Gita Presents Rumer Godden

Jacquie's Email Notice

One of my favorite books as a child was Rumer Godden's The Doll's House. In my copy, the 1962 edition with heart-clutchingly lovely illustrations by Tasha Tudor -- a hand-me-down from my sisters -- my mother had highlighted, with a penciled bracket, the following text:

"It is an anxious, sometimes a dangerous thing to be a doll. Dolls cannot choose; they can only be chosen; they cannot "do"; they can only be done by; children who do not understand this often do wrong things, and then the dolls are hurt and abused and lost; and when this happens dolls cannot speak, nor do anything except be hurt and abused and lost. If you have dolls, you should remember that."

At the time, I took this very literally; so much so that I would sit quietly with my dolls seated comfortably around me and only imagine the games I was playing with them for fear of bending a foot or an arm incorrectly, causing pain to my dearest friends. I was deeply affected by the sentiment in this paragraph, but not in the way I imagined my mother, or the author, had intended, for reading it now, I don't believe it is merely a reminder to little kids to keep their rooms tidy. So getting to this week's presentation by Gita on Rumer Godden, I think it will be very interesting to understand this quote more clearly by knowing more about the author and her larger body of work. For me, I have always recalled Rumer Godden fondly as the author of my favorite books when I was little, so I am looking forward to learning more about the woman who could infuse real humanity into the dolls in her stories, while also being the author of Black Narsissus!

The forecast looks perfect for meeting this Wednesday, October 20th in Barbara's garden  at 12:45 pm, when Gita will continue our exploration of Biography. Until then! -- Jacquie

Christine's Minutes

It was perfect autumn weather, sunny, warm enough but not overly, and the air felt brisk, as 12 members of the Literature Club gathered in Barbara Morrow’s lovely backyard, where it feels like the tippy top of Hastings. 

The leaf blower brigades had not received the notice that we were meeting today, and their absence was much appreciated. 

President Fran Greenberg rang the bell at 1:05pm.

The minutes of the previous meeting were read and accepted. Without the treasurer, we assume the balance remains the same. There was further discussion of the choice of a book in honor of Phyllis Frankel; a biography of Eleanor Roosevelt was suggested, but the ultimate decision remains with the library. Fran thanked Barbara for her lovely backyard, the lovely weather, and the delicious refreshments. It was noted that even though it has been decided that in these COVID times hostesses will not be providing lunch, and members will be responsible for their own lunches, all our backyard hostesses have managed to offer beverages and small delicious edibles. The compulsion to provide sustenance seems to be solidly encased in the DNA of Literature Club members.

Gita Padegs’ program was on Rumer Godden. Here is another woman writer we have all heard of, yet barely know, and who turns out to be fascinating, not unlike Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. 

Margaret Rumer Godden was born in 1907, the second of 4 sisters. That fact affected her throughout her life, as she always considered herself the un-pretty one, as compared to her sisters; and all her life she hated her appearance. Her family moved to India, where they had experienced the privileged life of the Anglo-Indians; their family of six had fifteen servants to look after them. Yet the Godden children understand that they lived in an artificially privileged world, and were aware of the suffering that existed all around them. Those early years in India were formative and a great source of material, but at the age of five she was sent to a convent school in England for a ‘proper education’. 

Rumer’s initial career choice was to be a dance teacher, and for this she moved to Calcutta, a city she never much liked. But for twenty years she ran a dance school there. At the age of 27 she married Lawrence Sinclair Foster, because she was pregnant. It was not a happy marriage. One issue that contributed to their incompatibility was Foster’s unwillingness to learn, and lack of interest in, Indian ways and culture. 

While still running her dance school, Rumer wrote and published Black Narcissus. It was a best-seller, and also made into a film starring Deborah Kerr. Rumer wrote a novel almost every year from 1936 onward, generally with the theme of the loss of innocence. She also moved constantly. In 1942 she and her two daughters moved to Kashmir and lived on a houseboat. In 1945 she moved back to Britain. After finally divorcing Foster in 1948, she married James Dixon in 1949. In the 1950’s she became interested in Roman Catholicism, and in 1968 she officially converted. She often wrote sympathetically of nuns and priests.

 

Central to her life were her daughters, Jane and Paula, and her writing. She also worried about money, and supported her parents. And of course, she was passionate about her Pekinese dogs. Rumer published more than sixty books:  novels, memoirs, and children’s’ books. She died at the age of 90. 

Members read from the memoir, A Time to Dance, No Time to Weep, about her time in India. Then from the memoir A House with Four Rooms. Especially enjoyed was Rumer’s hilarious interview with Mrs. Herrington, demonstrating the lengths to which a mother will go in order to get some writing time. 

The meeting ended with a brief discussion of how we shall meet, going forward. There will come a time when outdoor meetings are no longer feasible, so perhaps we can try a hybrid of indoors and Zoom. Clearly, our technological savvy has grown by leaps and bounds since the onset of the pandemic.

Respectfully submitted,

Christine Lehner

Recording secretary