Rumer Godden – författare

Rumer Godden''s stunning classic novel of devotion, faith and madness ''You have to be very strong to live close to God or a mountain, or you''ll turn a little mad . . .''High in the Himalayas, the mountaintop palace shines like a jewel. Built for the General''s harem, laughter and music once floated out over the gorge. Now it sits abandoned, windswept and haunting - until Sister Clodagh and her group of nuns arrive to turn ''the House of Women'' into the Convent of St Faith. Close to the heavens, the Sisters of Mary feel inspired, working fervently to establish their school and hospital. But the isolation and emptiness of the mountain begin to take a terrible toll, unleashing long-repressed passions with tragic consequences . . .Introduced by Amanda Coe''A masterly novelist'' Tessa Hadley''A remarkable and beautiful book'' DAILY TELEGRAPH''I envy anyone reading it for the first time'' AMANDA COE''Distinctive, poised and entirely unsentimental'' ROSIE THOMAS

By the bestselling author of Black Narcissus and The Greengage Summer

''The River will make you laugh, make you cry and, in its way, change you forever'' JULIE MYERSON ''Her prose is pure, delicate, and gently witty'' NEW YORK TIMES

''Bold, beautiful . . . everyone''s appetites will be satisfied'' ELLE

The River is Rumer Godden''s beautiful tribute to India and childhood, made into a film by Jean Renoir. And in a preface for this novel she explains how the classic tale came to be written.

Harriet is caught between two worlds: her older sister is no longer a playmate, her brother is still a little boy. And the comforting rhythm of her Indian childhood - the sounds of the jute factory, the colourful festivals that accompany each season and the eternal ebb and flow of the river on its journey to the Bay of Bengal - is about to be shattered by a tragic event.

Intense, vivid, and with a dark undertow, The River is a poignant portrait of the loss of a young girl''s innocence.

BY THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF BLACK NARCISSUS AND THE RIVER ''A haunting tale . . . the whole book burns with the beauty and poetry'' EVENING STANDARD''Powerful adult themes underlie the novel''s glimmering surface'' ROSIE THOMAS, GUARDIAN ''One of our best and most captivating novelists'' PHILIP HENSHERSophie Barrington Ward, without a husband, with two children and very little income, is faced with making a new life. She arrives in the Eden of Himalayan Kashmir to set up home in a tumbledown cottage surrounded by flowers and herbs. Settling down to live quietly, frugally and peacefully with her new neighbours, she is unaware of the turmoil her arrival provokes as the villagers compete fiercely for her patronage. Sophie is determined to live with the Indians and like it. Pundit Pramatha Kaul, her wise landlord, shakes his head. Profit David, her merchant friend, warns her. But when Sophie''s cook makes a drastic bid to secure his position, the unwanted consequences are catastrophic . . .Mesmerising and thoughtful, this Godden''s lesser-known classic evokes India''s uniquely beautiful landscape amidst a timeless tale of misunderstanding.

By the author of Black Narcissus and The River''One of our best and most captivating novelists'' PHILIP HENSHER''She has distilled in simple, luminous prose the experiences of expatriate India, of childhood and its innocence'' LUCY HUGHES-HALLET, SUNDAY TIMES ''[Godden has] a genius for storytelling'' EVENING STANDARD For Emily Pool, India is a magical place where she has the freedom to escape her mother''s suffocating influence. Her days are spent exploring the canals and gardens of East Bengal, and admiringly observing her glamorous, dignified neighbours, the Nikolides. But just as the cracks in Emily''s family home are papered over, the Pools strive to maintain an outward impression of respectability, and it is through the Nikolides that Emily is exposed to a world of adult deceit and attrition. And when her beloved dog dies, the event forces a confrontation and reveals to Emily that nothing in the town is quite as it seems . . .

FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF BLACK NARCISSUS AND THE RIVER''One of our best and most captivating novelists'' PHILIP HENSHER ''[Godden has] a genius for storytelling'' EVENING STANDARD ''Her prose is pure, delicate, and gently witty'' NEW YORK TIMES When their mother leaves the country to be with her lover, Hugh and Caddie Clavering''s seemingly perfect life falls apart. Devastated by the sudden, bitter dissolution of their parents'' marriage and desperate for her to come back, the children travel alone to the Villa Fiorita on Lake Garda, determined not to leave without her. On arrival, they can tell Fanny and Rob are deeply in love, and their mother is happier than they''ve ever seen her, but the scheme lives on. Thankfully, Rob''s young daughter is only too glad to help destroy their parents'' relationship. Will Hugh and Caddie realise that their actions have consequences before it is too late?Told with wit and great empathy against a stunning evocation of the Italian countryside, Rumer Godden''s The Battle of the Villa Fiorita marks another coming of age classic for the highly acclaimed author.

By the author of Black Narcissus and The River''Rumer Godden''s novels have a timeless shimmer'' GUARDIAN ''Touching, amusing, enchanting . . . an exceptional work'' OBSERVER''Her prose is pure, delicate, and gently witty'' NEW YORK TIMES In a crumbling Calcutta mansion, with faded frescos and a jasmine-covered garden, the Lemarchant family live, clinging to the fringes of respectability: neither Indian nor English, they are accepted by no one and exploited by all.After only a day in India, Stephen Bright meets Rosa Lemarchant. In an ill-fitting dress once belonging to her sister, she is awkward, shy and couldn''t be more different from the stories he has heard of fast ''Eurasian'' girls. Ignorant of Calcutta''s strict codes of conformity, he falls in love with Rosa and becomes enchanted by the building in which she lives, determined to uncover its secrets.Mystery pervades this story of a memory-haunted house in old Calcutta, as secret as a sundial in a ruined garden.

By the bestselling author of Black Narcissus and The Battle of the Villa Fiorita''This is an absolutely heart-warming read, which will make you laugh, cry and love it'' GUARDIAN ''Her craftsmanship is always sure'' NEW YORK TIMES''Godden''s expert narration, her beguiling setting and her heartening celebration of love and happy endings'' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY''Never forget, Charlotte, you were born to be a dancer . . . Never forget. Promise.''Before her ballet teacher died, Lottie promised Madame Holbein to be the dancer her mother never lived to become. Orphaned at birth, Lottie has been brought up by her aunt, and though she is loved, she is lonely. Then she finds Prince, a spaniel puppy, and discovers a love and loyalty that is boundless. When Lottie passes the tough audition for Queen''s Chase, Her Majesty''s Junior Ballet School, everybody is thrilled - except, surprisingly, Lottie. She will have to board at school, and what will happen to her beloved dog? To choose between the two is breaking her heart.

By the author of Black Narcissus and The River

''A masterpiece of construction and utterly realistically convincing'' JACQUELINE WILSON''Godden''s rich understanding of human nature, her humor and her beautiful prose inevitably leave one aglow'' CHICAGO TRIBUNE ''Godden here tries her deft writing hand at landscaping a child''s heart'' TIME

***Someone has been digging up the private garden in the Square. Miss Angela Chesney of the Garden Committee is sure that a gang of local boys is to blame, but her sister, Olivia, isn''t so sure. She wonders why the neighbourhood children - ''sparrows'' she calls them - have to be locked out: don''t they have a right to enjoy the garden too?

Nobody has any idea what sends Lovejoy Mason and her few friends in search of ''good garden earth''. Still less do they imagine where their investigation will lead them - to a struggling restaurant, a bombed-out church, and, at the heart of it all, a hidden garden.''Only Rumer Godden could make a simple tale of a forbidden garden pulse with suspense'' NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE BOOK REVIEW

By the author of Black Narcissus and The River ''[Godden''s] distinctive, poised and unsentimental books have never lost a shred of their almost hypnotic appeal'' ROSIE THOMAS, GUARDIAN''One of our best and most captivating novelists'' PHILIP HENSHER''[Godden has] a genius for storytelling'' EVENING STANDARD''All horses can walk - some badly, some well, but to a few is given a gift of movement feline in its grace, a slouching, flowing continuous movement that is a joy to watch. Dark Invader strode in glorious rhythm, his great shoulders rolling, muscles rippling along his flanks under the satin skin.''In 1930s Calcutta, a beautiful racehorse brings together a group of outsiders: John Quillan, a talented trainer ostracized for his marriage; Mr Leventine, the shrewd new owner of Dark Invader; Ted Mullins, his groom, whose career has been derailed by scandal; and Mother Morag, head of an order of nuns working with the city''s poor. Sold in disgrace and shipped to India after a disappointing first season, the horse requires gentleness and careful handling - but soon becomes the firm favourite for the famous Viceroy Cup. Then, days before the race, Dark Invader disappears. When all seems lost, Mother Morag''s sharp wits and gentle wisdom may just be their salvation. . .

INTRODUCED BY LAUREN GROFF ''Rumer Godden''s novels have a timeless shimmer'' GUARDIAN''One hundred years after her birth, Rumer Godden''s novels still pulse with life'' MATTHEW DENNISON, TELEGRAPH''Her craftsmanship is always sure'' NEW YORK TIMES''The motto was Pax but the word was set in a circle of thorns. Peace, but what a strange peace, made of unremitting toil and effort . . .''Bruised by tragedy, Philippa Talbot leaves behind a successful career with the civil service for a new calling: to join an enclosed order of Benedictine nuns. In this small community of fewer than one hundred women, she soon discovers all the human frailties: jealousy, love, despair. But each crisis of heart and conscience is guided by the compassion and intelligence of the Abbess and by the Sisters'' shared bond of faith and ritual. Away from the world, and yet at one with it, Philippa must learn to forgive and forget her past . . .A vivid, moving and insightful portrait of religious community, In This House of Brede is one of Godden''s very best ''convent novels - from the author of Black Narcissus and The River

Ghosts past, present, and future haunt an old London house in this masterful work of fiction from a New York Times bestselling author.''A genius for storytelling'' EVENING STANDARD ''One of our best and most original novelists'' PHILIP HENSHER ''Her craftsmanship is always sure . . . pure, delicate, and gently witty'' NEW YORK TIMES Grizel Dane, a bold young servicewoman in the US army, arrives at the London home of her great-uncle Sir Rollo Dane, seeking refuge from the chaos of wartime. Through the old man, Grizel learns the surprising history of the Dane family and Lark Ingoldsby.Orphaned by a train crash, Lark was taken in by the Danes as an adoptive daughter but soon found herself caught in a web of sibling rivalry, love and attrition. Selina Dane, racked with jealousy, sets out to destroy Lark''s dreams of love. When Grizel falls for Pax Masterson, a wounded airman, Rollo urges her to seize her chance for happiness, as he was not able to. 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 favourite for the many devoted fans of the bestselling author of Black Narcissus and In This House of Brede. A passionate story of romance and tragedy also inspired the classic film Enchantment starring David Niven and Teresa Wright.

BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR ''One of our best and most captivating novelists'' PHILIP HENSHER ''[Godden] writes with grace and a cheerfully lilting prose'' KIRKUS REVIEWS ''Her craftsmanship is always sure'' NEW YORK TIMES A revered effigy of the God, Shiva, is missing from the Patna Hall Hotel on south India''s exquisite Coromandel coast. Was it stolen, and to whom does it belong? Young lawyer Michael Dean, sent from London to argue the case for the defence, falls under the spell of Artemis, a graceful archaeologist who is staying at the hotel; but she proves as elusive as the mystery of the theft he is working on. Her final novel, Cromartie vs The God Shiva is a magical, evocative exploration of art, love, class and greed set in Godden''s beloved southern India.

BY THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF BLACK NARCISSUS AND THE RIVER ''One of our best and most captivating novelists'' PHILIP HENSHER ''Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy is about growth, choice, struggle, and the freedom of the soul'' JOAN CHITTISTER ''[Godden''s] distinctive, poised and unsentimental books have never lost a shred of their almost hypnotic appeal'' ROSIE THOMAS, GUARDIAN The Sisters of Béthanie, a French order of Dominican nuns, dedicate themselves to caring for the outcasts of society - criminals, prostitutes and drug addicts. Lise, an English girl who after the liberation of Paris was employed in one of the city''s smartest brothels and rose to become a successful madame, finds herself joining the sisters. An inspiring and entirely convincing conversion story that shows how the mercy of God extends to the darkest human places.Master storyteller, Rumer Godden, weaves a deeply moving tale of Lise''s prison sentence, her conversion and the agonising work among women whose traumatic experiences often outstrip even her own.