Mooltiki: Stories and Poems from India by Rumer Godden, 1957 first edition.

Written by Rumer Godden. First edition, 1957. The Viking Press. New York.

Bengal River

"Nothing can mollify the sky,
the river knows
only its weight and solitude, and heat,
sun-tempered cold,
and emptiness and birds: a boat: trees, fine white sand,
and deltas of cool mud: porpoises: crocodiles:
and rafts of floating hyacinth: pools and water-whirls
and, nurtured in blue mussel shells, the sunset river pearls."

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"In [Godden's] stories, both nature and human nature are dramatized with a haunting evocativeness. Whether she writes of the effect on a young fisherman of the five-months' agony of a Kashmiri winter (The Wild Duck), or of the bond between a boy and a ram (The Little Black Ram), or of a homesick Indian student in Paris (The Oyster), Miss Godden catches the spirit that lies behind the appearance of things. She can also distill the essence of a whole way of life in a few strikingly etched episodes, as in the deeply moving story Possession." In a very different vein is Mooltiki, a reminiscence of a jungle soujourn involving two climactic tiger-kills and Mooltiki, an elephant of the most unpredictable and beguiling habits."

Rumer Godden (1907 - 1998) was an English author of more than 60 books over six decades, including fiction, non-fiction, and children's literature. Born in England, Godden spent much of her childhood in colonial India, which became a pervasive backdrop in her storytelling. Her notable works include Black Narcissus and The River, both of which were adapted into films. Godden's writing often explored themes of cultural conflict and the experiences of Europeans in Asia. Her own life was as colorful as her novels, marked by a pioneering spirit and a return to England where she continued to write and live until her passing.

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Condition: Very Good/Very Good. Dust jacket: Light shelf wear; on the front, small closed tear at upper edge and lower edge, thin scuff on the left, light wear along the fore edge; on the back, small scattering of black marks and small open tear in top right corner; bumped at the corners; chipping at head and tail of the spine. Green cover boards with black decoration and beige cloth spine: Light fading along upper edges, front and back; lightly bumped at corners. Pages are clean, undamaged, and complete.