The Great Godden by Meg Rosoff
Bloomsbury, 2020. ISBN: 9781526620538.
(Age: Senior secondary - Adult) Highly recommended. I am a great fan
of Meg Rosoff's books (particularly There
is no dog and Picture
me gone) which are complex, challenging and
unforgettable. The great Godden is no exception, a book that
highlights manipulation and loss of innocence. One large messy
family stay in a holiday house by the sea every summer, but this
year there is a difference, the Goddens, charming Kit and morose
Hugo, are staying with older cousins nearby. It is a summer when
unexpected consequences will unfold, told in the unforgettable voice
of the unnamed narrator.
Everyone talks about falling in love like it's the most
miraculous, life-changing thing in the world. Something happens,
they say, and you know . . . That's what happened when I met Kit
Godden. I looked into his eyes and I knew. Only everyone else knew
too. Everyone else felt exactly the same way. pg. 1.
There are four teenagers in the family, beautiful Mattie who
immediately attaches herself to Kit, Tamsin who is obsessed with
horses, younger brother Alex, who loves bats and wildlife, and our
unknown narrator, who loves to draw and observes everything that is
going on. Initially life continues as normal with swimming and games
and then there is a wedding to plan for Mal and Hope (known
affectionately as Malanhope), but Kit is an unexpected storm on the
family's horizon. Mattie is not the only one who comes under Kit's
influence, even though the morose but ultimately surprising Hugo
tries to warn the narrator about his nature.
Rosoff's description of the way that Kit manipulates Mattie, playing
on her emotions, attentive one moment and cold the next, will be a
lesson for all about the manoeuvres of a master controller and the
devastating consequences of sex without feeling. There are some
shocking revelations about Kit's actions and how he sways the whole
family.
The great Godden has been compared to Rumer Godden's The
Greengage Summer, a tale of loss of innocence. It is a coming
of age story that will linger in the memory, ideas to be brought out
again and again to examine and think about. The manipulation here
could also be compared to that in The
lost witch by Melvyn Burgess.
Rosoff is a skilful writer and it is easy to see this story becoming
a modern classic and it would also make an ideal TV series.
Pat Pledger