Sacred Hearts: A Novel

by Sarah Dunant | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 9781400063826 Global Overview for this book
Registered by k00kaburra of San Jose, California USA on 6/13/2009
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3 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by k00kaburra from San Jose, California USA on Saturday, June 13, 2009
Rec'd form the publisher for review.

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From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Dunant (The Birth of Venus) revisits 16th-century Italy, where the convents are filled with the daughters of noblemen who are unable or unwilling to pay a dowry to marry them off. The Santa Caterina convent's newest novice, Serafina, is miserable, having been shunted off by her father to separate her from a forbidden romance. She also has a singing voice that will be the glory of the convent and—more importantly to some—a substantial bonus for the convent's coffers. The convent's apothecary, Suora Zuana, strikes up a friendship with Serafina, enlisting her as an assistant in the convent dispensary and herb garden, but despite Zuana's attempts to help the girl adjust, Serafina remains focused on escaping. Serafina's constant struggle and her faith (of a type different from that common to convents) challenge Zuana's worldview and the political structure of Santa Caterina. A cast of complex characters breathe new life into the classic star-crossed lovers trope while affording readers a look at a facet of Renaissance life beyond the far more common viscounts and courtesans. Dunant's an accomplished storyteller, and this is a rich and rewarding novel. (Aug.)
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Journal Entry 2 by k00kaburra from San Jose, California USA on Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Started reading yesterday.

Journal Entry 3 by k00kaburra from San Jose, California USA on Sunday, July 19, 2009
Finished reading maybe a week after I started it?

Journal Entry 4 by k00kaburra from San Jose, California USA on Saturday, August 1, 2009
An absorbing story of convent life in the sixteenth century, Sacred Hearts takes us inside the walls of Santa Caterina and the private lives of its nuns. (Assuming you can call the life in a convent ‘private’, which Sarah Dunant quickly shows is a dubious proposition when the slightest gossip can ripple through its residents in a manner of hours.) In the first few pages we meet our main characters, the dispensary mistress Suora Zuana and newest resident, Serafina. Brought to Santa Caterina against her will, Serafina is desperate to escape and reunite with her lover, but her beautiful singing makes her an asset the nunnery is loathe to lose. Suora Zuana befriends the miserable girl and begins teaching her the knowledge of herbs, which Zuana learned from her father many years before his death forced her into her current home. But even as Serafina begins to adjust to life in the convent, she is constantly planning and keeping her eyes open for opportunities to escape.

The politics and intrigue in this book are intense. You have scheming women and power struggles within the convent, as a nun named Umiliana tries to wrest the convent in a more Spartan, disciplined direction. She butts heads again and again with the abbess, a noblewoman well-versed in the art of collusion. Madonna Chiara, as the abbess is called, negotiates between the small world of the convent and the conflicts of the squabbling Italian noble families and the all-powerful Church, but one can never be sure if she’s serving the convent’s needs or her own desires.

In my imagination, a convent is a place where women sit around all day praying and meditating on the cross, surviving on the charity of church donations to eat and drink. But Dunant’s richly populated novel depicts a community that is vibrant and bustling. The nuns earn coin making medicine in the dispensary for the bishop, and performing plays and concerts for Ferrara’s wealthy elite. Since many of the women are of noble families, they come to the convent with the luxuries of their rank. Rich silks and velvet are used in their garments, lovely dyes are used for clothes and to color sugary marzipan sweets, and pampered little lapdogs are even kept by a few women. But the Counter-Reformation seeks to cut out these worldly ‘extras,’ adding tension to a story already full of passion and repression.

I found Sacred Hearts to be quite entertaining. It has a bit of a slow start, and I think this is largely due to the introduction of so many characters right away. It took me a little while to keep all the nuns and their duties straight. But by the halfway point I was completely absorbed in the world of Santa Caterina. The book was only released two weeks ago, and it is already on nearly one hundred wishlists at Paperbackswap.com, so I bet this will be quite a popular book this summer.

Journal Entry 5 by k00kaburra at RABCK, A Bookcrossing member -- Controlled Releases on Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Released 14 yrs ago (9/1/2009 UTC) at RABCK, A Bookcrossing member -- Controlled Releases

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sent to Mark Falco of Sparks, NV to fulfill a request on Bookmooch.com!

Journal Entry 6 by wampyrii from Sparks, Nevada USA on Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Received about a week ago from a fellow member of Bookmooch.com and passed it on to a family member who rated it an 8/10.

Journal Entry 7 by wingAnonymousFinderwing on Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Received from BookMooch

CAUGHT IN REDDING CALIFORNIA USA

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