A Candle for St. Jude [Hardcover]

Rumer Godden (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1948

New York: Viking Press, 1948. Book Club Edition, Hardbound, about 8.25 inches tall, 252 pages. Dust jacket design by Dana Saintsbury. A novel set in a London ballet school.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Viking Press; 1st edition (January 1, 1948)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670201812
• ISBN-13: 978-0670201815
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,765,363 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ballet Drama, June 19, 2000

By 

Pam M. (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Candle for St. Jude (Hardcover)

The author conducted a ballet school in India, and her love of ballet shines through in this story, which pre-dates her equally lovely book "Thursday's Children".

Madame Holbein, the aging mistress of a small London ballet school, faces a crisis when she realizes that the program for the season, marking her Jubilee, lacks anything original or noteworthy. Madame, stubborn and proud, watches as events begin to unfold which may crown her anniversary season with triumph. Involved in the drama is a young dancer/choreographer with a chip on her shoulder, a brilliant but sodden set designer, Madame's long-suffering sister-in-law, and two of Madame's favorite young former students, who can make or break the ballet program. A satisfying story, rich with character and detail.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lovely dance book, September 8, 2007

By 

Margery L. Goldstein (Hudson, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This brief, poetic novel tells one episode in the history of a small, private ballet school in postwar London. As with all the best Godden books, the story is built through slivers of narrative and conversation, shifting voice and persepective from page to page, sometimes from sentence to sentence. The characters come into focus gradually, but there actually is a real plot, a critical path of present action amid all the recollection (future as well as past). The ballet community is vivdly portrayed, and the physical characteristics of the theatre are depicted in loving detail.

Godden's books are a tad melodramatic and a tad romantic, but this one is suffused with an autumnal sadness that stays with the reader after the story ends. I adored this book when I was a young teen (and not involved in dance at all) and passed it on to my daughter, who is a dancer and loved it too.