Actually, I found this book deeply satisfying and have read it three times. I went looking for the book after seeing the BBC version starring Diana Rigg back in the 1970's. I don't know how well that would hold up -- I find a number of Masterpice Theater productions of that time painful to watch now -- but I loved the novel.

Having said that, it may well be that this book just isn't your thing. We don't all like the same books all the time.

Rosefolly

Oh please stay with it - eventually you will get to know who's who and how the story unfolds - like many of Godden's tales she moves time around too and that can be confusing at first.
It's her second 'Nun's' story - the other being 'Black Narcissus'. I actually have a book about Brede - it's in Kent.
Jan

Thanks for your input.

Sometimes it helps to know that the journey is worth the effort......so to speak.......with a book that just isn't clicking right off.

I'll keep at it.

Yvonne

Yvonne, I'm another fan of this book. I've read it three times, also, I think--several years apart.

yoyo - I just rec'd 'House of Brede' in the mail - haven't even looked at page one yet. How far are you into the book?
I read my first Rumer Godden book this summer, and really enjoyed it, but I can see how one might be just a little put off by her style at first. She seems to set her hooks in your imagination little by little, and then without you noticing, she's completely pulled you into the story.

Would there be enough interest in HoB to get a discussion going? I probably couldn't get through it before Jan 2008 due to other book obligations. Any takers?

I liked House of Brede as well and have read it twice--many years apart. I like most of Godden's books.

I have read about 65 pages and feel as though she is throwing all these characters' names and backgrounds at me quickly as Philippa enters Brede.
At first I didn't feel a smoothness to the story and was a bit at sea.
Having read your opinions I am very determined to let the story grab me and see where we go!

Thanks again!
Yvonne

yoyobon, let us all know if you get through it and enjoy it. I adore Rumer Godden but this is one of hers I've not read.

Oh, what a coincidence! I read this in my youth (the only books my parents ever owned were Reader's Digest condensed novels, and this was included in one of them). I always remembered it quite vividly, and just re-read it. And enjoyed it very much.

It is one of my "top ten of all time" books, but I do remember the first time I read it (every summer ofr years and years) I did end up making a chart with name in religion, name in outside world, and notes about each nun to try to differentiate between the nuns.

So how is it going?

Sorry to admit that I gave up on it more than half way through.
It was too tedious and not interesting enough to continue.

Don't feel too bad. Not all books speak equally to all readers. There are books other RP members have recommended, books they clearly loved with all their hearts, that I could not read at all. You gave it a good try; let it go.

Rosefolly

I agree - you gave it a good shot - in the end a text has to grab you somewhere - I cannot read a Jane Austen - never got past the first page of any of her novels - feel a bit of a literary freak about but I just cannot communicate with her characters.

I have tried twice to read Kite Runner and just couldn't connect with it at all. I don't feel let down when someone doesn't love a book I love-just a little sad that they won't have the same wonderful experience I did-but then again...so many people loved K R and I just don't see it.

I'm on my local library's list to get my hands on 'The Greengage Summer' any day now. I don't see this book of hers listed as a favorite here. Have I chosen the wrong Godden title to start? Is there a better one you all would suggest?

cherry, you must have missed several threads here where we recently praised Godden.:-) I have stated over and over on various threads here that "Greengage Summer" is my all time favorite of her works. I usually have to re-read it annually. It's just a little jewel, IMHO.

Another by the Godden sisters, Rumer and Jon, that I liked very much is "Two Under the Indian Sun."

cherry, Greengage Summer is certainly one of Godden's more enjoyable books.
I have mentioned here before (not that anyone agrees with me!) that Godden was quite an odd person, at least to us in England. Brought up under the Indian Raj I think she had great difficulty in coming to terms with how 'real' English people lived back at home. She was happier in a world where everyone knew their place and Jack was certainly never as good as his Master.

Have recently started reading "House of Brede"- only to page 150 - but I am intrigued by the characters, their struggles, the setting for the story and the underlying mystery. So far so good from my vantage point.

'China Court' - a favourite of mine I love the way she plays with time here.- but then I think they all are - 'Kingfishers Catch Fire' - especially - and of course 'Black Narcissus'
Just to repeat myslf for others who may have missed -
Godden wrote in the house where Henry James wrote 'The Turn of the Screw' and she swore she could hear the ghosts of Flora and Miles echoing around the room!

I'm sorry I missed the earlier Godden thread, I'll have to browse the archives.

After reading the opinions of others here, I'm more anxious than ever to dive in. I hope the book arrives before the weekend.

I always enjoy reading the first book from a previously unread author. It's like eating at a brand new restaurant. Your friends tell you it's great and the newspaper gives it a 5-star review, but you just don't know until you take that first bite how it'll sit with you. But I find it even more appealing when I know that if the first "meal" is delcious, I can follow it up with a few more courses.

I read THE BATTLE OF THE VILLA FIORITA and really enjoyed it.

I loved Godden's The Kitchen Madonna, which is considered young adult fiction. I read it first in my early teens and have re-read it several times since. The characters and the story are so finely drawn.

If you don't like a particular novel of Godden's, I still recommend trying another - she was a marvelous and many faceted writer.

BTW jankin, I feel the same about Jane Austen. It pains me that I can't enjoy her work as so many others get such pleasure from it. I have tried and tried; alas, it is not for me. I think the problem is that the subtlety and humor escape me - I only see snobbish, lazy, pretentious young women trying to ensnare husbands. I KNOW this is not what Austen is about, but it doesn't get through to me.

Back to Godden, I don't know much about her, but have heard here and there that she was very eccentric. I believe she wrote some nonfiction, possibly an autobiography.

sioban, Rumer Godden's autobiography is "A Time to Dance, No Time to Weep." She was an amazingly complex individual who went back and forth between cultures. I really enjoy her descriptions of India.

Also, a book written with her sister, Jon, is autobiographical: "Two Under the Indian Sun."