Customer Reviews

China court

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I fell into this book as into water and didn't come up until the last word. I cannot say enough about Rumer Godden's gift for words. I keep hoping I will find something I haven't read by her. I would encourage anyone to read every word she has ever written. It is like being in the middle of riches! Read the children's books!! The child in us loves all of her books. Enjoy!

This is one of my favorite books of all time, definitely in my personal Top 10, one I recommend to everyone who's a serious reader of fiction. To those uninitiated into Godden's unique writing style, it might seem stilted, aging badly, a typical mid-century "women's novel," but there is something wonderful in store for those who take the plunge. For a non-science-fiction novel, this book deals with time in an almost-magical-realism manner. Yes, in some ways it's just one more of those multi-generational-family novels, but the 100-plus years covered all seem to take place simultaneously, the past informing the present, the future humming softly in the shadows. On one page, in one paragraph, even, you might hear dialogue from any one of the vast cast of characters, living at any point of the house's existence. Something else I like very much about this book---the way we get to know this fictional family slowly, intimately, secrets and warts and all, echoing the way you might get become familiar with any new set of friends...As a bonus, there are lovely, intricate, twining, twisting plot-lines about rare books, beautiful gardens, destiny, love, and the wild Cornish countryside. I can't recommend it highly enough, even though I know perfectly well that there are philistines out there who will dislike it...and I think it's criminal that it's gone out of print again. Hunt it down! Buy it! Read it! You won't be sorry.

When I was about 15, I fell in love with this book, and really enjoyed reading about the family and the clay pit and the making of china. I was fascinated with the "Book of Hours", but didn't understand about matins, and lauds, etc. Would like to read this book again. Other books by Rumer Godden have also been enjoyed. Libby