Five for Sorrow Ten for Joy: Virago Modern Classics

Rumer Godden (1907-98) was the acclaimed author of over sixty works of fiction and non-fiction for adults and children. Born in England, she and her siblings grew up in Narayanganj, India, and she later spent many years living in Kolkata and Kashmir. Several of her novels were made into films, including Black Narcissus, The Greengage Summer and The River, which was filmed by Jean Renoir. She was appointed OBE in 1993.

BY THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF BLACK NARCISSUS AND THE RIVER

'One of our best and most captivating novelists' PHILIP HENSHER

'Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy is about growth, choice, struggle, and the freedom of the soul' JOAN CHITTISTER

'[Godden's] distinctive, poised and unsentimental books have never lost a shred of their almost hypnotic appeal' ROSIE THOMAS, GUARDIAN

The Sisters of Béthanie, a French order of Dominican nuns, dedicate themselves to caring for the outcasts of society - criminals, prostitutes and drug addicts. Lise, an English girl who after the liberation of Paris was employed in one of the city's smartest brothels and rose to become a successful madame, finds herself joining the sisters. An inspiring and entirely convincing conversion story that shows how the mercy of God extends to the darkest human places.

Master storyteller, Rumer Godden, weaves a deeply moving tale of Lise's prison sentence, her conversion and the agonising work among women whose traumatic experiences often outstrip even her own.