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 convent to its core.
Ripped by her family from an illicit love affair, sixteen-year-old
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, for whom the girl
becomes the daughter she will never have.
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.
"From the Hardcover edition."
General
Imprint: |
Random House Trade Paperbacks
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
April 2010 |
First published: |
April 2010 |
Authors: |
Sarah Dunant
|
Dimensions: |
203 x 132 x 24mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Trade
|
Pages: |
448 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-8129-7405-8 |
Categories: |
Books >
Fiction >
Genre fiction >
Historical fiction
|
LSN: |
0-8129-7405-0 |
Barcode: |
9780812974058 |
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