Most Popular Books by Rumer Godden

Tweede deel van de autobiografie van de Engelse schrijfster over het opbouwen van haar carriere vlak na de oorlog in Engelad. Vervolg op: A time to dance, no time to weep.

Following World War II, a British widow joins a Benedictine monastery in this poignant New York Times bestseller from the author of Black Narcissus. For most of her adult life, Philippa Talbot has been a successful British professional. Now in her forties, the World War II–widow has made a startling decision: She’s giving up her civil service career and elite social standing to join a convent as a postulant Roman Catholic nun. In Sussex in the south of England, Philippa begins her new life inside Brede Abbey, a venerable, 130-year-old Benedictine monastery. Taking her place among a diverse group of extraordinary women, young and old, she is welcomed into the surprisingly rich and complex world of the devout, whom faith, fate, and circumstance have led there. From their personal stories, both uplifting and heartbreaking, Philippa draws great strength in the weeks, months, and years that follow, as the confidence, conflicts, and poignant humanity of her fellow sisters serve to validate her love and sacred purpose. But a time of great upheaval in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church approaches as the winds of change blow at gale force. And for the financially troubled Brede and the acolytes within, it will take no less than a miracle to weather the storm. Author Rumer Godden spent three years living in close proximity to Stanbrook Abbey in Worcestershire communing with the Benedictine nuns in preparation for the writing of this beloved bestseller. The result is an honest and unforgettable novel of love, sacrifice, and devotion, a major literary achievement from the acclaimed author of Black Narcissus and The River. This ebook features an illustrated biography of the author including rare images from the Rumer Godden Literary Estate.

Facing harsh adult realities, a young English girl in India must leave childhood behind, in this masterful tale from a New York Times–bestselling author. The Ganges River runs through young Harriet’s world. The eleven-year-old daughter of the British owner of a successful jute concern, she loves her life in Bengal, India, on the river’s edge, so far removed from the English boarding school she attended before the outbreak of hostilities in Europe. Often left alone by an overworked father and preoccupied mother, Harriet is enchanted by the local festivals, colors, and vibrant life surrounding her. Now, as she stands on the brink of adulthood—too old to play childish games with her reckless little brother, Bogey, yet too young to be touched by such grown-up concerns as the faraway Second World War—a stranger’s unexpected arrival will rock her world. When Captain John, a handsome soldier returning wounded from the battlefield, becomes her family’s new neighbor, Harriet is instantly entranced, beset by a rush of unfamiliar emotions: longing, jealousy, infatuation. But the inevitable change inherent in growing older may be too heavy a burden for a young girl to bear when it carries with it disappointment and heartbreaking loss. Inspired by the author’s personal experiences as a child raised in India—and the basis for the acclaimed classic motion picture of the same name from French film director Jean Renoir—Rumer Godden’s The River is a lovely, moving portrayal of childhood’s end. Evocative, heartfelt, and bittersweet, it is a coming-of-age story without equal from a major twentieth-century novelist. This ebook features an illustrated biography of the author including rare images from the Rumer Godden Literary Estate.

A sixteen-year-old girl captures the dangerous attention of an older man in this New York Times–bestselling novel by the author of Black Narcissus. Soon after the end of the terrible Great War, Mrs. Grey brings her five young children to the French countryside for the summer in hopes of instilling in them a sense of history and humility. But when she is struck down by a sudden illness and hospitalized, the siblings are left to fend for themselves at the lovely, bullet-scarred hotel Les Oeillets, under the suspicious, watchful eyes of its owner, Mademoiselle Zizi. The young ones find a willing guide, companion, and protector in charming Englishman Eliot, a longtime resident at Les Oeillets and Mlle. Zizi’s apparent paramour. But as these warm days of freedom, discovery, and adolescent adventure unfold, Eliot’s interest becomes more and more focused on the eldest of the Grey children, sixteen-year-old daughter Joss. The older man’s obsession with the innocent, alluring, heartbreakingly beautiful woman-child soon threatens to overstep all bounds of propriety. And as Eliot’s fascination increases, so does the jealousy of his disrespected lover, adding fuel to a dangerously smoldering fire that could erupt into unexpected violence at any moment. Told from the point of view of Cecil, Joss’s sharp-eyed younger sister, The Greengage Summer is a beautiful, poignant, darkly tinged coming-of-age story rich in the sights, smells, and sounds of France’s breathtaking Champagne country. It remains one of the crowning literary achievements of Rumer Godden, acclaimed author of beloved classics Black Narcissus, The River, and In This House of Brede. This ebook features an illustrated biography of the author including rare images from the Rumer Godden Literary Estate.

Ghosts past, present, and future haunt an old London house in this masterful work of fiction from a New York Times–bestselling author. Sir Roland Ironmonger Dane is the last of his family to occupy the house at Number 99 Wiltshire Place in London. Now, in the early days of World War II, the elderly former general has been told that he must vacate the premises when the ninety-nine-year lease is up, leaving the only home he has ever known. But Sir Rolls and his longtime butler, Proutie, are not the only remaining residents. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow share the same space inside the old house, and every occupant from the past hundred years lives there still: Rolls’s ill-fated mother, Griselda; his father, the all-seeing “Eye”; his eight sisters and brothers. Even Rollo, the young boy Sir Rolls once was, continues to reside in Number 99, as does Lark, the adopted orphan whom he loved but let slip away. A century of a family’s history remains alive and vibrant within these walls, the events that defined their lives unfolding over and over again. But that living history is not ending quite yet, for the war is bringing a stranger from America to Number 99 Wiltshire Place to leave her indelible mark on it. A different kind of ghost story, Rumer Godden’s poignant, stylistically brilliant A Fugue in Time is a story rich in wonder, imagination, and heart—a favorite of the many devoted fans of the bestselling author of Black Narcissus and In This House of Brede. This ebook features an illustrated biography of the author including rare images from the Rumer Godden Literary Estate.

From the New York Times–bestselling author of The Greengage Summer: Two English sisters’ lives are transformed when their father brings them to India. At fifteen and twelve, the daughters of Sir Edward Gwithiam of the diplomatic service have already seen more of the world than most children their age. But when Una and her younger sister, Halcyon, are summoned from their English boarding school to join their father in New Delhi, they encounter a reality unlike anything they have ever experienced. For Hal, India is a glorious adventure, filled with exotic sights and sounds, and a host of interesting new people. But Una feels like an outsider in this world of ingrained racial prejudice and cultural elitism left over from the days of the British Raj. Though no longer a child, she is expected to submit to the will of a Eurasian governess, the calculating and beautiful Alix Lamont, whose relationship with the girls’ father appears more intimate and troubling than merely employee–employer. Then Ravi, a young Indian gardener, brings a welcome light into Una’s life, relieving her sadness and loneliness with poetry and compassion. But what begins as a simple friendship soon blossoms into a love forbidden by society, threatening to end in scandal and disaster. Based in part on Rumer Godden’s personal experiences and informed by her love of the Indian continent, where she spent the better part of her early life, The Peacock Spring is a beautiful and heartbreaking novel of loss of innocence and coming-of-age from the acclaimed author of Black Narcissus and The River. This ebook features an illustrated biography of the author including rare images from the Rumer Godden Literary Estate.

Three sisters battle poverty and prejudice in 1930s India in this heart-wrenching tale from a New York Times–bestselling novelist. Life is difficult for the three Lemarchant sisters in the latter years of the British Raj. Born of two cultures and rejected by both—the “half-caste” daughters of an Englishman and an Indian mother—twins Belle and Rosa and their younger sibling, Blanche, live with their widowed father and “Auntie” in an apartment in a crumbling mansion in Calcutta. Having grown to young womanhood in poverty—the result of their father’s indolence and society’s intolerance—tough-minded Belle is determined to improve her lot in life, even if it means compromising her principles and her pride. Her beautiful twin, Rosa, however, dreams of a different, grander escape and foolishly puts her faith in love. For Blanche, the entire world is the decaying estate the Lemarchants share with other Anglo-Indian outcasts. Rejected by her own siblings due to the darkness of her skin, the lonely little girl wanders the halls and grounds, enjoying the fantasy of a phantom pet while communing with ghosts only the purest of souls can see. An extraordinary novel rich in color and heartbreaking human drama, The Lady and the Unicorn is the poignant tale of one family’s struggle to make a future in a society blinded by prejudice and divided by caste. A powerful story of coming-of-age and coming to terms, it is a masterful fiction from one of the preeminent British authors of the twentieth century. This ebook features an illustrated biography of the author including rare images from the Rumer Godden Literary Estate.

It is Christmas Eve and, for the toys in Mr Blossom''s shop, it is their last chance to be sold. Holly, a small doll dressed especially for Christmas, wishes hard for her own special child. But the day ends and Holly is left in the window. On Christmas morning a little lost orphan girl finds herself outside the toyshop. Ivy has never had a doll to love, but when she sees Holly, she knows at once that this doll is meant specially for her. But Ivy has no money, and the shop is closed . . . The Story of Holly and Ivy is a Christmas classic by Rumer Godden, beautifully illustrated by Christian Birmingham.

Tottie is a loving little wooden doll who lives with her family in a shoebox. The doll family is owned by two sisters, Emily and Charlotte, and they are very happy, except for one thing: they long for a proper home. To their delight, their wish comes true when Emily and Charlotte fix up a Victorian dolls'' house - just for them. It''s perfect. But then a new arrival starts to wreak havoc in the dolls'' house. For Marchpane might be a wonderfully beautiful doll, but she is also terribly cruel. And she always gets her own way . . . First published in 1947, Rumer Godden''s classic The Dolls'' House has been delighting children for years, and this beautiful edition, illustrated by Jane Ray, will delight future generations for years to come.

“Once upon a time there was a little mouse house. It was like a doll’s house, but not for dolls, for mice.” Not proper mice, but a flannel He-Mouse and She-Mouse with beady eyes and bristle whiskers who stand quite still, propped on their hind legs in the sitting room. Mary knows real mice run and scamper, and disappointed with her new gift, she puts the mouse house away in her room. Meanwhile, down in the basement, a real mouse named Bonnie has been jostled out of her woefully inadequate flowerpot home by her older brothers and sisters. Overlooked by her harried parents and desperate for shelter, Bonnie ventures upstairs and finds the mouse house. And before too long what was a miniature make-believe house becomes a marvelously messy home for proper mice who know how to play, much to everyone’s delight.

As he tags along to his spoiled sister''s ballet classes, Doone discovers and develops his own rare and special talents.

From a New York Times–bestselling author: A novel of a woman’s journey from prostitute to brothel madam to murderess to nun in post–World War II France. A sense of adventure and an eagerness to savor life to the fullest impel young, orphaned Elizabeth Fanshawe to escape her cold, unloving home and enlist in the British Army as a driver in 1944. Dispatched to Paris at the close of the Allies’ war against the hated Nazis, she soon finds herself swept up in the intoxicating celebratory glee of the newly liberated French. But after she meets the charming, seductive Patrice Ambard, Elizabeth’s life takes a sharp turn down a very dark road. Her love for the dashing, hypnotic Frenchman draws Elizabeth, now called Lise, into Patrice’s world of crime and high-class prostitution, where she is broken, hardened, and then transformed into the whore-turned-notorious-madam known as La Balafrée, or the Scarred One. Still, her great fall will not be complete until circumstances drive her to commit a shocking murder—and imprisonment ultimately sets her free. A haunting tale of disgrace, degradation, and glorious redemption told in flashbacks from the convent of Belle Source, where Soeur Marie Lise of the Sisters of Bethany remembers her years of sin and her eventual salvation, Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy is moving and powerful fiction from one of the most admired British novelists of the twentieth century. Rumer Godden, author of Black Narcissus and In This House of Brede, has crafted a truly transformative tale about faith, forgiveness, and the mercy of a loving God. This ebook features an illustrated biography of the author including rare images from the Rumer Godden Literary Estate.

Modern love story, set in Cornwall and interwoven with the living past of five generations of the Quin family, and illustrative of life - as Chaucer says - as a "thinne subtil knittinge of thinges". A medieval book of hours plays a part in the plot.

A Story of the opposing world of urban urchins from London''s backstreets "the sparrows" and the refined occupants of a London square. In post-World War II London, two street-tough children attempt to build a hidden garden, an act that awakens hidden courage in the children and profoundly disrupts the neighborhood.

A troubled European family struggles to make a life in India during WWII in this “absorbing” novel from a New York Times–bestselling author (Kirkus Reviews). Eight years ago, Louise Pool left her husband, Charles, in India, fleeing a marriage marked by anger, disillusion, and mistrust. Now, with Europe engulfed in the flames of World War II and Germany’s Nazi juggernaut rolling through occupied France, Louise is reluctantly returning to East Bengal, where Charles runs a government farm that hosts an Indian agricultural school. Back to this oppressive land she brings with her their two young daughters, who barely remember their father. For plain, awkward, eleven-year-old Emily, the “homecoming” offers both an exciting change from cosmopolitan Paris and a harsh immersion into the adult world. Intrigued by the sights, sounds, and smells of her exotic new home, she’s left free to explore—and enjoy the hospitality and kindness of their glamorous neighbors, the Nikolides. Emily’s already contentious relationship with her mother is only worsened, however, by Louise’s intense hatred of rural India and its people and her continued unhappiness with the marriage she insists is temporary. The faults and foibles of both parents and the irreparable cracks in their union become all too apparent from a daughter’s close-up perspective. But it is an extreme act of thoughtless cruelty that will ultimately shatter the tenuous bonds of family, violently disrupting the lives of the Pools and the community at large. Fans of the Masterpiece show Indian Summers will enjoy this poignant novel of betrayal, lost innocence, and fragile family ties, which represents the bestselling author of In This House of Brede and Kingfishers Catch Fire at her best. This ebook features an illustrated biography of the author including rare images from the Rumer Godden Literary Estate.

Love, intrigue, and death ensue when a statue of a Hindu god is stolen from an Indian hotel in this masterwork from a New York Times–bestselling author. Sydney Cromartie is aghast when London officials inform him that his precious statuette of the Hindu god Shiva is in fact an artifact stolen from India, its mother country. But, despite the insistence of the Indian government, the irate Canadian art collector will not give it up without a legal fight. English barrister Michael Dean is thrilled to be assigned to a case that will allow him to return to his native India. Arriving at Patna Hall—the quaint seaside hotel on the Coromandel coast where the theft allegedly took place—he quickly launches into his investigation, casting suspicion on everyone, including the inn’s vivacious Anglo-Indian proprietress, Auntie Sanni. But there are complexities Dean never anticipated—and one very serious distraction: his emerging feelings for a mysterious archaeologist. Still, he must remain resolute, even if the facts he’s at risk of uncovering could lead to disappointment, disillusionment, even tragedy. In her final novel, award-winning author Rumer Godden returns to southern India and the charming beachfront resort that was the site of her popular Coromandel Sea Change. Based on a real late twentieth-century incident—when a Hindu god became, in essence, the plaintiff in a sensational legal case—Cromartie vs. the God Shiva is an unforgettable tale from a writer of “depth and sensitivity” (Los Angeles Times) and “a novelist of many gifts” (TheDaily Telegraph). This ebook features an illustrated biography of the author including rare images from the Rumer Godden Literary Estate.

In Rumer Godden''s Coromandel Sea Change Blaise and Mary arrive at Patna Hall, a hotel on India’s shimmering Coromandel coast, to spend part of their honeymoon. Patna Hall is as beautiful and timeless as India itself, ruled over firmly and wise by proprietor Auntie Sanni. For Mary it feels strangely like home. In a week that will change the young couple’s destiny, election fever grips the Southern Indian state and Mary falls under the spell of the people, the country – and Krishnan, godlike candidate for the Root and Flower party . . .

The Stories In This Exquisite Collection Move Between The Timeless India Of Fable And The India Of Today. Condition Good

When a Canadian art dealer takes his latest acquisition, the eleventh-century statue of the Hindu god Shiva, to a London appraiser, it is impounded by the British police and he must take the case to court to prove it is not stolen.

When Gem moves into The House Next Door, Nona and Belinda think she''s stuck up and vow to have nothing to do with her. But the beautiful Japanese doll in her window soon attracts their attention. They name her Little Plum because of the plum blossom decorating her clothes - but unlike Nona''s Japanese dolls, Miss Happiness and Miss Flower, Little Plum seems sad, unloved and uncared for. Will the three girls - and the three dolls - ever become friends? A beautiful illustrated cover edition of Little Plum, Rumer Godden''s classic story about family and friendship.

A beautifully illustrated cover edition of Rumer Godden''s classic story about friendship and family, Miss Happiness and Miss Flower. When little Nona is sent from her sunny home in India to live with her relatives in chilly England, she is miserable. Then a box arrives for her in the post and inside, wrapped up in tissue paper, are two little Japanese dolls. A slip of paper says their names are Miss Happiness and Miss Flower. Nona thinks that they must feel lonely too, so far away from home. Then Nona has an idea – she will build her dolls the perfect house! It will be just like a Japanese home in every way. It will even have a tiny Japanese garden. And as she begins to make Miss Happiness and Miss Flower happy, Nona finds that she is happier too.

Three unforgettable novels from a New York Times–bestselling author—including Black Narcissus, which "bears comparison with A Passage to India" (Arthur Koestler). With Black Narcissus, her novel of five nuns in a remote Himalayan convent struggling against nature—both physical and human—Rumer Godden established her impeccable literary reputation. The New York Times wrote of her work: "Her craftsmanship is always sure; her understanding of character is compassionate and profound; her prose is pure, delicate, and gently witty." Having spent her formative years in colonial India, she would continue to return to that setting for inspiration in several subsequent novels, each of them "beautifully and simply wrought by a woman of depth and sensitivity" ( Los Angeles Times). Black Narcissus: Led by Sister Clodagh, the youngest Mother Superior in the history of their order, the European Sisters of the Servants of Mary take up residence in an abandoned palace in the foothills of the Himalayas, where an Indian general once housed his harem. The sisters hope to establish a school and clinic to combat superstition, ignorance, and disease. But the isolation and mountain altitude, the ghosts and lurid history, and one young nun''s unhealthy obsession with their royal benefactor''s agent, Mr. Dean, threaten to undermine the best intentions of the purest hearts. Black Narcissus was made into an Academy Award–winning film starring Deborah Kerr and directed by Michael Powell. "A very remarkable novel." — The Observer Breakfast with the Nikolides: As the Nazi juggernaut rolls through occupied France, Louise Poole is forced to flee Paris with her two daughters and return to East Bengal and the husband she left. Despite Louise''s hatred of rural India, eleven-year-old Emily is intrigued by her exotic new home, left free to explore—and enjoy the hospitality of her glamorous neighbors, the Nikolides. But as the cracks in her parents'' marriage become more obvious, an act of thoughtless cruelty ultimately shatters the tenuous bonds of family, violently disrupting the lives of the Pooles and the community. "A fascinating book . . . It is absorbing and as original . . . as Black Narcissus." — Kirkus Reviews The River: The Second World War seems very far away for eleven-year-old Harriet, the daughter of a British businessman, and her home in Bengal, India, along the Ganges River—until the arrival of a handsome wounded soldier. Harriet is entranced by their new neighbor, Captain John, but unprepared for the rush of unfamiliar emotions he stirs up in her: longing, jealousy, and infatuation. Inspired by the author''s personal experiences growing up in India, The River is an evocative and bittersweet coming of age story. The River was made into a film directed by Jean Renoir. "So intense, so quietly demanding of attention, that at the time there will be nothing in your thoughts but a small girl in India, and the people and places that were her world." — Saturday Review

A boy''s efforts to create an icon to please the family''s new maid helps him to make new friends and discover an artistic talent.