The Peacock Spring

I saw the verison on Masterpiece Theater a couple of years ago that was based on this book. I then went to the library and checked out the book, and was pleasantly suprised that I liked it even better than movie version. This gentle, yet moving story revolves around Una and Hal, two British sisters who are sent to India to live with their father and his new mistress/fiancee. Both of the girls have to learn how to interact with, not only their father and the new woman in his life, but with life in India. For Una this means one thing, and for Hal another. I highly recommend reading this book. I literally read it in one sitting because of not being able to put it down. I thought it was that good.

... until I found out how this whole warped/beautiful/bittersweet tale was going to pan out!!I could clearly envision the red-headed, hot-tempered Governess, Alix, with her charges: pale, intelligent, courageous Una; and her rosy and plump half-sister Hal. Rumer Godden is an author blessed with incredible character development skills and ... most of all ... does amazing things with time! She bent and twisted and manipulated every event perfectly to fit this poetic story and I think .... in this book as in life, timing is everything. I simply could not put it down until there were no more pages to read.

I saw the Masterpiece Theater presentation of Rumer Godden's work before I read the book, and was pleased to see that it stuck closely to the original text. It is the story of Una, an English girl living first in England then in India during the British occupation. It's a wonderful coming-of-age story and I highly recommend it.

This is one of Rumer Godden's best in the coming-of-age genre. I got it as a gift when I was about 14 and have read it at least 25 times since then. The story is deep and compelling; the characters are true, complicated, inspiring. Rumer Godden's best novels read like poems. Layers of meaning and subtlety in her writing become unraveled with each reading. If you enjoy this book, you will also love Godden's "The Greengage Summer" and "Thursday's Children". Heck, read 'em all.

A few years ago, Peacock Spring appeared in a Masterpiece Theater mini-series and it was a wonderful story, one that I picked up and read. Revolving around a British elite family in India during the time of the Empire, it traces a young girls discovery of both herself and the world that she lives in, the one in which India and Britian are at conflict with one another. It is a type of modern day Romoeo and Juilet, where two people of differnt worlds fall in love, the girl and her young handsom grounds keeper. All told in a beautiful story. This is a must read!