Oxford DNB Life of the Day for today, Monday, 10 December 2012 Writer (Margaret) Rumer Godden (1907-1998) Free online for one week at: http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/lotw/2012-12-10 She was born on 10 December 1907 at Meads, 30 Milnthorpe Road, Eastbourne, the second of the four daughters of Arthur Leigh Godden (1876-1966), shipping company manager, and his wife, Katherine Norah Hingley (1876-1966). Soon after Godden's birth her mother took her back to Bengal, where Godden's father worked for the Brahmaputra Steam Navigation Company. Rumer Godden (then known as Peggie) grew up at Narayanganj, on the banks of the Megna River near Dacca in what is now Bangladesh. From the age of five she was determined to be a writer, and several of her best books were inspired by India, where the first half of her life was based. Like most families in British India the Goddens lived in some style, in a large house with a magnificent garden and fifteen servants. All her life Rumer recalled with delight the hibiscus, jasmine, and bougainvillea, and the scent of the sweet peas; but she grew up aware of the darker side of Anglo-Indian life. (SNIP) ---- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar