Available Formats
Paperback
Published: 12th February 2013
Hardback
Published: 9th February 2021
Paperback
Published: 13th May 2025
Black Narcissus
By (Author) Rumer Godden
Introduction by Rosie Thomas
Little, Brown Book Group
Virago Press Ltd
9th February 2021
12th November 2020
United Kingdom
General
Fiction
823.914
Hardback
272
Width 130mm, Height 200mm, Spine 26mm
397g
NOW A HAUNTING BBC DRAMA, STARRING GEMMA ARTERTON AND DIANA RIGG
'A remarkable and beautiful book' DAILY TELEGRAPH'I envy anyone reading it for the first time' AMANDA COE'[Godden has] a genius for storytelling' EVENING STANDARDHigh in the Himalayas, the mountaintop palace shines like a jewel. Built for the General's harem, laughter and music once floated out over the gorge. Now it sits abandoned, windswept and haunting.The palace is bestowed to the Sisters of Mary, and what was once known as 'the House of Women' becomes the Convent of St Faith. Close to the heavens, the nuns feel inspired, working fervently to establish their school and hospital. But as the isolation and emptiness of the mountain become increasingly unsettling, passions long repressed emerge with tragic consequences . . .A remarkable and beautiful book - Daily Telegraph
Godden's wonderful book sets out a complex vision of the variety, necessity and danger of desire, rendered into a story that is completely pleasurable. I envy anyone reading it for the first time.A remarkable novel. One in a thousand - ObserverLike Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca or Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind, Black Narcissus is one of those rare novels that combines huge popular appeal with emotional subtlety and literary skillRumer Godden (1907-1998) was the acclaimed author of over sixty works of fiction and non-fiction for adults and children. Born in England, she and her siblings grew up in Narayanganj, India, and she later spent many years living in Kolkata and Kashmir. Several of her novels were made into films, including Black Narcissus, The Greengage Summer and The River, which was filmed by Jean Renoir. She was appointed OBE in 1993.