If Rumer Godden's first adult volume of autobiography is full of those qualities we have always admired in her as a novelist - joy, elegance, courage, honesty, humanity, a distinctive voice, a passion for ballet and dance, a deep love of India - it also illuminates her understanding of the darker side of life, of tragedy, loss, suffering and long endurance bravely borne. Spanning the years 1907 - 1946, it is a story that gives context to her novels. It will bring joy to the thousands who loved her fiction.