Rumer Godden

Godden was born in Eastbourne, Her parents sent the girls to England for schooling, as was the custom of the time, but brought them back to Narayanganj when the First World War began. Godden returned to the United Kingdom with her sisters to continue her interrupted schooling in 1920, spending time at Moira House School in Eastbourne and eventually training as a dance teacher. She went back to Calcutta in 1925 and opened a dance school for English and Indian children. Godden ran the school for 20 years with the help of her sister Nancy. During this time she published her first best-seller, the 1939 novel Black Narcissus. ==Writing career==

In 1942, after eight years in an unhappy marriage (one she entered into in 1934 because she was pregnant), (her husband Laurence Foster having joined the army) and several of her later novels contain sympathetic portrayals of Catholic priests and nuns. In addition to Black Narcissus, two of her books deal with the subject of women in religious communities. In Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy and In This House of Brede she examined the balance between the mystical, spiritual aspects of religion and the practical, human realities of religious life. A number of Godden's novels are set in India. She won a 1972 Whitbread award for The Diddakoi, a young adult novel about Gypsies, televised by the BBC as Kizzy. ==Later life and death==

In 1968 she took the tenancy of Lamb House in Rye, East Sussex, where she lived until the death of her husband in 1973. She moved to Moniaive in Dumfriesshire in 1978, when she was 70, to be near her daughter Jane. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1993. She visited India once more, in 1994, returning to Kashmir for the filming of a BBC Bookmark documentary about her life and books. Rumer Godden died on 8 November 1998 at the age of 90 after a series of strokes; her ashes were buried with those of her second husband in Rye. ==Works==

Books for adults Fiction • 1936 Chinese Puzzle, her first published book-length work • 1937 The Lady and the Unicorn • 1939 Black Narcissus, filmed in 1947; radio adaptation in 2008, BBC mini-series aired 2020. • 1940 Gypsy, Gypsy • 1942 Breakfast with the Nikolides • 1945 A Fugue in Time, published in the US as Take Three Tenses, made into the film Enchantment in 1948 starring David Niven and Teresa Wright • 1946 The River, made into a film in 1951 directed by Jean Renoir; she collaborated on the screenplay for the film. • 1947 A Candle for St. Jude • 1950 A Breath of Air • 1953 Kingfishers Catch Fire • 1956 An Episode of Sparrows, made into the film Innocent Sinners in 1958 • 1957 Mooltiki, and Other Stories and Poems of India • 1958 The Greengage Summer, made into a film in 1961 • 1961 China Court: The Hours of a Country House • 1963 The Battle of the Villa Fiorita, filmed in 1965 • 1968 Gone: A Thread of Stories (written with Jon Godden) • 1968 Swans and Turtles (short stories) • 1969 In This House of Brede, made into a 1975 television film starring Diana Rigg • 1975 The Peacock Spring, adapted for television in 1995 • 1979 Five For Sorrow, Ten For Joy • 1981 The Dark Horse • 1984 ''Thursday's Children'' (Viking, New York) • 1989 Indian Dust (written with Jon Godden) • 1990 Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love: Stories (written with Jon Godden) • 1991 Coromandel Sea Change • 1994 Pippa Passes • 1997 Cromartie vs. the God Shiva, her last novel Non-fiction • 1943 Rungli-Rungliot – republished in 1961 as Thus Far and No Further • 1945 Bengal Journey: A Story of the Part Played by Women in the Province, 1939–1945 • 1955 Hans Christian Andersen (biography) • 1966 Two Under the Indian Sun (childhood memories – written with Jon Godden) • 1968 ''Mrs. Manders' Cook Book'' • 1971 The Tale of the Tales: Beatrix Potter Ballet • 1972 ''Shiva's Pigeons'' (written with Jon Godden) • 1977 The Butterfly Lions • 1980 Gulbadan: Portrait of a Rose Princess at the Mughal Court • 1987 A Time to Dance, No Time to Weep, an autobiography • 1989 A House with Four Rooms, an autobiography Children's books • 1947 ''The Doll's House, made into an animated series: Tottie: The Story of a Doll's House'' • 1951 The Mousewife • 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 Saint Jerome and the Lion (retelling of the legend in verse) • 1961 Miss Happiness and Miss Flower, about Japanese dolls and the house built for them. • 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), winner of the Whitbread Award. Adapted by the BBC as a radio drama starring Nisa Cole, and for television 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 The Valiant Chatti-Maker • 1984 Mouse Time: Two Stories • 1990 Fu-Dog • 1992 ''Great Grandfather's House'' • 1992 Listen to the Nightingale • 1996 The Little Chair • 1996 Premlata and the Festival of Lights Poetry • 1949 ''In Noah's Ark'' • 1968 A Letter to the World (based on the works of Emily Dickinson) • 1996 Cockcrow to Starlight: A Day Full of Poetry (anthology for children) • 1996 A Pocket Book of Spiritual Poems Translations • 1963 Prayers from the Ark, a translation of a collection of poems by French author Carmen Bernos de Gasztold • 1967 ''The Beasts' Choir'', a translation of a collection of poems by French author Carmen Bernos de Gasztold ==See also==