Historical Fiction

I read this after watching a quite excellent documentary on (the Irish State Broadcaster) RTE about the decline of nuns in the 21st Century and this shows how, for many nuns, it was a refuge, an escape and a prison and sometimes all at once. That they carved out their own place and space within the convent until, often, those outside made decisions that really made the lives of those inside hard or oppressive or both.
Sacred Hearts is set during the Renaissance, just before/during the Council of Trent and there are rumours that things are going to change in the world of the nuns and by change they mean, go to hell in a handbasket for anyone who had any gifts at all. The women in the convent of Santa Caterina who are Benedictines in the City of Ferrara. Their life has a certain order until sixteen-year-old Serafina drops from her unfortunate love affair (in her family's opinion at least) like a stone causing ripples in the peace of the convent. She's up against Madonna Chiara, an abbess from an old family who knows politics and is quite willing to break Serafina if she will not bend. The sister in charge of the Infirmary, Zuana, is trying to give Serafina some understanding.
The lives are complex and messy and you can see the looming changes that will stifle and control these women even further and break more of them, rather than use their talents to the full and for the glory etc. It's complex and everyone has their own agenda and the characters are so different. You can see the questions about being part or not a part of the community and how sometimes a dowry could be an incentive to keep someone in and that not all people were theree because they had a calling, Both tragic and heart-warming and sometimes at the same time. ( )

A story of love, the imprisonment of women in convents when society gives them no alternative, powerplays between women in enclosed worlds where there is little to no immediate contact with the outside world (and the little contact would be taken away soon after this book finishes).

I did enjoy the book and the different relationships between the women and how they have all handled their entry into the convent - or not, as the case may be. I dont normally go for books about religious orders - having gone to a convent school for 14 years I generally have had my fill of real life experiences of nuns ! - but nevertheless am pleased that I have read it to completion.

3.5 stars

In 1570 in the Santa Caterina convent, Suora Zuana manages the dispensary and is called to sedate the newly arrived novice Serafina, who has absolutely no desire to be there. Serafina is known throughout the convent to be an exceptionally talented singer but absolutely refuses to sing; instead, she is assigned to help Zuana in the dispensary. The two develop a highly fraught bond as winds of political change threaten the convent's independence and relative freedom.

For a while, I think ever since I read The Name of the Rose, I'd been wanting to find more books featuring religious orders, especially nuns; this seemed like a really good fit, especially since I also enjoy reading about the Renaissance. The setting was vivid, and I found it really interesting how much political machination played out in the convent - it was really interesting to see these nuns being quite aware of goings-on in the outside world, especially with the backdrop of the Counter-Reformation. I didn't love the ending (it felt a little overdone, though I'm satisfied with the overall resolution to the plot), but I could see myself picking up another of Dunant's works in the future. ( )

Although I will remember the theme and conclusion, it was painfully slow reading. The story moved eventually. Zuana, as the dispenser of remedies following her father’s instructions, accepted her way of life. When the young nun full of life and sent to the convent to prevent a marriage, Serafina, comes into the convent Zuana seems to realize how cruel their ways can be to make young girls conform. As the friend of the abbess she helps the reader understand the political aspects as well as the spiritual rules. Serafina first rebels, tries accepting through her singing, then is encouraged to fast to the extreme. ( )