-bred wanderer of the airways, but Philip Rhaydar and the blonde Frith as well. Theirs is a curious story, wild and simple and strangely moving in its simplicity; and Paul Gallico tells it with his superb narrative skill and with a remarkable tenderness of vision. (from the inside of the book)Review: This is a sparse book composed of lyrical language and haunting descriptions. The story is dark and yet, light, at the same time. In few words, Gallico presents a story of love, hope, death, courage, and healing. Set during in England during World War II, the story centers on the hermit Rhayder, the young girl Frithe, and the snow white goose that binds them. When the call goes out for boats to help in the rescue at Dunkirk, Rhayader answers - and the life of the snow white goose and woman-child Frithe are never the same. Worth reading.

[elpaca · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read this as a teenager and count it as one of the books that turned me into a History teacher. It was on a list of outside books we could read to gain extra credit in Western Civ Part II. I chose it because of it's size, but after running across it in LT, I realize its effect on me. The true story of the rescue at Dunkirk is haunting in its own right, but the dramatic take by Gallico left me shivering.

[rsubber · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This justly famous short story is surprisingly simple in its construction and densely emotional in its impact. There are familiar plot elements: ugly old man meets beautiful young girl, they develop a close relationship. In some ways one is moved to think of Silas Marner, there are both rich and rigid qualities in their love, never consummated, sharply constrained.The snow goose imagery is a tiny bit awkward. Gallico uses the obviously proper word pinion repeatedly and not always, apparently, with the same definition in mind, but this is quibbling…despite Philip Rhayader's intimate knowledge of the birds he paints, we're not offered a compelling total image of the bird, what does a snow goose really look like?The eroticism of Rhayader's relationship with the girl, Fritha, is almost totally suppressed but it is bursting out of the story repeatedly before the final scenes. It's like the sensual heat of Girl With A Pearl Earring, deeply heartfelt and almost completely unexpressed. Vermeer painted the girl from life; Rhayader painted his girl from memory, a symbolic reflection of his restrained character and the repressed relationship.Read more on my blog: Barley Literate by RickThe story line of Snow Goose is mostly mundane, but Gallico easily sustains a dramatic tension, although the Dunkirk evacuation scenes are almost disembodied, almost a charade with the forced Cockney accents dominating the dialog.Snow Goose is eminently poetic, the ending that every reader can anticipate occurs with realistic sadness and realistic revelation. Fritha feels the words in her heart: "Philip, I love 'ee." The long-patient reader is finally released to wordless exultation.Read more on my blog: Barley Literate by Rick

[auntieknickers · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this book a long time ago, and what I remember is the depiction of the rescue of the soldiers at Dunkirk by a fleet of small boats. I think this was the first I'd heard of it.

[emmee1000 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Tiny little book, but an excellent read. Touching, uplifting, joyous, and heartbreaking.

[countrylife_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a lovely little book. Full of tenderness – in the characters of the young girl who finds a hurt bird and in the hunchback who tends to its wounds; and in the language used to describe the great marsh, which sounds as if it would be a forbidding place, but which descriptions feel as if they are uttered with love by the author or perhaps felt by the artist he pens. Primarily, The Snow Goose is a sweet story about relationships, of the snow goose and the two who saved it. But 1940 was a dangerous time in that part of the world, and breath is held awaiting the outcome, while one character waits, and two leave their marsh to assist in the rescue at Dunkirk. Spanning ten years in 58 pages, but needing not a line more, the story is short but poignant. This book is a treasure and deserves every one of the 5 stars that is mine to give.

[lauralkeet · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Physical deformity often breeds hatred of humanity in men. Rhayader did not hate; he loved very greatly, man, the animal kingdom, and all nature. His heart was filled with pity and understanding. He had mastered his handicap, but he could not master the rebuffs he suffered, due to his appearance. The thing that drove him into seclusion was his failure to find anywhere a return of the warmth that flowed from him. (p. 8)Philip Rhayader lived alone in a lighthouse in the marshes of Essex, in England. Alone, he tended birds in his sanctuary, and painted the surrounding landscape. One day, a young girl named Frith brought him an injured snow goose. The goose had been blown off course during its annual migration in Canada. Then, on landing in the marsh, she was shot by hunters. Rhayader rehabilitated and released the bird, and then something highly unusual happened: the snow goose returned year after year. And each year, Frith returned to visit Rhayader and the goose. Their shared affection for the snow goose mirrored the growing bond between them. One day, Frith encounters Rhayader readying his boat to sail. He has decided to sail for Dunkirk, to help with the evacuation of British soldiers. When he leaves, the snow goose sets sail with him, flying in circles over the small boat. Fritha is left behind to care for the other birds and look after Rhayader's paintings. From this point the story crescendos into a heart-wrenching tale of love and hope.Gallico's writing is absolutely gorgeous.Tidal creeks and estuaries and the crooked, meandering arms of many little rivers whose mouths lap at the edge of the ocean cut through the sodden land that seems to rise and fall and breathe with the recurrence of the daily tides. It is desolate, utterly lonely, and made lonelier by the calls and cries of the wildfowl that make their homes in the marshlands and saltings -- the wildgeese and the gulls, the teal and the widgeon, the tedshanks and curlews that pick their way through the tidal pools. (p. 5)This may be a children's book, but its lessons of love, friendship, and valor are timeless and just as meaningful for adult readers.

[hamburgerclan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm not sure what to call this--a 20th century fable? It's a short tale of Philip Rhayader, a kind and artistic soul with a deformed body. In his twenties, he moves to the English seacoast to live in seclusion, away from the repulsive looks and attitudes of "normal" people. He spends his time painting, sailing his boat and caring for the birds that take up residence in his property. He finds peace in this lifestyle, but one day a young girl from the nearby village brings a injured snow goose to him. As she helps him care for the bird, a tenuous relationship develops. It's a short, quiet, emotional tale in which love and fear, beauty and ugliness mix together to give a brief peek into reality.--J.

[merrymary_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A rich, if sparely told, tale of love and war. A lonely man, scarred inside and out, with a heart that responds to the wild birds; and a lonely girl, neglected and unloved, as wild as the birds herself, form a bond over the injured snow goose blown so far from its home. When the winds of war blow the news of Dunkirk to this tiny spot, these two creatures find their true natures, and the true meaning of love.

[thegreycrane · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My favourite love story, and location I love the mashes and tidal creeks of the east cost

[picardyrose · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Rescue at Dunkirk.

[sdorsey_12 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Small but powerful

[breeks_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A short story but with a wondeful depth of feeling. The story of the hunchback and his friendship with a young girl, and the goose that brought them together, is truly inspiring. This is a classic.