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{{short description|1939 novel by Rumer Godden}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{infobox book | 
| name = Black Narcissus
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image = File:Black Narcissus (novel).jpg
| caption = First US edition
| author = [[Rumer Godden]]
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| series =
| genre =
| publisher = [[Peter Llewelyn Davies|Peter Davies]] (UK)<br />[[Little, Brown]] (US)
| release_date = 1939 (UK)
| media_type = Print ([[Hardcover]])
| pages =
| isbn =
| oclc=
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
}}

'''''Black Narcissus''''' is the third novel by English writer [[Rumer Godden]] and was published in 1939.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Atlas, Nava |journal= Literary Ladies Guide |date=March 2, 2015 |url=https://www.literaryladiesguide.com/book-reviews/black-narcissus-1939-by-rumer-godden-a-review/ | title =Black Narcissus by Rumor Godden}}</ref> It was adapted into the 1947 [[Black Narcissus|film of the same name]].

==Plot summary==
A group of English nuns travel to Mopu{{efn|Mopu itself is a fictional palace in a [[princely state]] of the eastern [[Indian Himalayas]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bagchi |first1=Alaknanda |title=Of Nuns and Palaces: Rumer Godden's "Black Narcissus" |journal=Christianity and Literature |date=1995 |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=53–66 |doi=10.1177/014833319504500105 |jstor=44312524 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44312524 |issn=0148-3331 |quote=Set in colonial India, Rumer Godden's Black Narcissus highlights the ambivalences characterizing the civilizing goals of Christian missionary activities... Thus placed in the interstices between British India and the princely state...|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jaikumar |first1=Priya |title="Place" and the Modernist Redemption of Empire in "Black Narcissus" (1947) |journal=[[Cinema Journal]] |date=2001 |volume=40 |issue=2 |pages=57–77 |doi=10.1353/cj.2001.0003 |jstor=1225843 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1225843 |issn=0009-7101 |quote=In Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's "Black Narcissus" (1947), the fictional Himalayan community of "Mopu" becomes central enough to impede assumptions projected onto it.|url-access=subscription }}</ref>}} (near [[Darjeeling]]) to set up a convent school.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Godden |first1=Rumer |title=Black narcissus |publisher=Boston, Little, Brown |pages=16, 26–27 |url=https://archive.org/details/blacknarcissus0000godd/}}</ref> They are situated in a palace at the top of an isolated mountain above a valley in the [[Himalayas]]. The palace has ancient and erotic artwork on the walls and was once a harem. Although the sisters' intentions are noble, they understand little of the area's people and culture.

Mr. Dean, a local agent, predicts the failure of their mission. Sister Clodagh, the Sister Superior of the group, is ambitious but questions her capabilities. She presses on, sometimes clashing with Mr. Dean. Sister Ruth becomes increasingly emotionally unwell.

The sisters often clash with Angu Ayah, the building's caretaker, as well as the local population. A young local girl called Kanchi becomes involved with "the Young General" who has begun to attend classes at the convent. He wishes to understand Western culture better and improve his English. As each sister begins to suffer emotionally due to her situation, Sister Ruth becomes jealous of Sister Clodagh and obsessed with Mr. Dean.

== Development ==
In her autobiography, ''A Time to Dance, a Time to Weep'', Godden, who grew up in India, describes an event that became an inspiration for ''Black Narcissus''. While exploring the Indian countryside with friends one day, they came across a gravestone, covered with brush. When they cleared it away, all that was on the stone was the name "Sister Ruth".

==Reception==
A 1939 book review by ''[[Kirkus Reviews]]'' called the book "Not a book for headline reviews and big sales, but a book whose popularity will spread by word of mouth publicity, a book that discerning readers will make their own. It is a strange and fascinating book." and summarized: "The sort of book that should be read to be sold; definitely a booksellers' find type of book. Don't miss it".<ref>{{cite journal|title=''Black Narcissus'' |newspaper=Kirkus Reviews|date=10 July 1939|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/rumer-godden-22/black-narcissus/ }}</ref> Reviewing Godden's India books in 2013 for ''[[The Guardian]]'', Rosie Thomas wrote, "For all its convent setting, the novel thrums with sex, portrayed with a subtlety that seems only to intensify its power. The story is simple, but the narrative takes an unshakeable hold, building to a climax involving sexual obsession, insanity and tragic death, which, despite the gothic elements, is handled with masterful restraint."<ref name="TG">{{cite news|author=Thomas, Rosie |title=Rosie Thomas: rereading the India novels by Rumer Godden|newspaper=The Guardian|date=1 March 2013|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/mar/01/rumer-godden-rereading-india-novels}}</ref>

==Adaptations==
* ''[[Black Narcissus]]'' (1947 film) written, produced, and directed by [[Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger]], and starring [[Deborah Kerr]], [[Sabu (actor)|Sabu]], [[David Farrar (actor)|David Farrar]], [[Flora Robson]], [[Esmond Knight]] and [[Jean Simmons]].
* [[Black Narcissus (TV series)|''Black Narcissus'' (TV series)]], a 2020 television adaptation of the novel starring [[Gemma Arterton]] as Sister Clodagh, [[Alessandro Nivola]] as Mr. Dean and [[Aisling Franciosi]] as Sister Ruth.
* A BBC radio adaptation was also broadcast in 2008.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141022053920/http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/60420c458d434489b4221c35bb2eecdd Black Narcissus]
BBC Radio 4 FM, 25 February 2008 ''genome.ch.bbc.co.uk'', Accessed 27 January 2021</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:English novels]]
[[Category:1939 British novels]]
[[Category:British novels adapted into films]]
[[Category:Novels set in British India]]
[[Category:Novels by Rumer Godden]]
[[Category:Peter Davies books]]

Black Narcissus (novel) - Revision history

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