It is impossible to romance poverty, extremely difficult to give up on luxury, and unthinkable to push your little children to be away from their “own” friends and adapt a lifestyle that Englishmen could never think of. But Sophie, an Englishwoman, defies all these notions and goes ahead with what she and her dreams believe in.
In Rumer Godden’s Kingfishers Catch Fire we meet Sophie—an independent, strong-willed 35-year-old woman left in poverty after her husband’s death. She decides to settle down at a remote village by the lake in Srinagar, and declares poverty need not be mean and ugly.
The story picks up momentum once Sophie along with her two children—Teresa and Moo—make ‘Dilkhush’ their home. They are not welcomed by natives, and slowly a hostile environment brews up because of the presence of “white skin” among “dark-skinned” people. They invariably become a subject of discussion for the locals: to them English people are rich, hence Sophie is perceived to be rich. Every movement of Sophie is watched, as she hires a few locals as her helpers. What she indulges in and what all she purchases; many hawk eyes wait for an opportunity to cheat her.
Amid this hostile environment, Sophie witnesses the beauty of the Valley, smells fragrant roses, listens to chirping of birds, and watches apricot growing and cherry blossoming. She gets used to this simple life and so do her children who too start cherishing the quaint environment. But the inquisitive and jealous attitude of locals refuses to die despite Sophie’s thoughtful approach; their indifference knits a web of deceit and hatred. In the end, Sophie ends up paying a heavy price of her goodness.
We know Sophie as an independent woman, but the author beautifully portrays her vulnerable side during the course of the story. It is during her weak moments when Sophie talks to Sophie and assures herself that everything will be fine; when Sophie reminds Sophie there will be better days ahead; and when Sophie tells Sophie, “Sophie, learnt solitude. It had been a hard struggle... and she never even knew that it had to be learnt.”
The author is well-acquainted with the culture, food and habits of the inhabitants, and has a clear understanding of local language. This may be because there are shades of her own life in Sophie. As Godden, post separating from her husband, lived in Srinagar with her daughters and very little money.
When it comes to Kashmir, the arduous task for any author is to do justice to the beauty of the Valley with the power of words. Godden succeeds in creating imageries in our mind through elaborate descriptions. We walk through her narrative and listen to the musical notes of running water in a fountain or overlook the beautiful willows and majestic mountains, thus creating a world of our own.
But where the book disappoints the most is its fairytale ending. There are twists that would surprise you, there are moments that will fill you with sadness and there are instances where you would picture yourself to be annoyed and frustrated. But we are amazed at the forgiving nature of Sophie. Such forgiving nature looks good in only books where people live happily ever after.
Perhaps we can understand annoyance of local people when a foreigner enters their village; perhaps we feel sympathetic for Sophie when all her attempts to be friendly with locals fail; perhaps we are annoyed by the waspish nature of the locals. But we might not agree with the “forgiving” streak, perhaps because we all are humans and some characteristics come naturally–of hatred and unforgiveness.