Rumer Godden

When she was 20, Godden moved to London, and after working as a children's dance teacher, she returned to India to open a dance school. There she married stockbroker Sinclair Foster. Pregnant, Godden moved back to England and published her first novel, -Chinese Puzzle (1936). Though Godden lost her first baby, she and Foster had two daughters before they divorced in 1941. It was a bitter split; Foster left Godden alone and penniless in Calcutta. In an effort to support herself and her daughters, Godden ran a school, sold homemade herbal teas, and wrote novels. At one point, two of Godden's servants attempted to poison her and her children; the author later used the experience in her novel -Kingfishers Catch Fire (1953). In 1945, Godden again returned to England. Fours years later, she married civil servant James Haynes Dixon and they remained happily married until his death in 1973. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide