Books like The River

The River is a coming of age novella set in India. Harriet, the daughter of a jute factory manager, is just on the cusp of growing up--one moment a child, the next thinking thoughts and asking questions that would challenge many an adult. The time is perhaps during World War II, but as Godden says in the introductory paragraphs, it could be this war, or the war before that, any war, any place. There is a timeless quality about the setting, a garden by the edge of a river. Like the garden of Eden it has a tree--a great cork tree--and it also has a snake.In the opening pages we meet Harriet, who longs to be special, to be something great in the world. She writes poetry and misses her sister Bea, who is already in her teens, beautiful and swiftly growing away. Harriet, left on her own, tries playing with her younger brother but Bogey is more interested in ants and the snake than any games Harriet might want to play. Victoria, the youngest of the siblings is too young to be much company, either. So Harriet dreams, writes in her secret book and spends long hours communing with her cork tree and the river. Into this garden comes a man--a soldier, an amputee who had been tortured as a prisoner of war and managed to escape the enemy but not the wounds to his body and spirit. Captain John finds healing in the garden and in the company of the children. And perhaps there is more....Harriet notices how often, and how carefully, John looks at Bea. The story unfolds over one winter as the garden blooms with the cooling weather. Rumer Godden has a kind of genius for taking us inside the minds of children. She also has a gift for lyrical descriptions of nature. The slow, gentle story of Harriet's growing up is well done and the darker undercurrents keep up enough suspense that I raced my way towards the finish perhaps too quickly to really savor the poetry. Three and a half stars. Not quite as strong as The Greengage Summer or An Episode of Sparrows or Godden's other India book The Peacock Spring, but still well worth a read.Content rating G. Some mild discussion of puberty and one rather terrifying event but overall a clean read.