The River

[Godden's] distinctive, poised and unsentimental books have never lost a shred of their almost hypnotic appeal -- Rosie Thomas * Guardian *
Her craftsmanship is always sure; her understanding of character is compassionate and profound; her prose is pure, delicate, and gently witty * New York Times *
The River will make you laugh, make you cry and, in its way, change you forever -- Julie Myerson
Bold, beautiful . . . everyone's appetites will be satisfied * Elle *
A 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 -- Anne Chisholm * Spectator *
The grace, the fragility, associated with Rumer Godden, again most evident in this new book * Kirkus Reviews *
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 * Saturday Review *
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 -- Orville Prescott