RUMER GODDEN

'Margaret Rumer Godden, OBE' (December 10 1907 – November 8 1998), was an English author of over 60 books, under the name of 'Rumer Godden'.

Born in Sussex, England, Godden grew up with her three sisters in Narayanganj, then part of colonial India. She returned to the United Kingdom with her sisters in her early 20s, training as a dance teacher. She went to Calcutta in 1930 to start a dance school for English and Indian children. Godden ran the school for 20 years with the help of her sister Nancy. Following an unhappy marriage of 8 years, she moved with her two daughters to Kashmir. Remarrying again in 1949, she returned to the United Kingdom to concentrate on writing.
Later on, Godden converted to Roman Catholicism and a number of her books began to deal with the subject of women in religious communities. In books such as ''Five for Sorrow'', ''Ten for Joy'' and ''In This House of Brede'' she acutely examined the balance between the mystical aspects of religion and the submission of the individual to the spiritual discipline. She retired to Dumfriesshire in her 70s. She was appointed OBE in 1993. Rumer Godden died at the age of 90 on November 8 1998. Her sister, Jon Godden, wrote two novels.
Godden evokes the atmosphere of India through all the senses: her writing is vivid with detail of smells, textures, light, flowers, noises and tactile experiences. Her books for children, especially her several doll stories, convincingly convey the secret thoughts and aspirations of childhood.

Contents

Works

Children's Books

Translations

Further reading

External links

Works

★ 1936 ''Chinese Puzzle'', her first published work

★ 1937 ''Lady and the Unicorn''

★ 1939 ''Black Narcissus'', her first book to be made into a film in 1947 - a story about the disorientation of European nuns in India

★ 1942 ''Breakfast with the Nikolides''

★ 1946 ''The River'', made into a film in 1951 directed by Jean Renoir, and she collaborated on the screenplay for the film

★ 1947 ''Candle for St. Jude''

★ 1950 ''A Breath of Air''

★ 1953 ''Kingfishers Catch Fire''

★ 1956 ''An Episode of Sparrows'', made into a successful movie

★ 1957 ''Mooltiki, and other stories and poems of India''

★ 1958 ''Greengage Summer'', again made into a film

★ 1961 ''China Court: The Hours of a Country House''

★ 1961 ''Thus Far and No Further''

★ 1963 ''The Battle of the Villa Fiorita''

★ 1965 ''Gypsy, Gypsy''

★ 1966 ''Two Under the Indian Sun'' (written with Jon Godden)

★ 1968 ''A Letter to the World''

★ 1968 ''Mrs. Manders' Cook Book''

★ 1968 ''Swans and Turtles''

★ 1969 ''Fugue in Time''

★ 1969 ''In This House of Brede'', follows Philippa (a cloistered Benedictine nun in the abbey of Brede in Sussex) through her first years in the abbey and not only her, but many of the other nuns who live there as well

★ 1972 ''Shiva's Pigeons'' (written with Jon Godden)

★ 1975 ''The Peacock Spring'', adapted for television in 1995

★ 1977 ''Butterfly Lions''

★ 1980 ''Gulbadan: Portrait of a Rose Princess At the Mughal Court''

★ 1980 ''Take Three Tenses: A Fugue in Time''

★ 1979 ''Five For Sorrow, Ten For Joy''

★ 1981 ''The Dark Horse''

★ 1984 ''Thursday's Children''

★ 1985 ''The Tale of the Tales: Beatrix Potter Ballet''

★ 1987 ''A Time to Dance, No Time to Weep'', an autobiography

★ 1989 ''A House with Four Rooms'', an autobiography

★ 1989 ''Indian Dust''

★ 1990 ''Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love: Stories''

★ 1991 ''Coromandel Sea Change''

★ 1992 ''Great Grandfather's House''

★ 1994 ''Pippa Passes''

★ 1996 ''Premlata and the Festival of Lights ''

★ 1996 ''Cockcrow to Starlight: A Day Full of Poetry''

★ 1996 ''A Pocket Book of Spiritual Poems''

★ 1997 ''Cromartie vs. the God Shiva'', her last novel

Children's Books

★ 1947 ''The Doll's House'', a children's book - a story about a brave 100-year old Dutch doll, her family, their Victorian dollhouse home, and the two little English girls to whom they belong

★ 1951 ''The Mousewife'', a children's book

★ 1952 ''Mouse House''

★ 1954 ''Impunity Jane: The Story of a Pocket Doll''

★ 1956 ''The Fairy Doll''

★ 1958 ''The Story of Holly and Ivy''

★ 1960 ''Candy Floss''

★ 1961 ''Miss Happiness and Miss Flower'', a children's book about Japanese dolls and the house built for them.

★ 1961 ''Saint Jerome and the Lion''

★ 1963 ''Little Plum'', the sequel to ''Miss Happiness and Miss Flower''

★ 1964 ''Home is the Sailor''

★ 1967 ''The Kitchen Madonna'' - two children make an icon for their Ukrainian housekeeper, a war refugee.

★ 1969 ''Operation Sippacik''

★ 1972 ''The Diddakoi'' (also published as ''Gypsy Girl''}, a children's book and winner of the Whitbread Award. Adapted for television by the BBC as ''Kizzy''.

★ 1972 ''The Old Woman Who Lived in a Vinegar Bottle''

★ 1975 ''Mr. McFadden's Hallowe'en''

★ 1977 ''The Rocking Horse Secret''

★ 1978 ''A Kindle of Kittens''

★ 1981 ''The Dragon of Og''

★ 1983 ''Four Dolls''

★ 1983 ''Tottie: The Story of a Dolls' House''

★ 1983 ''The Valiant Chatti-Maker''

★ 1984 ''Mouse Time: Two Stories''

★ 1990 ''Fu-Dog''

★ 1992 ''Listen to the Nightingale''

★ 1996 ''The Little Chair''

Translations

★ 1949 ''In Noah's Ark'', a translation of a collection of poems by French author Carmen Bernos de Gasztold

Further reading

Chisholm, Anne. ''Rumer Godden: A Storyteller's Life''. New York: Greenwillow, 1998.

External links

★ The Rumer Godden Literary Trust

★ Rumer Godden: A House with 4 Rooms