When young novice Serafina enters the convent at Santa Caterina, she is desperately unhappy and makes sure all the other nuns and novices know about it. Dowry prices for Italian aristocrats have risen so high that families with more than one daughter were forced to send the others to a convent. The convents were not as strict as they could be and girls were allowed to see their families, receive gifts, and make their lives easier, but there was no question that they were wed to God, and Serafina wants to be wed to someone else. Madonna Chiara sends the dispensary sister, Suora Zuana, to Serafina to calm her with her medical skills. The women form a friendship, but Serafina’s determination and zeal will not be quenched.
I enjoyed this book a surprisingly large amount. I loved the detailed peek into Italian convent life in particular. The pace of the book is occasionally slow, but it seems to match perfectly the pace of convent life, with the hours specifically devoted to work and prayer and not much in between. I was never bored, but actually spellbound by the entire book. The politics in the convent were fascinating; some sisters are in favor of new reforms that threaten to close off all convent life from the outside, even though this violates the understanding by which most women entered the convent in the first place. Others can’t imagine losing close contact with families, friends, and occasional luxuries, much less the prospect of losing the ability to hold concerts and plays. The drama and the manipulation that goes on to swing the convent one way or the other was fascinating to me, and these elements form the basis for part of the plot.
The characters were very interesting too. I’d never wondered much about women who were forced to take the veil. Serafina, however, proves just how frustrating this must be. Her determination and ingenuity make her very attractive as a character even as she complains that she’s been separated from the man she wanted to marry. I found her whole story to be uplifting and very moving. Moreover, Zuana’s interaction with Serafina makes her think about everything that she accepts, and her life is similarly fascinating and saddening. These women are at very different stages in life and as a result Zuana reflects on how she wound up in the convent and what she suffered. It isn’t romance, but these two women combined give a very interesting picture of Italian life.
In the end, I loved Sacred Hearts. I think it’s my favorite novel by Sarah Dunant, and I wasn’t expecting that at all. Highly recommended.
I am an Amazon Associate. I received this book from the publisher for review here.
I really, really have to get my bum bum in gear and read this book. Especially that it sounds like a very interesting story and I need to read something uplifting and moving nowadays.
.-= lilly´s last blog ..2-in-1 : The Book Shopper & Tattoo Machine =-.
Maybe it is because you did not expect it to be good at all that it worked for you. The book sounds really good and has been in my wish list for sometime.
thank you for the gr8 review.
.-= veens´s last blog ..Historical Reading Challenge =-.
I am glad you liked this one as much as I did! I haven’t read anything else by Dunant but I hope to soon.
.-= Stephanie´s last blog ..Book Review: My Darling, My Hamburger =-.
Great review. It made me want to drop everything and read this one today!
.-= Julie P.´s last blog ..December 2009 Book Club Meeting =-.
I really want to read this book; sounds amazing–great review.
.-= diane´s last blog ..190 – The Girl on Legare Street; Karen White – Blog Tour =-.
I really liked this book as well. I haven’t read In the Company of the Courtesan yet, but I think I did like Sacred Hearts better than The Birth of Venus – maybe because it focused on a more contained slice of the world, instead of trying to put its heroine into every major social event of her time? Anyways, I’m glad you liked it too.
.-= Fyrefly´s last blog ..Charlaine Harris – From Dead to Worse =-.
I’m glad I have this book on my TBR pile, then! Good review!
.-= Katy´s last blog ..Review and Blog Tour Stop: Wind of the Spirit by J.M. Hochstetler =-.
Wow, a spellbinding book sounds wonderful! Women sure didn’t have many choices back then.
.-= Kathy´s last blog ..Review: Christmas Cake =-.
I’m glad you liked it! I loved it! And I really liked the characters too, especially Zuana and Serafina. But I remember thinking I would stop after around 70 pages and then all of the sudden I couldn’t put it down. It really made me want to go look for others by Sarah Dunant although I haven’t gotten around to it yet.
.-= rhapsodyinbooks´s last blog ..Unfinished Friday =-.
I was surprised how much I liked this one too. I was a bit nervous because I didn’t like Birth of Venus as much as I thought I was going to. But I really liked this one. For being about nuns and convent life, I was really sucked in.
Great review!
I’m not sure this sounds like the book for me, but I can see how the subject would be fascinating.
.-= heidenkind´s last blog ..Guest Post Plus Giveaway!! =-.
I have this one and just have not had a chance to read it. I’ll have to move it up in the pile…LOL. Thanks for your great review.
.-= Wisteria Leigh´s last blog ..Review- Small Kingdoms, Anastasia Hobbet =-.
Thank you for your great review, Meghan. I’ve been wanting to read this one. I enjoyed The Birth of Venus by the same author.
Great review. Life in a nunnery wasmuch more exciting than people think. Glad you enjoyed this one.
.-= Jennygirl´s last blog ..Review: Defenders of the Scroll by Shiraz =-.
I really enjoyed this one too. I agree that the pacing was slow in parts, but it did seem to add to the atmosphere and mood of the story, and so I didn’t mind it either.
.-= Alyce´s last blog ..The Chunkster Challenge 2010 =-.
She seems to be an author focused on convents? I read The Birth of Venus sometime ago, and that also featured the heroine going into a convent.
Curious to know if this is just a coincidence, or is this a recurring theme in her novels…
.-= Nish´s last blog ..Reading Challenge Status and New Reading Challenges =-.
Sounds really good and I think it’s a logical step in what I think of as her Italian sequence. Italian convents came up a little when I was studying as there’s a bit of a debate about how much convents were really hotbeds of sedition and how much this was a wild exageration of people who wanted to restrict the independence of nuns. Love Sarah Dunant by the way, wonder if this will top ‘In the Company fo the Courtesan’.
.-= Jodie´s last blog ..Bookworms Carnival 44 – Call for Submissions =-.
I’m so glad to hear you liked this one so much. I received an unrequested copy awhile back, and I wasn’t sure what to make of it. I know nothing about this period in history, but it sounds fascinating.
.-= Anna´s last blog ..SEARCHING FOR PEMBERLEY by Mary Lydon Simonsen =-.
I’m so glad that you were spellbound! I have this here to read and now I can’t wait to get to it.
.-= Beth F´s last blog ..Review: Sweeping up Glass by Carolyn Wall =-.
I really enjoyed this one as well. You’re so right, it was slow, but it completely fit the book.
.-= S. Krishna´s last blog ..The Girl Next Door – Elizabeth Noble =-.