'A near perfect account of how childhood has to come to an end and the serpent must enter the garden . . . Godden evokes, in simple, flawless prose, a young girl's first encounters with jealousy, sex, guilt and death.' Anne Chisholm, Spectator
'The River will make you laugh, make you cry and, in its way, change you for ever' Julie Myerson
Harriet is caught between two worlds: her older sister is no longer a playmate, her brother is still a little boy. And the comforting rhythm of her Indian childhood - the sounds of the jute factory, the colourful festivals that accompany each season and the eternal ebb and flow of the river on its journey to the Bay of Bengal - is about to be shattered. Intense, vivid, and with a dark undertow, The River is a poignant portrait of the end of childhood.

Rumer Godden (1907-1998) 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 Kolkata 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.