Rumer Godden (1907–1998)

Selina Russell and her shaggy pony Haggis befriend a cantankerous old farmer in this wonderfully evocative children's novel from the pen of Rumer Godden. Set in the Scottish border country, the story unfolds in the small village of Menoock, when Selina's Great Aunt Emily has left a bequest of twenty thousand pounds to build a park for the people. This good fortune leads to strife however, when solitary Mr. McFadden, the owner of the only piece of land that could work as the site of the park, show more won't sell his land. Angered by his stubborn refusal, the people of Menoock turn their back on him, and the Russell family are caught up in the conflict, owing to their kindness to the old man, after a bad accident occurs. Things come to a head one misty Halloween, as Selina sets out to deliver some of that holiday to her friend, who never seems to have experienced it...

Published in 1975, Mr. McFadden's Hallowe'en is another one of those marvelously engaging tales from Godden, whose children's books I usually find outstanding. I read the book in one sitting, and found everything about it appealing, from the cast of characters both human and animal—stubborn Haggis, with a mind of his own; beautiful, intelligent Lady; obstreperous but eventually friendly Big Wullie the gander—to the beautifully-realized setting, so wonderfully described. I loved the details about a traditional Scottish Halloween, with the carving of the turnips (a precursor to our North American pumpkin jack-o-lanterns), and the gathering of treats. The story itself tugs at the heartstrings, especially if the reader has a weakness for tales about oddballs and misfits finding their own people. There's sub-plot where abandoned Tim finds a home, of course, and Selina herself is a misfit, but the eponymous Mr. McFadden, despite his brusqueness, is the one whose transformation is most satisfying. There were elements here I found disturbing—the village's behavior toward Mr. McFadden, and the elder's boys' treatment of Selina on Halloween night—but they felt somehow true, in context. All in all, a lovely little book, one I would like to add to my personal collection, and reread in future. show less

The Plantagenets—a group of dolls of different types, made into a family by being thrown together and belonging to the same two girls—long for a proper doll house in this children's novel from Rumer Godden. Their wish is granted when the little girls, Emily and Charlotte, inherit a house from an elderly relative, and everything seems ideal at first. Tottie, a little farthing doll from 1846, is distressed by her experiences being loaned out to an exhibition, but is happy when she show more discovers she is not to be sold. But when Marchpane—a vain and cruel doll Tottie knew long ago—enters the scene, the Plantagenets find their happiness destroyed. Pushed aside in their own house, and disregarded by Emily, the elder of their two human girls, things go from bad to worse. Only an act of sacrificial love on the part of Birdie, a celluloid doll who is the mother of the Plantagenet family, sets things to rights...

Originally published in 1947, with illustrations by Dana Saintsbury, The Dolls' House was republished in the edition I read in 1962, with new artwork from Tasha Tudor. I have not seen the earlier edition, and therefore cannot speak to its appeal, but when it comes to the illustrations, this newer edition was simply charming! Tudor's black and white drawings, sprinkled throughout, are delightful, and greatly enhanced my reading experience. The story itself was fairly engaging, although nowhere near as appealing as some of Godden's other doll tales, such as The Story of Holly and Ivy, which is a personal favorite. I tend to have an on-again off-again relationship with doll fiction, sometimes finding it very appealing and poignant, and then sometimes being indifferent to it. This was shaping up to be in the latter category, until the final few chapters, which were unexpected and quite melancholy. I think Godden does some interesting things here, playing with themes such as the longing for a home—the dolls are a mismatched group, and some have experienced misfortune, so I interpreted this longing not as materialism, as some reviewers have stated, but as a desire for safety—and the silliness of class divisions. After all, Marchpane is a refined and expensive doll, whereas Birdie is a "cheap" celluloid doll, but in the end, it is the latter who has true value. All in all, I'm glad to have read this one, even though it's not destined to become a personal favorite, and I would recommend it to readers who enjoy doll fiction. show less

Who knew a book about nuns would be a five star read?! I unexpectedly adored this book. It centers around a Benedictine chapter of nuns - the kind of nuns who lead a contemplative life of prayer and isolate from the outside world. Philippa Talbot makes the unusual choice, as a successful 40-something business woman, to join the order. She remains the central character, and her journey to truly accepting the lifestyle and fulling opening up her heart to it is the crux of the book. But also, show more we see the power dynamics, relationships navigated, illness, financial difficulties of the abbey, and how the changes in the Catholic church over the 1900s will affect the Benedictine lifestyle.

I don't consider myself at all religious anymore, and I know next to nothing about Catholicism. I was really ready to read the first 40 pages or so and set this one aside, but I was totally enamored. As you would expect, it's a quiet, reserved book, but the characters and situations also have a depth and heart that I loved.

I read this on my kindle from the library, and I'm really considering buying a hard copy for my shelves to reread some day. show less

The palace in Mopu had always been used by women - it was built as a harem palace and everyone remembers it as such. Tucked in the Indian Hymalayas, near Darjeeling, in a valley under Kangchenjunga, it belongs to the ruler, the General, of one of the princely states that still exist alongside the Indian Raj in the 1930s. After the death of the last princess to live there, the ruler decides to find a better use for the remote palace so offers it to the religious orders. The first tenants, an show more order of monks, open a school and then give up within a few months. When this novel opens, a different order, one of Anglican nuns, is about to build their new life there - opening a school and clinic for the women and children of the valley.

Sister Clodagh, the Irish Anglican nun, is the youngest Sister Superior of the order and is sent to the remote mountain with 4 more nuns - some of them a lot more experienced than she is, some of them really young. It takes them days to even reach the palace - and when they arrive, the buildings still need repairs and new buildings need to be built. The fact that the General tries to help by paying the villagers to come to the clinic and the school does not help much either.

But that is not the main story of the novel - even if that is the center of it. It is a novel of survival - physical but mostly mental. Nothing happens as anyone expects; the nuns who believe that they are prepared for it slowly realize that the mountain has its own rules and no amount of determination can change some of the realities. Alone in the mountain, alongside the superstitious villagers, with the mountain looming over them, everyone needs to reexamine their beliefs - even nuns. Clodagh, who is the main character and whose thoughts we get to see, is so strongly reminded of her native Ireland that she seems to return back in time at times. The other nuns face their own demons and change - while the mountain remains there, unchanged, unreachable. In a way, the novel really asks the question if belief in God is enough to allow you to deal with anything life throws at you - or if there is something bigger, even when you had promised your life to God - and that is explored not just with the nuns but also with the uncle of the current General - who is as unmovable as the mountain itself.

The mountain is really the main character of the novel - despite all the people (and there are a few more colorful characters in addition to the nuns), the mountain overshadows everything they do. Godden's descriptions of it highlight that - they make you feel as if you were there and saw it.

It is a slow novel - while there is quite a lot of action in it, it happens almost without you realizing it - you are too busy watching the birds which keep circling and still cannot reach the top, too busy just looking at the mountains around you. But at the same time the people we meet and their stories are important - because they are changed by the mountain. And as surprising as it can be in a novel like that, sex plays a major role in it - in multiple ways (none of them being vulgar or pornographic in any way). It is a novel about people's thoughts and feelings and a novel about Nature. show less