Rumer Godden's novels have a <b>timeless shimmer</b>. But powerful adult themes underlie their surface
- Rosie Thomas, Guardian
One hundred years after her birth, Rumer Godden's novels still <b>pulse with life</b>
- Matthew Dennison, Telegraph
Her craftsmanship is always sure; her understanding of character is compassionate and profound; her <b>prose is pure, delicate, and gently witty</b>
New York Times
Nearly sixty years after publishing her first novel, Godden <b>remains a master </b>of the form
Publishers Weekly
INTRODUCED BY LAUREN GROFF
'Rumer Godden's novels have a timeless shimmer' GUARDIAN
'One hundred years after her birth, Rumer Godden's novels still pulse with life' MATTHEW DENNISON, TELEGRAPH
'Her craftsmanship is always sure' NEW YORK TIMES
'The motto was Pax but the word was set in a circle of thorns. Peace, but what a strange peace, made of unremitting toil and effort . . .'
Bruised by tragedy, Philippa Talbot leaves behind a successful career with the civil service for a new calling: to join an enclosed order of Benedictine nuns. In this small community of fewer than one hundred women, she soon discovers all the human frailties: jealousy, love, despair. But each crisis of heart and conscience is guided by the compassion and intelligence of the Abbess and by the Sisters' shared bond of faith and ritual. Away from the world, and yet at one with it, Philippa must learn to forgive and forget her past . . .
A vivid, moving and insightful portrait of religious community, In This House of Brede is one of Godden's very best 'convent novels - from the author of Black Narcissus and The River
[large quote] 'People think we renounce the world. We don't. We renounce its ways but we are still very much in it and it is very much in us'
Pax is the motto of Brede Abbey - but it is not an easy peace. Into this enclosed order of Benedictine nuns arrives independent, sophisticated Philippa Talbot, who has left behind a successful career for a new calling. In this small community of fewer than one hundred women, she soon discovers all the human frailties: jealousy, love, despair. But each crisis of heart and conscience is guided by the compassion of the Abbess, and by the Sisters' shared bond of faith and ritual. Away from the world, and yet at one with it, Philippa must master her ambition and make peace with the terrible tragedy in her past.
'Rumer Godden's novels have a timeless shimmer' GUARDIAN
'Godden's novels still pulse with life' TELEGRAPH
'Godden's distinctive, poised and unsentimental novels have never lost a shred of their almost hypnotic appeal' ROSIE THOMAS