Ribh, which Rumer Godden novel would you recommend? I've never read her work, but her bio has piqued my interest. I'd like to get one of her novels then (not) read it for a year or two
Oh, wow! So many wonderful books to choose from!
Not knowing exactly what appeals to you I will list some of my favourites:
The Greengage Summer~ a sort of coming of age story set in the battlefields region of France with a wonderful open ending!
In This House of Brede~ one of her religious ones set in a fictional convent & following how different personalities deal with conflict within a closed community. In was made into a movie, as was
Black Narcissus, also about nuns but set in India
. Battle of the Villa Fiorita~ children battle for their parent's marriage after divorce; perhaps a little dated as it's set pre no fault divorce but Godden does children very well.
Kingfisher's Catch Fire: this one is set in Kashmir & Godden hated it. It became semi~autobiographical & I loved it because it deals with how an idealist & a romantic crashes into a reality she never saw. Godden isn't sentimental & she knew this area very well so her depictions of village life are wonderful.
China Court is a family saga over about 4 generations in Cornwall. She has 2 autobiographies. She & her sister were rather wicked, I think, & terrorised other expatriate 's children with horror stories. The 1st deals with her childhood in India & painful transition to England. The 2nd deals with her rather unfortunate marriage [& if you read Kingfisher's Catch Fire you can see the parallels] & later conversion to Catholicism & her 2nd marriage. She also wrote a swathe of lovely children's books that cover some interesting territory. Many of her dolls house ones deal with Japanese culture,
The Diddakoi with 1/2 caste gyspsies,
The Kitchen Madonna with culture shock [in a way]. She was a dance instructor for some years & several of her books deal with the jealousies & drama of the ballet world. Quite a number, obviously, are set in India. Things like
The River, were made into a movie.
The Lady & the Unicorn deals with Eurasians in India. I am far more ambivalent about these books as I find Indian society deeply disturbing but in many ways Godden reminds me of Helen Garner or Kate Llewelyn. Her writing is very beautiful. She has a wonderful sense of place. They are not books where there is high drama & great external tension but they have a lovely internal rhythm & the family dynamics are always ones I recognise, perhaps because they belong to a certain time & age. If I had to suggest just one I'd probably say start with
The Greengage Summer. It's quite short, very evocative & deals with many of the recurring themes in Godden's work. It is also straighforwardly linear in structure, which many of her works aren't. I enjoy novels that move in & out of time but many people don't. Sorry to rave but I do love her work & hope you do too. She was a set author for England's upper English levels for some years but seems to have dropped out of favour.
... and I still have the original three and I removed three others that I had added as I don’t think I’ll need those now that we have these beauties...
View attachment 1836483View attachment 1836484View attachment 1836485View attachment 1836486View attachment 1836487View attachment 1836488
