Robyn Cadwallader. (2015). The Anchoress: A Novel. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Robyn Cadwallader. 2015. The Anchoress: A Novel. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Robyn Cadwallader, The Anchoress: A Novel. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015.

Robyn Cadwallader. The Anchoress: A Novel. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015.

OverDrive Product Record

images

• cover:
  • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/2390-1/{7E08F763-404A-4C6A-9049-C85CFA6EB1BF}Img100.jpg
  • type: image/jpeg
• thumbnail:
  • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/2390-1/{7E08F763-404A-4C6A-9049-C85CFA6EB1BF}Img200.jpg
  • type: image/jpeg
• cover150Wide:
  • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/2390-1/7E0/8F7/63/{7E08F763-404A-4C6A-9049-C85CFA6EB1BF}Img150.jpg
  • type: image/jpeg
• cover300Wide:
  • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/2390-1/7E0/8F7/63/{7E08F763-404A-4C6A-9049-C85CFA6EB1BF}Img400.jpg
  • type: image/jpeg

formats

1. • identifiers:
     1. • type: ISBN
        • value: 9780374712617
   • name: Adobe EPUB eBook
   • id: ebook-epub-adobe
2. • identifiers:
     1. • type: ASIN
        • value: B00OO10X80
   • name: Kindle Book
   • id: ebook-kindle
3. • identifiers:
     1. • type: ISBN
        • value: 9780374712617
   • name: OverDrive Read
   • id: ebook-overdrive

otherFormatIdentifiers

1. • type: ISBN
   • value: 9780374104252

mediaType

eBook

primaryCreator

• role: Author
• name: Robyn Cadwallader

isOwnedByCollections

True

title

The Anchoress

dateAdded

2015-10-19T21:04:20.007Z

contentDetails

1. • href: https://link.overdrive.com?websiteID=141&titleID=2001433
   • type: text/html
   • account:
     • name: Sacramento Public Library (CA)
     • id: 1151

sortTitle

Anchoress A Novel

crossRefId

2001433

subtitle

A Novel

id

7E08F763-404A-4C6A-9049-C85CFA6EB1BF

starRating

3.7

OverDrive MetaData

isPublicDomain

False

formats

1. • fileName: TheAnchoress_9780374712617_2001433
   • partCount: 0
   • fileSize: 521448
   • identifiers:
     1. • type: ISBN
        • value: 9780374712617
   • rights:
     1. • type: Copying
        • value: 0
     2. • type: Printing
        • value: 0
     3. • type: Lending
        • value: 0
     4. • type: ReadAloud
        • value: 0
     5. • type: ExpirationRights
        • value: 0
   • name: Adobe EPUB eBook
   • isReadAlong: False
   • id: ebook-epub-adobe
   • onSaleDate: 5/12/2015
   • samples:
     1. • source: From the book
        • formatType: ebook-overdrive
        • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/anchoress-7e08f7?.epub-sample.overdrive.com
2. • fileName: TheAnchoress_2001433
   • partCount: 0
   • fileSize: 0
   • identifiers:
     1. • type: ASIN
        • value: B00OO10X80
   • name: Kindle Book
   • isReadAlong: False
   • id: ebook-kindle
   • onSaleDate: 5/12/2015
   • samples:
     1. • source: From the book
        • formatType: ebook-overdrive
        • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/anchoress-7e08f7?.epub-sample.overdrive.com
3. • fileName: TheAnchoress_9780374712617_2001433
   • partCount: 0
   • fileSize: 521449
   • identifiers:
     1. • type: ISBN
        • value: 9780374712617
   • name: OverDrive Read
   • isReadAlong: False
   • id: ebook-overdrive
   • onSaleDate: 5/12/2015
   • samples:
     1. • source: From the book
        • formatType: ebook-overdrive
        • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/anchoress-7e08f7?.epub-sample.overdrive.com

keywords

1. • value: literary fiction
2. • value: literary works
3. • value: Historical Fiction
4. • value: Psychological fiction
5. • value: medieval fiction
6. • value: medieval historical fiction
7. • value: British historical fiction
8. • value: Australian authors
9. • value: best historical fiction
10. • value: spiritual fiction
11. • value: psychological novel
12. • value: english historical fiction
13. • value: literary novels
14. • value: historical fiction novels
15. • value: psychological realism
16. • value: historical fiction books
17. • value: books historical fiction
18. • value: literary books
19. • value: best literary fiction
20. • value: best historical fiction books
21. • value: best historical fiction novels
22. • value: books literary fiction
23. • value: england historical fiction
24. • value: middle ages fiction
25. • value: middle ages historical fiction
26. • value: medieval novels
27. • value: middle ages novels

creators

1. • role: Author
   • fileAs: Cadwallader, Robyn
   • bioText: Robyn Cadwallader has published numerous prizewinning short stories and reviews, as well as a book of poetry and a nonfiction book based on her PhD thesis concerning attitudes toward virginity and women in the Middle Ages. She lives among vineyards outside Canberra, Australia, when not traveling to England for research and visiting ancient archaeological sites along the way. The Anchoress is her first novel.
   • name: Robyn Cadwallader

imprint

Sarah Crichton Books

publishDate

2015-05-12T00:00:00-04:00

isOwnedByCollections

True

title

The Anchoress

fullDescription

England, 1255. What could drive a girl on the cusp of womanhood to lock herself away from the world forever?
Sarah is just seventeen when she chooses to become an anchoress, a holy woman shut away in a cell that measures only seven by nine paces, at the side of the village church. Fleeing the grief of losing a much-loved sister in childbirth as well as pressure to marry the local lord's son, she decides to renounce the world—with all its dangers, desires, and temptations—and commit herself to a life of prayer.
But it soon becomes clear that the thick, unforgiving walls of Sarah's cell cannot protect her as well as she had thought. With the outside world clamoring to get in and the intensity of her isolation driving her toward drastic actions, even madness, her body and soul are still in grave danger. When she starts hearing the voice of the previous anchoress whispering to her from the walls, Sarah finds herself questioning what she thought she knew about the anchorhold, and about the village itself.
With the lyricism of Nicola Griffith's Hild and the vivid historical setting of Hannah Kent's Burial Rites, Robyn Cadwallader's powerful debut novel tells an absorbing story of faith, desire, shame, fear, and the very human need for connection and touch. Compelling, evocative, and haunting, The Anchoress is both quietly heartbreaking and thrillingly unpredictable.

reviews

1. • premium: False
   • source: Sarah Dunant, The New York Times Book Review
   • content:

     "Affecting . . . finely drawn . . . a considerable achievement for a debut novel."

2. • premium: False
   • source: Elizabeth Gilbert
   • content: "Sarah's story is so beautiful, so rich, so strange, unexpected, and thoughtful-also suspenseful. The narrative examines the question of whether a woman can ever really retreat from the world, or whether the world will always find a way to come after you . . . I loved this book."
3. • premium: False
   • source: Geraldine Brooks
   • content: "Robyn Cadwallader does the real work of historical fiction, creating a detailed, sensuous and richly imagined shard of the past. She has successfully placed her narrator, the anchoress, in that tantalizing, precarious, delicate realm: convincingly of her own distant era, yet emotionally engaging and vividly present to us in our own."
4. • premium: False
   • source: Booklist (starred review)
   • content: "Cadwallader's vivid period descriptions set a stunning backdrop for this beautiful first novel."
5. • premium: False
   • source: The Guardian
   • content: "An ambitious debut . . . [offers] pleasures of a subtle and delicate kind . . . Cadwallader plays gracefully with medieval ideas about gender, power and writing"
6. • premium: False
   • source: The Sydney Morning Herald
   • content: "Cadwallader's writing evokes a heightened attention to the senses: you might never read a novel so sensuous yet unconcerned with romantic love. For this alone it is worth seeking out. But also because The Anchoress achieves what every historical novel attempts: reimagining the past while opening a new window - like a squint, perhaps - to our present lives."
7. • premium: True
   • source:
   • content:

     March 15, 2015
     Quiet, assured debut novel set in medieval England, concerning a young woman's entry into the religious life-one as tumultuous as anything on the outside. Early on in Australian writer Cadwallader's narrative, we learn that young Sarah, still a teenager, has lost her sister in childbirth: "Emma didn't speak, just looked at me, her eyes fading. Blood dripped, then ran." The elegant understatement of that terrible moment speaks to Cadwallader's approach throughout: the England of the mid-13th century is a place of rupture, oppression, intolerance, and violence outside, but within the tight-holding walls of the Midlands church and the "rough lodging" it offers, little of that outside world can enter. Even so, in time, Sarah, though seeking escape, engages with that world-and she must, for it presses in on all sides. And besides, she's not quite cut out for the isolation. Cadwallader is a poet of loneliness; few writers have captured so completely the essential madness that accompanies hermitage, the grayness and sameness of each and every day: "The stones were faces that came out when my candle was alight, some laughing, some staring, some as sad as me." She is also very good at describing the power relations that inhere in religious hierarchy ("Sister, I'm your confessor and guide. You are to obey me in all things, as your Rule says") without resorting to too-easy anachronisms, though Sarah does have her protofeminist moments. In a time when self-assertion was tantamount to sin, Cadwallader's language and tone seem just right. Readers may wish there were a little more action to move the story along, but this is an appropriately contemplative piece that is kin less to Ellis Peters' Cadfael mysteries than to Mary Sharratt's Illuminations as imaginings of medieval faith and the faithful. Sympathetic, fully realized characters and good use of period details make this a winning work of historical fiction.

8. • premium: True
   • source:
   • content:

     May 15, 2015
     

     In 13th-century England, 17-year-old Sarah seals herself in a tiny cell attached to the village church, having chosen to renounce the outside world and live out her days in prayer as the new anchoress. What motivates a young woman to live such an ascetic and isolated life is slowly disclosed during the course of the novel, and what is revealed brings into focus questions related to gender, sexuality, power, fear, shame, and the nature of faith. VERDICT Careful historical research is blended subtly in this impressive, nuanced debut. While the slow pacing and shift of narration between Sarah and her confessor, Father Ranaulf, might deter some readers, the prose is fluid, lyrical, and accessible. The details on a little-known aspect of medieval monastic life and the tension between Sarah's desire to withdraw from the world and yet remain very much a part of it makes for compelling reading.--Lyndsie Robinson, Milne Lib., SUNY Oneonta

     Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

9. • premium: True
   • source:
   • content:

     October 1, 2015
     

     Sarah, a 17-year-old English girl who lives during the 13th century, chooses to become an anchoress at her local church. This means that she is to live forever in a tiny, dank room attached to the church with only three windows and a door nailed shut. A priest receives her weekly confession and offers spiritual advice. Sarah counsels her two maids, who live in an adjacent room, and also advises local villagers. The rest of the time she prays for the welfare of the village and her patron, Sir Thomas, who provides for her care. What events led to an educated young woman becoming a holy woman? And can she possibly stay dedicated to God? While not for every teen, this lovely, spiritual novel is perfect for readers questioning or reaffirming their belief system. Sarah truly believes that becoming an anchoress will keep her from harm, but even a nailed door cannot prevent evil. The church and townsfolk have secrets, and young women during this time period were never safe or free to make their own decisions. There's no romance in this novel, but the layered relationship that Sarah develops with the manuscript creator, Father Ranaulf, is well done and nuanced. Full of searching prayer, saints' tales, mystery, and quiet rebellion, this is a unique literary novel that can be paired with John Boyne's A History of Loneliness (Farrar, 2015). VERDICT Recommended for soul-searching literary teen readers.-Sarah Hill, Lake Land College, Mattoon, IL

     Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

10. • premium: True
    • source:
    • content:

      Starred review from March 1, 2015
      At 17, Sarah voluntarily enters a small cell to be permanently secluded from medieval English society. By taking the vows of an anchoress, she has dedicated herself to praying for others. Her only contact is to be with her maids, the priest who is her confessor, and the women of the village, who will come to her for intercessions and advice. In this life, Sarah desires safety, simplicity, and a release from the judgments and expectations of the outside world, leaving nothing between herself and God. She soon finds, though, that not even in her tiny chamber can she fully retreat. Dealing with unforeseen trials, fearing temptations of the flesh, and wrestling with heartbreaking memories of losing her sister, she contemplates for the first time the possibility of failure in her new role. Cadwallader's vivid period descriptions set a stunning backdrop for this beautiful first novel as Sarah rejects a larger world that will not allow her to live on her own terms and goes about creating a smaller one that will. Sarah's path will intrigue readers at the crossroads of historical fiction, spirituality, and even feminism as she faces the internal and external pressures on women of the Middle Ages.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

11. • premium: True
    • source:
    • content:

      A small, dark cell in 13th-century England is the setting for the majority of Robyn Cadwallader’s debut novel, which arrives with some anticipation after being sold at auction into multiple territories. Seventeen-year-old Sarah has willingly confined herself to a cell attached to the back of the village church; as an ‘anchoress’ she is expected to devote her life to God, to be a confessor to the village’s women, and to be a living relic to help the village prosper. However, Sarah soon realises that she cannot shut the world out, and nor can she escape her past. The main character’s confinement creates a claustrophobic read. This is counteracted, however, by several chapters written from the perspective of Sarah’s confessor and scribe Ranaulf. While the plot is slow to unravel, there are some profound and beautifully written passages that give this book literary weight. Cadwallader’s portrayal of 13th-century England is not based on true events, but the author has previously written a PhD on women and virginity in this period. The Anchoress is recommended for fans of historical fiction, including books such as Hannah Kent’s Burial Rites.

      Chloe Townson is an avid reader and bookseller at Riverbend Books in Brisbane

popularity

92

links

• self:
  • href: https://api.overdrive.com/v1/collections/v1L1BWwAAAA2I/products/7e08f763-404a-4c6a-9049-c85cfa6eb1bf/metadata
  • type: application/vnd.overdrive.api+json

id

7e08f763-404a-4c6a-9049-c85cfa6eb1bf

starRating

3.7

images

• cover:
  • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/2390-1/{7E08F763-404A-4C6A-9049-C85CFA6EB1BF}Img100.jpg
  • type: image/jpeg
• thumbnail:
  • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/2390-1/{7E08F763-404A-4C6A-9049-C85CFA6EB1BF}Img200.jpg
  • type: image/jpeg
• cover150Wide:
  • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/2390-1/7E0/8F7/63/{7E08F763-404A-4C6A-9049-C85CFA6EB1BF}Img150.jpg
  • type: image/jpeg
• cover300Wide:
  • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/2390-1/7E0/8F7/63/{7E08F763-404A-4C6A-9049-C85CFA6EB1BF}Img400.jpg
  • type: image/jpeg

isPublicPerformanceAllowed

False

languages

1. • code: en
   • name: English

subjects

1. • value: Fiction
2. • value: Literature
3. • value: Historical Fiction

publishDateText

05/12/2015

otherFormatIdentifiers

1. • type: ISBN
   • value: 9780374104252

mediaType

eBook

shortDescription

England, 1255. What could drive a girl on the cusp of womanhood to lock herself away from the world forever?
Sarah is just seventeen when she chooses to become an anchoress, a holy woman shut away in a cell that measures only seven by nine paces, at the side of the village church. Fleeing the grief of losing a much-loved sister in childbirth as well as pressure to marry the local lord's son, she decides to renounce the world—with all its dangers, desires, and temptations—and commit herself to a life of prayer.
But it soon becomes clear that the thick, unforgiving walls of Sarah's cell cannot protect her as well as she had thought. With the outside world clamoring to get in and the intensity of her isolation driving her toward drastic actions, even madness, her body and soul are still in grave danger. When she starts hearing the voice of the previous anchoress whispering to her from the walls, Sarah finds herself questioning what she thought she knew...

sortTitle

Anchoress A Novel

crossRefId

2001433

subtitle

A Novel

publisher

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

bisacCodes

1. • code: FIC014000
   • description: FICTION / Historical / General
2. • code: FIC019000
   • description: Fiction / Literary