A powerful novel about idealism and its consequences set in the Himalayas. Set in Kashmir, this is the story of Sophie, a young and idealistic Englishwoman with two young daughters who decides to set up house in a remote Indian Village. She finds a tumbledown house nestled into the foothills of the Himalayas and there plans to live peacefully and frugally and at one with the villagers around her. However, she is blissfully ignorant of the turmoil that her arrival produces with the villagers soon in fierce competition for her patronage. Sophie's cook is finally prompted to take action and the consequences of his innocent plotting are catastrophic. This is a poignant story of the conflict between idealism and reality which has strong parallels with Rumer Godden's own life and experiences in the foothills of the Kashmiri Himalaya.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Godden's 1953 novel of Colonial India depicts an independent but naive British widow living in a village in Kashmir polarized by conflicting Hindus and Muslims.
Copyright 1994 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.From Library Journal
This 1953 volume displays the familiar Godden premise of Britishers in India. In this instance, Sophie Barrington-Ward and her daughter set up house in Kashmir to live among the noble savages, whom they discover are more savage than noble after the girl is nearly beaten to death by other children and the servant attempts to poison Sophie. With characters that are "well drawn" and "the dreamy Indian landscape lovely to read about" ( LJ 5/15/53), this is for all large fiction collections.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Clueless in paradise,
By
This review is from: Kingfishers Catch Fire (Hardcover)
If you haven't read Rumer Godden before, you're in for a treat. Many of her books are set in India during British rule, and the patrician tone may be off-putting to some. But she sees the comedic humor in certain British government 'types' as well as the stereotypical Indian servants, landlords, and petty town mayors.Kingfisher's Catch Fire is a classic cultural clash in which a clueless but well-meaning English widow with two children goes to Kashmir where she can live cheaply on her widow's pension - and one of her children is nearly killed in the process. She is, of course, defeated in her attempts to change or 'civilize' the natives and...well, read the book yourself and find out what happens. A good read.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Kingfishers shine.,
By "absentwithoutleave" (melbourne, vic Australia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Kingfishers Catch Fire (Paperback)
LOve this book and have read it many times, I enjoy the exotic geographical location and culture clash with the charming but ignorant and foolish Sophie. It is so obvious that she will come to grief. This book is a kinder, gentler "Ugly American" kind of story about cultural insensitivty in a well meaning person. The language is poetic and the story flows really well.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Coming to terms with Kashmiri culture,
By A Customer
This review is from: Kingfishers Catch Fire (Paperback)
This novel is a most enjoyable story, an adult story, about a widow with young children learning to live in an alien, not always friendly place, a remote village in Kashmir, in the 1950s. It shows great understanding of the villagers, the children, and Sophie herself, headstrong, risking her own and her daughter's life because of her faith in other people, never giving up that faith. More than any other quality, it has enormous charm
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