About this title: The year is 1570, and in the convent of Santa Caterina, in the Italian city of Ferrara, noblewomen find space to pursue their lives under God's protection. But any community, however smoothly run, suffers tremors when it takes in someone by force. And the arrival of Santa Caterina's new novice sets in motion a chain of events that will shake the ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Virago Press Ltd
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781844083312ISBN:1844083314
Description: Good. All orders are dispatched from our UK warehouse within one working day. Established in 2004. No quibble refund if not completely satisfied. read more
Binding: Hardback
Publisher: LITTLE, BROWN BOOK GROUP Country = UNITED KINGDOM
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781844085965ISBN:1844085961
Description: BRAND NEW HARDBACK. 480 pages. * new historical novel from the bestselling author of the birth of venus and in the company of the courtesan (Hardback) read more
Edition: Large type / large print.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Random House Large Print Publishing
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780739326077ISBN:0739326074
Description: New. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 651 p. read more
Edition: Advance Reading Copy
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Random House, New York:
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781400063826ISBN:1400063825
Description: A fine book in illustrated wrappers. The author's newest novel set in a convent in Renaissance Italy where a defiant 16-year-old girl has been confined against her will for life. To be published in July. Signed by the author on the title page. read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Edition: LRG
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Random House Inc
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780739326077ISBN:0739326074
Description: New. The entertaining author of "The Birth of Venus " and "In the Company of the Courtesan" delivers her third captivating audiobook set in Renaissance Italy. Santa Catarina, a convent near Venice, is home to over one hundred women in 1567. But with power... read more
Edition: Audio Book
Publisher: BonT, Westminster, MD
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781415964132ISBN:1415964130
Description: New. Audio Book This is an audio book.12 cds, 15 hours. Unabridged. Read by Rosalyn Landor. In the publisher's thick plastic case. read more
"Historical novel set in a convent in Florence during the late 1500s. Depicts struggle of women to find their own identity and calling in the midst of pressure to conform and become absorbed into convent life. Focuses on two characters, Zuana, who overs the dispensary and medical treatment, and Serafina, a young novice who was put into the convent by her family to avoid marriage to a young man from a lower class.
The novel also alludes to the larger struggles within the Catholic church at that time about how much freedom to allow the individual, especially convent nuns. Pitted those with humanist inclination who supported poetry, writing, arts,and music against those who argued for strict adherence to an aesthetic life solely focused on worshiping God. Sarah Dunant has a great website www.sarahdunant.com with extra images, music, and videos that elaborate on the book."
"The year is 1570, and in the convent of Santa Caterina in the Italian city of Ferrara noble women find space to pursue their lives under God's protection. But any community, however smoothly run, suffers tremors when it takes in someone by force. And the arrival of Santa Caterina's new novice sets in motion a chain of events that will shake the convent to its core.
The sixteen-year-old daughter of a noble family from Milan, Serafina is willful, emotional, sharp, and defiant-young enough to have a life to look forward to and old enough to know when that life is being cut short. Her first night inside the walls is spent in an incandescent rage so violent that the dispensary mistress, Suora Zuana, is dispatched to the girl's cell to sedate her. Thus begins a complex relationship of trust and betrayal between the young rebel and the clever, scholarly nun, who is old enough to be Serafina's mother.
As Serafina rails against her incarceration, others are drawn into the drama: the ancient, mysterious Suora Magdalena-with her history of visions and ecstasies-locked in her cell; the ferociously devout novice mistress Suora Umiliana, who comes to see in the postulant a way to extend her influence; and, watching it all, the abbess, Madonna Chiara, a woman as fluent in politics as she is in prayer. As disorder and rebellion mount, it is the abbess's job to keep the convent stable while, outside its walls, the dictates of the Counter-Reformation begin to purge the Catholic Church and impose on the nunneries a regime of terrible oppression.
Sarah Dunant, the bestselling author of The Birth of Venus and In the Company of the Courtesan, brings this intricate Renaissance world compellingly to life. Amid Sacred Hearts is a rich, engrossing, multifaceted love story, encompassing the passions of the flesh, the exultation of the spirit, and the deep, enduring power of friendship. As everyone who reads this blog regularly knows, I am a sucker for historical fiction and I can honestly say Dunant is one of the reasons why. the Birth of Venus was excellent and this book is just as good, if not better. It's obvious she does her research- I love the fact she lists her sources at the end of the book- and that she's passionate about her subject matter. She touches on two of my favorite things, nuns and herbalism and she does it in such a way that it's interesting to see how she weaves them together."
"Sacred Hearts is a story set in the late 1500's in an Italian convent. A few historical notes are necessary in order to fully understand the story. First, at this time in order for a noblewoman to be married as befit someone of her class, a large dowry was necessary--so large that many families couldn't afford to marry off more than one daughter. Since women needed to be taken care of, the solution was to put them in convents. According to the author, as many as 50% of the noblewomen of that time ended up as nuns, and not out of a spirit of holiness or vocation. Secondly, this book took place shortly after the Council of Trent. The short version is that the Council of Trent was the Catholic Church's response to the Protestant reformation. It tried to rid the Church of some of the abused complained about by the reformers without accepting their heretical doctrines. One thing called for by the Council of Trent was the strict enclosure of nuns and the enforcement of a simple monastic lifestyle.
This story beings the night a young novice is brought to the convent. She was in love, wanted to marry the guy, but Dad said "no" and packed her off the this convent, in a different city. She is having a tantrum and keeping everyone up. The dispensary mistress brings her a sleeping potion to calm her. Shortly thereafter the abbess assigns the novice to work with the dispensary mistress, who, twenty years ago, was quite distressed to find herself dispatched to the convent upon the death of her father.
This is really one of those books that is more about the characters than the plot. The abbess is a skilled politician and leader, trying to stave off outside interference and keep the inside troops in her corner. She realizes most of her nuns are there for practical reasons, not spiritual and while she looks after their spiritual well-being, she also tries to maintain the status quo of a reasonably pleasant lifestyle. The novice mistress is the abbess' main competitor for power, and she wants to purify the convent, make it less worldly, more focused on God. There are nuns who are insane and those who are just plain mean.
The book is very well written and contains an extensive bibliography. It is the third book in a series (I haven't read the others) about the life of women in that time. In some ways these nuns were little better than prisoners--their fathers "sentenced" them to the convent. While they had to make vows, their lack of other viable choices limited their freedom to say "no". However, the wealthy brought dowrys with them that allowed them to comfortably furnish their cells. There were servant sisters who waited on and cleaned up after the choir (wealthy) sisters. The choir sisters had a vote in the management of the convent. When compared to an arranged marriage to a man who beat you, convent life didn't look so bad.
If you like historical fiction focused on women, I think you'll like this. At 400 pages it is a little longer than my average read, but was well worth it."
"This richly layered historical narrative provided a fascinating glimpse into an often-overlooked facet of Renaissance life. Serafina is willful, passionate and adamantly unwilling to accept her fate and a life in the convent. While she plots her escape and creates a web of deception that only her advisor Zuana can penetrate, the rest of the convent struggles to reconcile her presence and her rebellion with the potential for glory that her renowned singing voice might bring them. At the same time the abbess seeks desperately to remain a convent apart while the greater church invokes new restrictions on the tiny luxuries the nuns still enjoy.
I was engaged and invested while reading this book - at first I was thoroughly on Serafina's side; as the story wore on, I felt more and more for Zuana and her own struggles. By the end of this complex retelling of a star-crossed lovers tale, I was both happy with the outcome and extraordinarily sad for all of the women involved. I give Dunant and Sacred Hearts five stars and highly recommend it as an intense and thought-provoking read."
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