Profile of Rumer Godden on Famous Like Me

Margaret Rumer Godden (December 10, 1907–November 8, 1998), often simply Rumer Godden, was an English author of over 60 books.

Born in Sussex, England, Margaret Rumer Godden grew up with her three sisters in Narayanganj, India. She returned to England with her sisters in her early 20s, training as a ballet dancer. She went to Calcutta in 1930 to start a ballet school for English and Indian children. Godden ran the school for 20 years with the help of a sister. Following an unhappy marriage of 8 years, she moved with her two daughters to Kashmir. Remarrying again in 1949, she returned to England 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 also 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.

Among her works are:

• Chinese Puzzle (1936), her first published work
• Black Narcissus (1939), her first book to be made into a film in 1947 - a story about the disorientation of European nuns in India
• Breakfast with the Nikolides (1942)
• The River (1946), made into a film in 1949
• The Doll's House (1947), 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
• In Noah's Ark (1949), a translation of a collection of poems by French author Carmen Bernos de Gasztold
• The Mousewife (1951), a children's book
• Miss Happiness and Miss Flower (1961), a children's book
• Kingfishers Catch Fire (1953)
• An Episode of Sparrows (1955)
• Greengage Summer (1958), again made into a film
• The Battle of the Villa Fiorita (1963)
• Two Under the Indian Sun (1966)
• In This House of Brede (1969) - 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
• The Diddakoi (1972), winner of the Whitbread Award
• Shiva's Pigeons (1972)
• The Peacock Spring (1975), adapted for television in 1995
• Five For Sorrow, Ten For Joy (1979)
• The Dark Horse (1981)
• A Time to Dance, No Time to Weep (1987), an autobiography
• A House with Four Rooms (1989), an autobiography
• Coromandel Sea Change (1991)
• Cromartie vs. the God Shiva (1997), her 21st and last novel

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