Book I of the Cumbrian Chronicles
By Linda Marie Brown
Have you ever wondered what life in a medieval monastery or convent was like? This is a book that goes a long way into giving insight into that experience. Musings of a Medieval Abbess is written in diary form by the fictional character known as Isentrude, an Augustinian nun. She lives in the northernmost parts of England during the time of the War of the Roses (mid-1400s). The book is pastoral, following the ebb and flow of the seasons and the goings on at the abbey. It’s a fairly quiet and reflective book offering a respite from our own highly fraught time.
It’s difficult to tell how accurate the book is to the period because Isentrude often has remarkable insights about her station in life, the Church, and the politics of the time. Indeed, her journal would be regarded heretical, if ever discovered—so she keeps it hidden. As Abbess, she is in a unique position of running an abbey but having no real peers. Her only confidante is a younger nun who she took under her wing decades prior. They often function as a team taking on challenges together as the years go by.
One of the most interesting parts of the book concerns how much freedom women had in during the era. Most of the nuns Isentrude leads do not have any religious calling but end up in the abbey as a kind of last resort. Trying to lead a group of women with different backgrounds, motivations, and talents during trying times constantly tests Isentrude. Because the Augustinian Order is a teaching and healing order, the abbey runs an orphanage, copies manuscripts, and tries to minister to the local community all while trying to be self-sufficient.
Also portrayed in the book are some of the tumultuous secular politics and shifting allegiances during the War of the Roses. The Abbey tries to stay neutral while knowing certain power players could dissolve their religious institution. Church politics are also something Isentrude learns to negotiate in her years being Abbess. Running an institution of women in a man’s world requires a set of skillfully acquired tools.
If you like medieval, historical fiction especially that explores the lives of women in the Church, this may be for you.
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Down the Treacle Well
Timeless Tulips, Dark Diamonds- A Ghost Story
Into the Land of Snows
Elephants Never Forgotten
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