Kingfishers Catch Fire by Rumer Godden: The Novel Cure for extravagance

Single-mother-of-two Sophie romanticises frugality in Godden's novel - in a way which is surprisingly contagious

Sophie falls deeply in love with the beauty and simplicity she sees around her in rural Kashmir, where the women fetch water, pound grain and spin their own flax (Getty Images)

Ailment: Extravagance

Cure: Kingfishers Catch Fire by Rumer Godden

Buying things you don't really need is a habit born in times of abundance, and which requires quashing in times of austerity. If not, you will find yourself broke, or tempted to live in unprincipled ways. One way to curb an extravagance habit is to romanticise frugality instead. This is what single-mother-of-two Sophie does in Kingfishers Catch Fire – in a way which is surprisingly contagious.

An expat wife estranged from her husband Denzil, Sophie has until now been someone who spent her money "extravagantly, carelessly… selfishly". Yet she falls deeply in love with the beauty and simplicity she sees around her in rural Kashmir, where the women fetch water, pound grain and spin their own flax. For the peasants themselves, who have no choice, it's a tough existence. But to Sophie it's picturesque and charming – she too wants to pick her toothbrushes off a tree. Much to her daughter's dismay, she moves her little family into a semi-ruin with no electricity. "We shall be poor and frugal," she tells her children. "We shall toil." And toil she does.

It helps, of course, that by opting to be poor among people who are even poorer, Sophie makes herself, by comparison, rich. And though this smacks of poverty tourism, Sophie discovers that shared hardships can be bonding. She also discovers the pleasures to be found in a simple life – and so do her children, who spend their days climbing trees and tending to their goats. With long, lonely evenings to fill, Sophie finds she reads in a whole new way. "Every word impressed her … She felt her mind stretch and deepen, grow rich…" Naturally, we applaud any situation that elevates one's relationship to books.

Spend what you have wisely, painting alluring visions of monkish austerity if it helps. The quiet, thoughtful pleasures of life will become your new extravagances.

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