The Greengage Summer [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Rumer Godden (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1999

The faded elegance of Les Oeillets, with its bullet-scarred staircase and serene garden bounded by high walls; Eliot, the charming Englishman who became the children's guardian while their mother lay ill in hospital; sophisticated Mademoiselle Zizi, hotel patronne, and Eliot's devoted lover; 16 year old Joss, the oldest Grey girl, suddenly, achingly beautiful. And the Marne river flowing silent and slow beyond them all ...They would merge together in a gold-green summer of discovery, until the fruit rotted on the trees and cold seeped into their bones ...The Greengage Summer is Rumer Godden's tense, evocative portrait of love and deceit in the Champagne country of the Marne which became a memorable film starring Kenneth More and Susannah York. In the preface, Rumer Godden explains how it came to be written. 'An exciting tale, this novel has both charm and atmosphere, and Miss Godden recaptures with an easy unsentimental naturalness the unfocused vision of adolescence' Evening Standard 'One of the finest English novelists' Orville Prescott

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"'An exciting tale, this novel has both charm and atmosphere, and Miss Godden recaptures with an easy unsentimental naturalness the unfocused vision of adolescence' Evening Standard; 'One of the finest English novelists' Orville Prescott" --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Rumer Godden was one of Britain's most distinguished authors, with many justly famous and much-loved books for both adults and children to her credit, including Black Narcissus and The Greengage Summer . She was awarded the OBE in 1993 and died in 1998. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 244 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press (March 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0783884966
• ISBN-13: 978-0783884967
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,130,348 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oh, six or seven stars, please!, May 7, 2003

By 

Peggy Vincent "author and reader" (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Greengage Summer (Paperback)

This is one of those books I've bought again and again. It's a beautiful coming-of-age story set in the French countryside. I first read it back when the earth was cooling, and I have no idea what became of that original copy. I bought it again as an adult, loaned it to a friend and never saw it again. I recently bought it yet a third time, a used copy on Amazon, and this one I'm not loaning out.
Greengage Summer is a delicious melange of mystery, romance, travel writing, and character study. I'm surprised it's no longer in print, because I truly think it's a classic. It started me reading everything Rumer Godden's written. I like her writing tremendously, but Greengage Summer is her best.
When Mum is confined to bed in a small French village, her children are left on their own in the pensione. It's mainly the story of the oldest daughter's blossoming toward maturity, but it's more, much more, than what appears on the surface.
Read it, and loan it to a friend - but be sure you get it back!

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thrilling tale of love and crime in France, June 10, 2004

By 

L O'connor (richmond, surrey United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Greengage Summer (Plus) (Mass Market Paperback)

The Grey children are taken to France by their mother to visit the battlefields of WW1 in the hope that it will make them less selfish. However, she is taken ill as soon as they arrive at their destination, the hotel Les Oeillets, and the children find themselves bewildered and frightened in a strange land with a barely conscious mother. They are befriended by Eliot, a charming and enigmatic Englishman staying at Les Oeillets, who sorts everything out. With their mother in hospital, the children are free to explore this strange and exotic new world, so different from the dull suburban English town they have come from. They get to know all the people at the hotel, Mamzelle Zizzi, the beautiful but slightly haggard proprietor, who is clearly besotted with Eliot, Madame Corbet, grim and unsmiling, who equally clearly detests him, and all the rest of the staff. They make friends with Paul, an orphan who is an overworked drudge in the kitchen, but dreams of some day owning his own lorry. The story is narrated by Cecil, thirteen years old, who observes everything, especially the growing attraction between Joss, her exquisitely lovely elder sister, and Eliot. As Eliot spends more and more time with the children, Mamzelle Zizzi's jealousy grown, until it finally explodes one night in a scene that terrifies and bewilders the Grey family. The children try to retreat from the scary grownupworld to their safe childhood idyll, but it is too late, the happy atmosphere is poisoned. As Eliot's behaviour grows more mysterious,and Mamzelle Zizzi continues to simmer with jealousy the story heads inevitably towards disaster. All the characters in this book are fascinating, from secretive, sexy Eliot to the drudge Paul, and you feel totally involved in their lives. The atmosphere of a French summer is so vividly described, you can taste the greengages the children stuff themselves with, and smell the eccentric French plumbing. A gripping and poignant story of lost innocence, this book is based on actual events in Rumer Godden's youth, and is quite unforgettable.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book for all ages, April 3, 2002

By 

Bijoyini Chatterjee (Somerville, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Greengage Summer (Paperback)

I first read it when I was 12 and then again when I was 22. It is a wonderfully written and deepy perceptive book about growing up (amongst a host of other things). Please read this book if you have not and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Other books by Rumer Godden are also brilliant - eg. In this house of Brede, Black Narcissus, Two under the Indian Sun, The River. She is also one of the very few writers who (IMHO) really loves India and writes like she is an insider and not an outsider. Enjoy.