Margaret Rumer Godden, one of four daughters of Arthur Leigh and Katherine Godden, was born December 10, 1907, in Sussex, England. When she was nine months old, the family moved to Bengal, India, where her father was employed as the local agent for a steamship line. Godden remembers her childhood as a happy one. She and her sisters were cared for by Indian servants, played with their numerous pets (including a mongoose and a talking mynah bird), lived an active life and wrote stories. Two Under the Indian Sun (1966), a novel by Godden and her sister Jon, is based on their teenage years in India. Godden returned to England and attended school in London and at Moira House Eastbourne. She was unhappy in England and felt like an outsider.

After finishing school, Godden moved between England and India, pursuing her interests in writing and dance. She...