The anchoress

By Robyn Cadwallader

Subjects: History, Monasticism and religious orders for women, FICTION / Historical, Fiction, Young women, Hermits, Fiction, historical, Young women, fiction, Fiction, historical, general, New York Times reviewed, FICTION / Literary, Great britain, fiction

Description: "England, 1255. Sarah is only seventeen when she chooses to become an anchoress, a holy woman much like Saint Hildegard of Bingen, shut away in a small cell, measuring seven by nine paces, 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. But it soon becomes clear that even the thick, unforgiving walls of her cell cannot keep the outside world away, and Sarah's body and soul are still in great danger"--