“I never know how to place Olivia Brooke,” Mrs. Cuthbert had to admit. It was annoying as usually, given half an hour, she had people clearly and properly labelled, “As if we were all tidy glass jars,” said Miss Brooke.
“Glass jars? I never said that.” Mrs. Cuthbert was nettled. “And what do you think people are?”
“More like caves to explore,” said Miss Brooke. “Mysterious caves. One never gets to the end of them.”
The Diddakoi by Rumer Godden
Isn’t that just one of the most exquisite pieces of writing you’ve ever come across? I adore Rumer Godden. Her children’s books are just glorious. And Little Brown is republishing her works with beautiful new covers. Next week both Listen to the Nightingale and Thursday’s Children are out and I’m thrilled to be working with Little Brown and giving away a couple of copies (to be confirmed whether that’s a copy of each or two copies of one, my bad.)
If you’re a fan of ballet novels, you’ll love these. Thursday’s Children is a book I first read as a child and have reread several times as an adult. It’s described as a child’s book, but I think there’s plenty in it for adults too. I’m sure I’ve read Listen to the Nightingale, but I can’t lay my hands on my copy to talk about it excessively, so I won’t try to. I’ll stick with Doone who is one of my all time favourite children’s characters. He puts Billy Elliot to shame with the whole dancing thing, and it’s all narrated in the elegantly sparse language that Godden delights to use. Is sparse a compliment? Surely it is if you still end up with beautiful stories, well told. There’s no padding, no waste, every word pays its way in a Godden book.
Her adult books can be more challenging, but seldom more heart rending. The Diddakoi was one of my all time favourite books, though it had me in tears every time. Emotion is something that Rumer Godden never shied away from, and the big issues are all addressed – life, death, dreams, bullying. She’s a vastly underrated author, and I hope I can go some way to putting that right.
To enter the giveaway, let me know your favourite childhood hero – what book has stayed with you all your life?
The competition closes next Thursday 4th April at midnight so that I can announce the winner next Friday. And you can have an extra entry for sharing this post, using the badge or joining the linky with your own Read52 post – but you must leave an extra comment for each thing you’ve done, telling me what it is. As I’m doing the posting, I’m afraid it’s only open to UK – but if you’re international and happy to arrange to have it posted on you can do that – I’m only sending to a UK address. Draw will be made using the lovely plugin and the winner is, which relies on separate comment entries.
Grab the badge
Enter the linky.
The background: I’ve challenged Big to read 52 books this year. She will probably be mentioning them over here on her blog. I’m also going to have a crack at reading at least 52 books myself, and more importantly, I’m going to keep track of what books I’m reading to the little ones. I’m going to do all of that in a weekly post, and I’ve also set up a google plus community which you’re very welcome to join. (If you need an invitation, leave me a comment using relevant email address – which will stay hidden.)
Disclosure: book links are probably affiliate links.
Comments
6 responses to “Read52 with a Rumer Godden giveaway.”
Great challenge, it seems so many people no longer READ. You can do it, it’s much easier than you think! I read 106 books in 2012. Are you on goodreads.com? FANTASTIC site, you could set up bookshelf lists for books you’ve read this year, and another for books read to the little ones. And you can set a yearly challenge that allows you to place a ticker on your blog. But mostly? It’s great for finding new titles to read!
https://twitter.com/kohsamuirosie/status/319072813459845120 I tweeted comment to follow, might have to take son to the library first! 17, on holiday and he says he wants to prepare for his exams!
Bring back the real Tom!!!!!!!!
Childhood hero must be Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice – I find she has given me a lifetimes passion for costume dramas!
@kohsamuirosie on twitter
Not quite conventional but my heroes throughout childhood were Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz (we read it as well as watched it) and it was about more than the shoes. I also completely loved Anna from When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr. She’s one character who’s stayed with me for years.
My childhood hero was Addicus Finch in Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ – @Walpolegirl (Twitter)
Hmmmm really difficult as I read so much! It would have to be Patrick Pennington in Pennington’s Seventeenth Summer by K M Peyton. I loved his character – a musical genius from a troubled background with anger issues. I haven’t read the books for a while – off to see if they’re on Kindle now!