The Battle of the Villa Fiorita: A Novel

A novel that masterfully blends heart, poignancy, wit, and honesty with a breathtaking evocation of the lush Northern Italian countryside, Rumer Godden’s The Battle of Villa Fiorita is another unforgettable reading experience from the New York Times–bestselling author of The River and In This House of Brede.

This ebook features an illustrated biography of the author including rare images from the Rumer Godden Literary Estate. Two english children travel to italy to rescue their wayward mother from her lover and save their family in this New York Times–bestselling novel. Traveling alone across europe, the siblings arrive at Quillet’s pastoral Italian villa overlooking Lake Garda, determined to do battle with the man responsible for the destruction of their family.

Their english country home has been abandoned in favor of a London flat, Topaz, and the fate of their adored pony, is in serious question. The lives of the two clavering children, british Army colonel Darrell and the formerly solid, Hugh and Caddie, have been abruptly upended by the bitter divorce of their parents, dependable Fanny.

And it all began the day the internationally renowned movie director, Rob Quillet, came to their small village and stole Fanny’s heart. There can be no peace until they are victorious—and victory will only be achieved when they bring their mother home.  . So together they decide to take drastic action.

Now fanny is gone, whisked off to the north of Italy by her famous filmmaker lover, leaving behind the jagged pieces of her broken family.


The River: A Novel

Facing harsh adult realities, a young English girl in India must leave childhood behind, in this masterful tale from a New York Times–bestselling author. Often left alone by an overworked father and preoccupied mother, Harriet is enchanted by the local festivals, colors, and vibrant life surrounding her.

Inspired by the author’s personal experiences as a child raised in India—and the basis for the acclaimed classic motion picture of the same name from French film director Jean Renoir—Rumer Godden’s The River is a lovely, moving portrayal of childhood’s end. The ganges river runs through young Harriet’s world.

This ebook features an illustrated biography of the author including rare images from the Rumer Godden Literary Estate. When captain john, a handsome soldier returning wounded from the battlefield, jealousy, Harriet is instantly entranced, beset by a rush of unfamiliar emotions: longing, becomes her family’s new neighbor, infatuation.

Now, as she stands on the brink of adulthood—too old to play childish games with her reckless little brother, Bogey, yet too young to be touched by such grown-up concerns as the faraway Second World War—a stranger’s unexpected arrival will rock her world. Evocative, and bittersweet, heartfelt, it is a coming-of-age story without equal from a major twentieth-century novelist.

But the inevitable change inherent in growing older may be too heavy a burden for a young girl to bear when it carries with it disappointment and heartbreaking loss.    . The eleven-year-old daughter of the british owner of a successful jute concern, India, on the river’s edge, she loves her life in Bengal, so far removed from the English boarding school she attended before the outbreak of hostilities in Europe.




Black Narcissus: A Novel

Dean. There, in the opulent, abandoned palace where an Indian general housed his harem, the holy sisters hope to establish a school and a health clinic. And their burdens may prove too heavy to bear, exposing a vulnerable humanity that threatens to undermine the best intentions of the purest hearts. Under the guidance of sister clodagh, five european sisters of the Servants of Mary leave their monastery in Darjeeling, India, the youngest Mother Superior in the history of their order, and make their way to remote Mopu in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains.

 . Five nuns confront nature—physical and human—in a remote Himalayan convent in this bestselling novel that “bears comparison with A Passage to India” Arthur Koestler. This ebook features an illustrated biography of the author including rare images from the Rumer Godden Literary Estate. An intensely human story of devotion, and madness, faith, this beloved novel by the New York Times–bestselling author of In This House of Brede stands among the finest fiction written in the twentieth century.

But all too soon, the ghosts and lurid history, and the literally breathtaking beauty of this high, the isolation, lonely place in the Asian mountains begin to take a serious toll on Sister Clodagh and her fellow nuns. The basis for the golden globe and academy award–winning motion picture starring Deborah Kerr, passion, Black Narcissus has been universally praised for its poignancy, and rich evocation of a time and place.

Their aim is to help combat superstition, and to silence the doubts of their royal benefactor’s agent, and disease among the mistrusting natives in the village below, ignorance, the hard-drinking and somewhat disreputable Mr.


Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy: A Novel

From a new york times–bestselling author: a novel of a woman’s journey from prostitute to brothel madam to murderess to nun in post–World War II France.  . Dispatched to paris at the close of the Allies’ war against the hated Nazis, she soon finds herself swept up in the intoxicating celebratory glee of the newly liberated French.

Still, her great fall will not be complete until circumstances drive her to commit a shocking murder—and imprisonment ultimately sets her free. A haunting tale of disgrace, degradation, where soeur marie lise of the sisters of Bethany remembers her years of sin and her eventual salvation, Five for Sorrow, and glorious redemption told in flashbacks from the convent of Belle Source, Ten for Joy is moving and powerful fiction from one of the most admired British novelists of the twentieth century.

Rumer godden, forgiveness, has crafted a truly transformative tale about faith, author of Black Narcissus and In This House of Brede, and the mercy of a loving God. This ebook features an illustrated biography of the author including rare images from the Rumer Godden Literary Estate. But after she meets the charming, seductive Patrice Ambard, Elizabeth’s life takes a sharp turn down a very dark road.

A sense of adventure and an eagerness to savor life to the fullest impel young, orphaned Elizabeth Fanshawe to escape her cold, unloving home and enlist in the British Army as a driver in 1944. Her love for the dashing, hypnotic frenchman draws elizabeth, into Patrice’s world of crime and high-class prostitution, now called Lise, hardened, and then transformed into the whore-turned-notorious-madam known as La Balafrée, where she is broken, or the Scarred One.

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The Greengage Summer: A Novel

The older man’s obsession with the innocent, alluring, heartbreakingly beautiful woman-child soon threatens to overstep all bounds of propriety. The young ones find a willing guide, and protector in charming Englishman Eliot, companion, a longtime resident at Les Oeillets and Mlle. But when she is struck down by a sudden illness and hospitalized, under the suspicious, the siblings are left to fend for themselves at the lovely, bullet-scarred hotel Les Oeillets, watchful eyes of its owner, Mademoiselle Zizi.

It remains one of the crowning literary achievements of Rumer Godden, The River, acclaimed author of beloved classics Black Narcissus, and In This House of Brede. This ebook features an illustrated biography of the author including rare images from the Rumer Godden Literary Estate. But as these warm days of freedom, and adolescent adventure unfold, Eliot’s interest becomes more and more focused on the eldest of the Grey children, discovery, sixteen-year-old daughter Joss.

And as eliot’s fascination increases, so does the jealousy of his disrespected lover, adding fuel to a dangerously smoldering fire that could erupt into unexpected violence at any moment.  . Zizi’s apparent paramour. Soon after the end of the terrible Great War, Mrs. A sixteen-year-old girl captures the dangerous attention of an older man in this New York Times–bestselling novel by the author of Black Narcissus.

Grey brings her five young children to the French countryside for the summer in hopes of instilling in them a sense of history and humility.


The Peacock Spring: A Novel

At fifteen and twelve, the daughters of Sir Edward Gwithiam of the diplomatic service have already seen more of the world than most children their age. Then ravi, brings a welcome light into Una’s life, a young Indian gardener, relieving her sadness and loneliness with poetry and compassion. But when una and her younger sister, halcyon, are summoned from their English boarding school to join their father in New Delhi, they encounter a reality unlike anything they have ever experienced.

But what begins as a simple friendship soon blossoms into a love forbidden by society, threatening to end in scandal and disaster. But una feels like an outsider in this world of ingrained racial prejudice and cultural elitism left over from the days of the British Raj. From the new york times–bestselling author of The Greengage Summer: Two English sisters’ lives are transformed when their father brings them to India.

Based in part on rumer godden’s personal experiences and informed by her love of the Indian continent, where she spent the better part of her early life, The Peacock Spring is a beautiful and heartbreaking novel of loss of innocence and coming-of-age from the acclaimed author of Black Narcissus and The River.

This ebook features an illustrated biography of the author including rare images from the Rumer Godden Literary Estate. For hal, filled with exotic sights and sounds, India is a glorious adventure, and a host of interesting new people. Though no longer a child, the calculating and beautiful Alix Lamont, she is expected to submit to the will of a Eurasian governess, whose relationship with the girls’ father appears more intimate and troubling than merely employee–employer.

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China Court: A Novel

A family’s loves, triumphs, pains, and scandals are laid bare, forming an intricate tapestry of heart-wrenching humanity, in a remarkable work of fiction from one of the most acclaimed British novelists of the twentieth century. This ebook features an illustrated biography of the author including rare images from the Rumer Godden Literary Estate.

A new york times–bestselling novel of the lives, loves, and foibles of five generations of a British family occupying a manor house in Wales. It is a chronicle of wives and husbands; of mothers, sons, and daughters; of those who could never stray far from the lush grounds of China Court and the outcasts and outsiders who would never truly belong.

The land, and breathtaking home have been maintained, and ultimately passed along—from Eustace and Adza in the early nineteenth century to village-girl-turned-lady-of-the-manor Ripsie Quin, cherished, Tracy, her children, gardens, and her granddaughter, in the twentieth. For nearly one hundred and fifty years the Quin family has lived at China Court, their magnificent estate in the Welsh countryside.

 . Bearing comparison to one hundred years of solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, compassion, Rumer Godden’s novel relates the history of a family with sensitivity, wit, and a compelling touch of magical realism. Brilliantly intermingling the past and the present, China Court is a sweeping family saga that weaves back and forth through time.

With thrilling literary leaps across the decades, the story of a British dynasty is told in enthralling detail. The story begins at the end, with the death of the indomitable Ripsie, in 1960, whose dream of a life at the grand estate was realized through her marriage to the steadfast Quin brother who loved her—though he wasn’t the one she had always loved.




A Fugue in Time: A Novel

Even rollo, continues to reside in number 99, as does Lark, the young boy Sir Rolls once was, the adopted orphan whom he loved but let slip away. But that living history is not ending quite yet, for the war is bringing a stranger from America to Number 99 Wiltshire Place to leave her indelible mark on it.

This ebook features an illustrated biography of the author including rare images from the Rumer Godden Literary Estate. Ghosts past, present, and future haunt an old London house in this masterful work of fiction from a New York Times–bestselling author. Sir roland ironmonger dane is the last of his family to occupy the house at Number 99 Wiltshire Place in London.

 . A century of a family’s history remains alive and vibrant within these walls, the events that defined their lives unfolding over and over again. Now, the elderly former general has been told that he must vacate the premises when the ninety-nine-year lease is up, in the early days of World War II, leaving the only home he has ever known.

A different kind of ghost story, rumer godden’s poignant, stylistically brilliant A Fugue in Time is a story rich in wonder, imagination, and heart—a favorite of the many devoted fans of the bestselling author of Black Narcissus and In This House of Brede. Yesterday, griselda; his father, today, and every occupant from the past hundred years lives there still: Rolls’s ill-fated mother, and tomorrow share the same space inside the old house, the all-seeing “Eye”; his eight sisters and brothers.

But sir rolls and his longtime butler, Proutie, are not the only remaining residents.


The Lady and the Unicorn: A Novel

A powerful story of coming-of-age and coming to terms, it is a masterful fiction from one of the preeminent British authors of the twentieth century. This ebook features an illustrated biography of the author including rare images from the Rumer Godden Literary Estate.  . Born of two cultures and rejected by both—the “half-caste” daughters of an Englishman and an Indian mother—twins Belle and Rosa and their younger sibling, Blanche, live with their widowed father and “Auntie” in an apartment in a crumbling mansion in Calcutta.

Her beautiful twin, dreams of a different, however, Rosa, grander escape and foolishly puts her faith in love. For blanche, the entire world is the decaying estate the Lemarchants share with other Anglo-Indian outcasts. Three sisters battle poverty and prejudice in 1930s India in this heart-wrenching tale from a New York Times–bestselling novelist.

Life is difficult for the three Lemarchant sisters in the latter years of the British Raj. An extraordinary novel rich in color and heartbreaking human drama, The Lady and the Unicorn is the poignant tale of one family’s struggle to make a future in a society blinded by prejudice and divided by caste.

Rejected by her own siblings due to the darkness of her skin, the lonely little girl wanders the halls and grounds, enjoying the fantasy of a phantom pet while communing with ghosts only the purest of souls can see. Having grown to young womanhood in poverty—the result of their father’s indolence and society’s intolerance—tough-minded Belle is determined to improve her lot in life, even if it means compromising her principles and her pride.

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In This House of Brede: A Novel

Author rumer godden spent three years living in close proximity to Stanbrook Abbey in Worcestershire communing with the Benedictine nuns in preparation for the writing of this beloved bestseller. And for the financially troubled Brede and the acolytes within, it will take no less than a miracle to weather the storm.

Taking her place among a diverse group of extraordinary women, young and old, fate, whom faith, she is welcomed into the surprisingly rich and complex world of the devout, and circumstance have led there. Now in her forties, the world war ii–widow has made a startling decision: She’s giving up her civil service career and elite social standing to join a convent as a postulant Roman Catholic nun.

For most of her adult life, Philippa Talbot has been a successful British professional. But a time of great upheaval in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church approaches as the winds of change blow at gale force. From their personal stories, conflicts, as the confidence, and years that follow, both uplifting and heartbreaking, Philippa draws great strength in the weeks, months, and poignant humanity of her fellow sisters serve to validate her love and sacred purpose.

Following world war ii, a british widow joins a Benedictine monastery in this poignant New York Times bestseller from the author of Black Narcissus. In sussex in the south of england, a venerable, Philippa begins her new life inside Brede Abbey, 130-year-old Benedictine monastery. The result is an honest and unforgettable novel of love, sacrifice, and devotion, a major literary achievement from the acclaimed author of Black Narcissus and The River.




Breakfast with the Nikolides: A Novel

This ebook features an illustrated biography of the author including rare images from the Rumer Godden Literary Estate. Intrigued by the sights, she’s left free to explore—and enjoy the hospitality and kindness of their glamorous neighbors, and smells of her exotic new home, sounds, the Nikolides. Back to this oppressive land she brings with her their two young daughters, who barely remember their father.

A troubled european family struggles to make a life in India during WWII in this “absorbing” novel from a New York Times–bestselling author Kirkus Reviews. But it is an extreme act of thoughtless cruelty that will ultimately shatter the tenuous bonds of family, violently disrupting the lives of the Pools and the community at large.

The faults and foibles of both parents and the irreparable cracks in their union become all too apparent from a daughter’s close-up perspective. For plain, eleven-year-old emily, awkward, the “homecoming” offers both an exciting change from cosmopolitan Paris and a harsh immersion into the adult world.

 . Now, louise is reluctantly returning to east bengal, with Europe engulfed in the flames of World War II and Germany’s Nazi juggernaut rolling through occupied France, where Charles runs a government farm that hosts an Indian agricultural school. Eight years ago, disillusion, fleeing a marriage marked by anger, Charles, in India, Louise Pool left her husband, and mistrust.

Emily’s already contentious relationship with her mother is only worsened, however, by Louise’s intense hatred of rural India and its people and her continued unhappiness with the marriage she insists is temporary. Fans of the masterpiece show indian summers will enjoy this poignant novel of betrayal, lost innocence, and fragile family ties, which represents the bestselling author of In This House of Brede and Kingfishers Catch Fire at her best.