I heard about Rumer Godden's autobiography through "Simple Abundance" (see Dec 2nd), and immediately knew I wanted to read them. They are the most enchanting and moving books I've read this year, if not ever - the life of a writer, who seemed perpetually on the move from home to home.. the books detail each stage of her life, the people, animals and family that shared it with her - as she moved between the UK and India.
The first book "A Time to Dance..." starts with her childhood in England, and ends with the amazing story of her dream move to the poet's Dove House in Kashmir during WW2 - without spoiling it, lets just say I shared her heartbreak when she was 'forced' to leave under unimaginable circumstances. An amazing woman of independent spirit ahead of her time.
The second volume is the continuation of her life as a professional writer starting with her return to England just after the war. Everything about her life fascinated me during the 2 books - and quite often brought me to tears!
The title "A House With Four Rooms" comes from the Indian expression that the individual is like a house with 4 rooms - the physical, the mental, the emotional, the spiritual - and RG's thought that all 4 should be visited each day.
Rumer Godden wrote "Black Narcissus" and many other books and children stories that were made into films or screenplays - the second book deals mostly with this part of her life.
I also discovered that she wrote the childrens story about a gypsy girl 'The Diddakoi' which had been made for Childrens BBC back in the 70's and was called "Kizzy" - one of the most effecting and memorable childrens drama of my childhood.
Both books were bought on Amazon in the "used" section under their titles for 1p - another simple abundance.
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