Daily Archives for: May 25th, 2022

The Peacock Spring by Rumer Godden (1975)

By | On May 25, 2022 | Updated June 6, 2025 | Comments (2)

The Peacock Spring by Rumer Godden is a 1975 novel by the British-born novelist and memoirist who was raised mainly in India at the height of colonial rule. Margaret Rumer Godden (1907 – 1998) led a life was as dramatic and colorful as her stories.

Inspired by her personal experiences and love for the Indian continent, The Peacock Spring is a beautiful and heartbreaking novel of loss of innocence and coming-of-age from the acclaimed author of Black Narcissus and The River.

Despite Godden’s love for the Indian people and continent, it is certainly time to consider literature written from the perspective of British colonialism from today’s perspective. However, she doesn’t shy away from the harsh realities of wealth, privilege, race, and caste in colonial Indian society. As always, Godden’s prose is vivid and poetic.

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Jane Austen’s First Attempts at Publishing

By | On May 25, 2022 | Updated December 13, 2025 | Comments (0)

Jane Austen’s talent was recognized early on and taken seriously by her entire family. Her father and brothers played key roles in getting her works published, as it wasn’t considered proper for a woman to do so herself in the early 1800s. This 19th-century view of Jane Austen’s first attempts at publishing illustrates the difficulties of the pursuit.

Austen longed to see her work in print, regardless of whether or not it would gain her fame or fortune — but getting it published was important to her, contrary to the myth about her extreme modesty.

Her father and brothers took it upon themselves to seek publication opportunities for Jane’s first works. It was clear that she didn’t write merely for her own amusement but was deeply invested in having her work published and read. Read More→

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