Una and her younger sister Hal have been abruptly summoned to live in New Delhi by their diplomat father Sir Edward Gwithiam. From the first meeting with their new tutor and companion, the beautiful Eurasian Alix Lamont, Una senses a hidden motive to their presence. But through the pain of the months to come, the poetry and logic of India do not leave Una untouched. And it begins with the feather, a promise of something genuine and precious . . .

In The Peacock Spring Rumer Godden evokes the magic of an India she knows so well - and all the bitter sweetness of loyalty and love. And in the preface she explains how this perennially popular novel came to be written.