From a remarkable new Australian author comes The Anchoress, a story set in the thirteenth century within the confines of a stone cell measuring seven paces by nine. Tiny in scope but universal in themes, it is a wonderful, wholly compelling fictional achievement. '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.' Geraldine Brooks 'An intense, atmospheric and very assured debut, this is one of the most eagerly anticipated novels of the year ...This one will will appeal to readers who loved Hannah Kent's bestselling Burial Rites.' Caroline Baum Set in the twelfth century, The Anchoress tells the story of Sarah, only seventeen when she chooses to become an anchoress, a holy woman shut away in a small cell, measuring seven paces by nine, at the side of the village church. Fleeing the grief of losing a much-loved sister in childbirth and the pressure to marry, she decides to renounce the world, with all its dangers, desires and temptations, and to commit herself to a life of prayer and service to God. But as she slowly begins to understand, even the thick, unforgiving walls of her cell cannot keep the outside world away, and it is soon clear that Sarah's body and soul are still in great danger...As a publisher, this novel just stopped me in my tracks - wonderfully intimate and compelling, it tells an absorbing story of faith, desire, shame, fear and the very human need for connection and touch. The Anchoress is both mesmerising and thrillingly unpredictable. Robyn Cadwallader writes: 'Who was she? Why did she choose enclosure? Was she afraid, excited, certain, doubtful? What about her family? And what would this small dark place be like as a home? In my mind, I went inside the cell. What was her experience: bodily, emotionally, spiritually, mentally? She was no longer just a weird idea; she was a woman. Sarah. My anchoress.'
- ISBN:
- 9780732299217
- 9780732299217
- Category:
- Historical Fiction
- Format:
- Paperback
- Publication Date:
- 27-01-2015
- Publisher:
- HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd
- Country of origin:
- Australia
- Pages:
- 320
- Dimensions (mm):
- 234x155x23mm
- Weight:
- 0.43kg
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Reviews
2 Reviews
In her debut novel, Australian historian Robyn Cadwallader tells the story of seventeen year old Sarah, who opts to become an Anchoress by enclosing herself for life in a cell nine by seven paces.
Told mainly from the perspective of the enclosed Sarah, keeping a reader engaged with her limited life is a challenge, one that I feel Cadwallader meets well.
Although the setting is medieval, it allows for a fantastic exploration of what it is to be human in any era, and is a wonderful work of literary historical fiction.
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