Under the guidance of Sister Clodagh, the youngest Mother Superior in the history of their order, five European Sisters of the Servants of Mary leave their monastery in Darjeeling, India, and make their way to remote Mopu in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains. There, in the opulent, abandoned palace where an Indian general housed his harem, the holy sisters hope to establish a school and a health clinic. Their aim is to help combat superstition, ignorance, and disease among the mistrusting natives in the village below, and to silence the doubts of their royal benefactor's agent, the hard-drinking and somewhat disreputable Mr. Dean.
But all too soon, the isolation, the ghosts and lurid history, and the literally breathtaking beauty of this high, lonely place in the Asian mountains begin to take a serious toll on Sister Clodagh and her fellow nuns. And their burdens may prove too heavy to bear, exposing a vulnerable humanity that threatens to undermine the best intentions of the purest hearts.
The basis for the Golden Globe and Academy Award-winning motion picture starring Deborah Kerr, as well as the new miniseries on FX starring Gemma Arterton, Black Narcissus has been universally praised for its poignancy, passion, and rich evocation of a time and place. An intensely human story of devotion, faith, and madness, this beloved novel by the New York Times-bestselling author of In This House of Brede stands among the finest fiction written in the twentieth century.
"Bears comparison with A Passage to India." --Arthur Koestler
Proud publisher of award-winning children's books for all ages. Please send email queries to childrensbooks@macmillan.co.uk
From the author of Black Narcissus, Rumer Godden’s classic children’s story The Doll’s House has been delighting children for years. This beautiful new #MacmillanClassics edition, illustrated by Jane Ray, is out now: https://t.co/2MsY1EKqHc https://t.co/DGcgqS73H2
Retired Politics Lecturer @Princeton. Senior Fellow @WitherspoonInst. Contributing editor @PublicDiscourse. Professor Emeritus of Political Science @RadfordU.
If you enjoy Powell and Pressburger’s Black Narcissus (and who does not?), I strongly recommend Rumer Godden’s novel on which it’s based. The film is very faithful to it. #TCMParty
Former journalist, aid worker and climate researcher. Blogger. Writer. Bike nut. #FBPE #FBPPR #WritingCommunity #climate #books #bikes https://t.co/nnvB0W9EgU
Rumer Godden was one of the most successful novelists of her time. Several of her books, including Black Narcissus, became films. But some of her best work is not fiction. Her memoirs of India are drenched with light and colour. https://t.co/5ytzXs9F9u #India #BooksWorthReading https://t.co/BS4uXuXkhV
Praise for Rumer Godden
"[Godden has] a genius for storytelling." --Evening Standard
"All [Godden's novels] have one important thing in common: They are beautifully and simply wrought by a woman of depth and sensitivity." --Los Angeles Times