Order of Book Series
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Rumer Godden Books in Order

69 books are credited to Rumer Godden, published between 1939 and 2012; 2 of them appeared after Rumer Godden's death in 1998. The first book is Black Narcissus (1939) and the newest is The Fairy Doll and Other Tales from the Doll's House (2012). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
69
Published
1939–2012
Pages on record
7,465 in 47 of 69 books
Reading time
124–187 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 7,465 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 47 of 69 titles with a page count on record.

See all 69 books in order Printable Rumer Godden checklist
Photo of Rumer Godden, author

Rumer Godden was a British author with more than 60 fiction and non-fiction books to her name. Black Narcissus opened the catalogue in 1939 and reached the screen in 1947; The River followed in 1946 and was filmed in 1951; nine of Godden's works were adapted for film in all. India, nuns, family life and children's stories about dolls and mice, The Mousewife (1951), Mouse House (1952), Impunity Jane (1954), run through the work. Godden wrote a few books with her elder sister, the novelist Jon Godden, among them Two Under the Indian Sun, a memoir of a childhood spent in a part of India now inside Bangladesh. The catalogue holds 69 entries reaching 2012.

How many Rumer Godden books are there?

Rumer Godden has 69 books, released between 1939 and 2012. 2 of them were published after Rumer Godden's death in 1998.

Rumer Godden Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 69 Rumer Godden books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of A Breath of Air by Rumer Godden (1950)
  2. Cover of Breakfast with the Nikolides by Rumer Godden (1952)
  3. Cover of Mouse House by Rumer Godden (1952)
  4. Cover of An Episode of Sparrows by Rumer Godden (1955)
  5. Cover of The Story of Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden (1958)
  6. Cover of Candy Floss by Rumer Godden (1960)
  7. Cover of Doll's House by Rumer Godden (1962)
  8. Cover of The Battle of the Villa Fiorita by Rumer Godden (1963)
  9. Cover of Little Plum by Rumer Godden (1963)
  10. Cover of Gypsy, Gypsy by Rumer Godden (1965)
  11. Cover of In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden (1969)
  12. Cover of Miss Happiness and Miss Flower by Rumer Godden (1971)
  13. Cover of The Old Woman Who Lived in a Vinegar Bottle by Rumer Godden (1972)
  14. Cover of The Diddakoi by Rumer Godden (1972)
  15. Cover of Mr. McFadden's Hallowe'en by Rumer Godden (1975)
  16. Cover of The Peacock Spring by Rumer Godden (1975)
  17. Cover of The Rocking Horse Secret by Rumer Godden (1977)
  18. Cover of The Butterfly Lions by Rumer Godden (1978)
  19. Cover of A Kindle of Kittens by Rumer Godden (1978)
  20. Cover of Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy by Rumer Godden (1979)
  21. Cover of Take Three Tenses by Rumer Godden (1980)
  22. Cover of Gulbadan by Rumer Godden (1980)
  23. Cover of The Dark Horse by Rumer Godden (1981)
  24. Cover of The Dragon of Og by Rumer Godden (1981)
  1. 1
    Black Narcissus1939 · 272 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1939272
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The River1946 · 224 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1946224
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    A Candle for St. Jude1948 · confirmed 1/4
    1948–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    A Breath of Air1950 · confirmed 1/4
    1950–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The Mousewife1951 · confirmed 1/4
    1951–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Breakfast with the Nikolides1952 · 240 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1952240
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Mouse House1952 · 63 pages · confirmed 1/4
    195263
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Impunity Jane1954 · confirmed 1/4
    1954–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Hans Christian Andersen1955 · confirmed 1/4
    1955–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    An Episode of Sparrows1955 · 247 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1955247
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    The Fairy Doll1956 · confirmed 1/4
    1956–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Mooltiki1957 · 151 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1957151
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    The Greengage Summer1958 · 248 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1958248
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    The Story of Holly and Ivy1958 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/4
    195832
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    Kingfishers Catch Fire1959 · confirmed 1/4
    1959–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    Candy Floss1960 · 70 pages · confirmed 1/4
    196070
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    China Court1961 · confirmed 1/4
    1961–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    Saint Jerome and the Lion1961 · confirmed 1/4
    1961–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    Thus Far and No Further1961 · confirmed 1/4
    1961–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    Doll's House1962 · confirmed 1/4
    1962–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    The Battle of the Villa Fiorita1963 · 326 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1963326
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 22
    Little Plum1963 · 160 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1963160
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 23
    Home is the Sailor1964 · 129 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1964129
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  24. 24
    Gypsy, Gypsy1965 · 188 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1965188
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  25. 25
    Two Under the Indian Sun1966 · confirmed 1/4
    1966–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  26. 26
    The Kitchen Madonna1967 · 103 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1967103
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  27. 27
    Mrs Manders' Cookbook1968 · confirmed 1/4
    1968–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  28. 28
    Gone1968 · confirmed 1/4
    1968–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  29. 29
    A Fugue in Time1969 · 176 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1969176
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  30. 30
    In This House of Brede1969 · confirmed 1/4
    1969–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Rumer Godden books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

Standalone books

69 books

69 Rumer Godden titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Rumer Godden books in order?

No. No source lists any of the 69 Rumer Godden books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.

Where to start with Rumer Godden

Start with Black Narcissus (1939), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Rumer Godden book?

The Fairy Doll and Other Tales from the Doll's House (2012) is the newest Rumer Godden book released so far.

Is there a new Rumer Godden book coming?

No next Rumer Godden book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Awards Rumer Godden has won

Wikidata records 1 award for Rumer Godden. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • Zilveren Griffel1978Won

Rumer Godden at a glance

Died
Rumer Godden died in 1998, according to Wikidata.
After death
Books credited to Rumer Godden are still being published after Rumer Godden's death in 1998; the newest appeared in 2012.
Release pace
Rumer Godden books have appeared about one a year on average.
Length
7,465 pages across the 47 of 69 books with a recorded length, a median of 159 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Rumer Godden books, 17 of 69, were published in the 1960s.

What the Rumer Godden books are about

62 of the 69 Rumer Godden books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: children's fiction is tagged on 19 of 62. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.