The River
A Virago Modern Classic
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By the bestselling author of Black Narcissus and The Greengage Summer
'The River will make you laugh, make you cry and, in its way, change you forever' JULIE MYERSON
'Her prose is pure, delicate, and gently witty' NEW YORK TIMES
'Bold, beautiful . . . everyone's appetites will be satisfied' ELLE
The River is Rumer Godden's beautiful tribute to India and childhood, made into a film by Jean Renoir. And in a preface for this novel she explains how the classic tale came to be written.
Harriet is caught between two worlds: her older sister is no longer a playmate, her brother is still a little boy. And the comforting rhythm of her Indian childhood - the sounds of the jute factory, the colourful festivals that accompany each season and the eternal ebb and flow of the river on its journey to the Bay of Bengal - is about to be shattered by a tragic event.
Intense, vivid, and with a dark undertow, The River is a poignant portrait of the loss of a young girl's innocence.
'The River will make you laugh, make you cry and, in its way, change you forever' JULIE MYERSON
'Her prose is pure, delicate, and gently witty' NEW YORK TIMES
'Bold, beautiful . . . everyone's appetites will be satisfied' ELLE
The River is Rumer Godden's beautiful tribute to India and childhood, made into a film by Jean Renoir. And in a preface for this novel she explains how the classic tale came to be written.
Harriet is caught between two worlds: her older sister is no longer a playmate, her brother is still a little boy. And the comforting rhythm of her Indian childhood - the sounds of the jute factory, the colourful festivals that accompany each season and the eternal ebb and flow of the river on its journey to the Bay of Bengal - is about to be shattered by a tragic event.
Intense, vivid, and with a dark undertow, The River is a poignant portrait of the loss of a young girl's innocence.
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- Published: Aug 07 2025
- 196 x 126mm
- ISBN: 9780349017556
Press Reviews
Philip Hensher
One of our best and most captivating novelists
Rosie Thomas
Guardian[Godden's] distinctive, poised and unsentimental books have never lost a shred of their almost hypnotic appeal
- New York Times
Her craftsmanship is always sure; her understanding of character is compassionate and profound; her prose is pure, delicate, and gently witty
Julie Myerson
The River will make you laugh, make you cry and, in its way, change you forever
- Elle
Bold, beautiful . . . everyone's appetites will be satisfied
- Kirkus Reviews
The grace, the fragility, associated with Rumer Godden, again most evident in this new book
Rosie Thomas
Guardian[Godden's] distinctive, poised and unsentimental books have never lost a shred of their almost hypnotic appeal
Anne Chisholm
SpectatorA small masterpiece, a near perfect account of how childhood has to come to an end and the serpent must enter the garden . . . In The River she celebrates a passion for the people, colours, sounds and even the smells of India . . . She evokes, in simple, flawless prose, a young girl's first encounters with jealousy, sex, guilt and death
- Saturday Review
So intense, so quietly demanding of attention, that at the time there will be nothing in your thoughts but a small girl in India, and the people and places that were her world
Orville Prescott
Compassionate wisdom and serene understanding . . . with each book she writes Miss Godden's position as one of the finest of English novelists becomes more secure