The Lady and the Unicorn
A Virago Modern Classic
By Rumer Godden
In The Lady and the Unicorn Rumer Godden explores the cultural divide in colonial India through a young, forbidden romance.
In a crumbling Calcutta mansion, with faded frescos and a jasmine-covered garden, the Lemarchant family live, clinging to the fringes of respectability: neither Indian nor English, they are accepted by no one and exploited by all.
After only a day in India, Stephen Bright meets Rosa Lemarchant. In an ill-fitting dress once belonging to her sister, she is awkward and shy, and couldn't be more different from the stories he has heard of fast 'Eurasian' girls. Ignorant of Calcutta's strict codes of conformity, he falls in love with Rosa and becomes enchanted by the building in which she lives, determined to uncover its secrets.
Mystery pervades this story of a memory-haunted house in old Calcutta, as secret as a sundial in a ruined garden.
Biographical Notes
Rumer Godden (1907-98) was the acclaimed author of over sixty works of fiction and non-fiction for adults and children. Born in England, she and her siblings grew up in Narayanganj, India, and she later spent many years living in Calcutta and Kashmir. Several of her novels were made into films, including Black Narcissus, The Greengage Summer and The River, which was filmed by Jean Renoir. She was appointed OBE in 1993.
- Other details
- ISBN:
9781844088478
- Publication date:
05 Feb 2015
- Page count:
224
- Imprint:
Virago