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The Anchoress: A Novel Kindle Edition

by Robyn Cadwallader (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 655 ratings
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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.

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  1. Print length
    321 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Sarah Crichton Books
  5. Publication date
    May 12, 2015
  6. File size
    1689 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
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  9. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

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

Review

''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.'' --Elizabeth Gilbert

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

''Cadwallader's vivid period descriptions set a stunning backdrop for this beautiful first novel.'' --Booklist (starred review)

''An ambitious debut . . . [offers] pleasures of a subtle and delicate kind . . . Cadwallader plays gracefully with medieval ideas about gender, power and writing.'' --The Guardian

''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.'' --The Sydney Morning Herald

''With patience and skill, Cadwallader portrays what Sarah's senses can still apprehend, and of how they remind her of the world so near outside, yet unreachable, that she can remember.'' --The Australian

''Quiet, assured debut novel . . . 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 . . . Sympathetic, fully realized characters and good use of period details make this a winning work of historical fiction.'' --Kirkus

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00OO10X80
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sarah Crichton Books (May 12, 2015)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 12, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1689 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 321 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 655 ratings

About the author

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Robyn Cadwallader

Robyn Cadwallader

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Robyn taught English literature, historical fiction and creative writing at Flinders University, South Australia. She is now the author of the internationally acclaimed novel The Anchoress (2015), Book of Colours (2018), and most recently, The Fire and the Rose.

She has also published a poetry collection, i painted unafraid (2010), a non-fiction book based on her PhD thesis about virginity and female agency in the Middle Ages and has edited collection of essays on asylum seeker policy, We Are Better Than This (2017).

Robyn lives among vineyards in the country outside Canberra, where she and her husband tend an orchard and a large veggie patch, look after their small flock of alpacas, three dogs and a couple of chooks. A wonderful array of birdlife keeps them company and vies for the first pickings of the apricot crops. When not writing, she loves to travel and discover worlds past and present.

Robyn is online at:

website: robyncadwallader.com

twitter: @robyncad

facebook:https://www.facebook.com/robyncadwalladerauthor/

instagram: robyncadwallader

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Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
655 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Dora L. Davison
4.0 out of 5 stars The Anchoress
Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2017
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This is the story of Sarah who after witnessing the deaths of her mother and sister to the complications of childbirth has decided to become the Anchoress of the village church. This means that she will be locked away in a small cell where she will spend her time in prayer, contemplation, and counseling of the women of the village. The only man she is to have contact with is the priest who hears her confession. She has two maids that are to see to her well-being and she is to see to their spiritual training.

I had never heard of anchoresses before so this was an interesting concept for me. I think that hearing the nails driven into the door that closed me off from the outside would have been enough to drive me bonkers. This book was well written.
2 people found this helpful
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Irving Warner
5.0 out of 5 stars An admiring view from today, back to 13th century England.
Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2016
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I am in the unusual position of just completing a novel (took me five years plus seven years of research) that takes place entirely in 11`th century England; hence, when I was told of Ms. Cadwallader's "The Anchoress", I bought and read it at once. Her story of anchoress Sarah's first year in seclusion is weird indeed, but a good weird. For starters, this anchorite tradition was a complicated one in the England of the middle ages, and Ms. Cadwallader is a specialist in the topic--and that comes through in every syllable of the novel. The overall gravitas of setting/place is superb. Now I will not include any spoilers here, save to add that I'm guessing this novel will read very differently to a woman than a man. Further, a modern reader must amend (not suspend) their belief> to< the history of the period, and this strangely enough was difficult for me. One of the continuing points of my protagonist was the crises he faced with Christianity, and especially belief in Christ's teachings demonstrated in eleventh century England. But Sarah, to this reader, came off as mad and/or obsessed with (because of...?) her blossoming sexuality, and to me she looked like a very unlikely candidate for a long-run of being an anchoress. A few times she reminded me of Margery Kempe from "The Book of Margery Kempe" with the jumble of visions, semi-hysterics and many other varieties of emotional turmoil. This, I know , is a highly imperfect comparison, for Margery Kempe attained her diverse visions and emotive seizures out loose and free in society, and Sarah was shut up in her 'cell' after circumstances best left unsaid herein. Suffice it to say, the poor girl found out that not all pigs "oink". Yet, her faith and pursuit of Christ's truths and beliefs is singular herein, despite her behavioral aberrations. But let me finish by reiterating what a powerful artistic achievement this novel is, and how much I admire its author. Well done, Ms. Cadwallader!
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3.0 out of 5 stars I recognised immediately the beautiful language befitting of the time setting
Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2016
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This novel is Historical Fiction concerning the thoughts, feelings and ideas of a new Anchoress, Sarah, during the first year and a bit of her enclosure. It is set in 1255 when there is no higher calling than to be holy. Sarah is young, virtuous and strong-willed and as time goes her delusional thoughts challenges her subjugation.
At first, quite slow as Cadwallader paints the scene and characters with such imagery that the reader has no option other than to be drawn into Sarah's world. The descriptive language is superb as the characters are revealed slowly and with purpose.
Although I did not engage with this book until about 5 chapters in, I recognised immediately the beautiful language befitting of the time setting.
In the end, I loved this story but mostly, I loved Sarah.
5 people found this helpful
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4.0 out of 5 stars Medieval terror of women's sexuality
Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2019
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Buy your way to heaven if you're Lord of the Manor by paying a seventeen year old virgin to pray for your soul and shut herself away in a cold stone cell attached to your local chapel. She's desperate to protect herself from your abusive son and her own sexuality to it seems a reasonable arrangement until the realities of life with your door nailed shut from the outside start to bite. Oh...and nothing can keep the vengeful lustful son from taunting you when his dad dies!
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Carol L.
5.0 out of 5 stars Well written and compelling account about a woman's inner life
Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2015
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I really was impressed with the writing of this novel. I think its a great story and very well researched. Though it is set in medieval times and the experience is so far removed from modern 21st century life if you are interested in reading the inner life of this woman who has chosen of life of seclusion and deprivation you can get a real sense of what she may have been thinking to have chosen this for herself. And the story certainly builds and I rushed through the end because of the pace building there. I read this because of reading about the ancrene wisse in a medieval art history class as an undergraduate and always found the concept of the anchoress to be mysterious and compellingly strange.
5 people found this helpful
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Bronwen Jones
4.0 out of 5 stars Mesmerising, a telling tale of the times
Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2017
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I found this story to be a mesmerising read. It seemed to me that the young woman, Sister Sarah, was primarily escaping the options available to a young woman in those times (and with good cause), and that she was actually not a convincing contemplative. I like that the novel finished on a note of hope. An enjoyable read, with a really interesting historical setting.
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Peggy O'Connor
5.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking and insightful.
Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2015
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A very thought provoking book about a particular and little known form of devotion to God. It provides insight into the ongoing nature of faith formation and development as well as the complicated intertwining of life experiences and faith. While at times I wanted the Anchoress to break out of her self inflicted imprisonment, the ending, which showed that both bondage and freedom are more nuanced than simply being locked in and being unbound, was far better than I had hoped.
5 people found this helpful
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mary davies
4.0 out of 5 stars Her depth of knowledge of the medieval world and the heirarchies within it is amazing, along with her detailed knowledge of the
Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2015
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Robyn Cadwallader has provided us with a fascinating glimpse of an old and largely unknown world. Her depth of knowledge of the medieval world and the heirarchies within it is amazing, along with her detailed knowledge of the working of the church in that time. She has clearly researched her subject, but despite this application of scholarship the novel never comes across as a dry historical text. I look forward to her next work.
10 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Corina Furtado
5.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't put it down!
Reviewed in Brazil on October 18, 2020
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I liked the narrative and plot a great deal. Few inconsistencies - considering it to be a story about a medieval time and an anchoress - but, to my liking, it didn't spoil the story. Loved it!
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Gillian Jack
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and captivating
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 11, 2015
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This was a captivating book, one which I both couldn’t put down and dreaded finishing. It is a testament to the author’s skill that she turned a story about a woman willing walling herself into a cell and renouncing the world, something which should have been uneventful and difficult to sympathise with, into something utterly compelling. All the characters are complex and flawed which makes them so much more believable, unpredictable, and human. They are all very much products of there time- something many writers of historical fiction fail to achieve, preferring feisty twenty-first-century women in old frocks. The depth of the author’s historical knowledge is worn lightly: there are no clumsy info dumps here. It is a beautifully written and evocative book.

I love this and look forward to more from this author.
10 people found this helpful
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Dodie
5.0 out of 5 stars Want insight into the religious life in years gone by? This will give it to you.
Reviewed in Australia on July 17, 2015
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I had no idea that women in the past were locked up for life as a religious choice. What an amazing concept! This book tells of one such woman and her adjustment to life in a small cell. Her religious duties as well as her struggle to suppress memories are presented with sympathy and understanding. As I have no religious beliefs I found the whole idea repugnant but fascinating. Village life and the rights of each class within the feudal system in Britain can be seen through the little contact the anchoress has with her maids and the priest who hears her confession. A really interesting story.
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Registrar
4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating insight into the life of an anchoress - didn't ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 10, 2015
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Fascinating insight into the life of an anchoress - didn't even know they existed until I read this book. Don't expect an action packed book because if you do, this isn't it, but it does take you on her journey and internal turmoil and also reveals the lives of the common man in the 13th century and the power of the land owners and church.
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Maureen Helen
4.0 out of 5 stars their dull colour transformed
Reviewed in Australia on October 3, 2015
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I'd put off reading this book. The idea of a seventeen-year-old woman who vowed to live the rest of her life as an anchoress, walled-up alone in a dark cell, repulsed me. Yet I kept finding myself drawn to the story. I wanted to see how a writer would work with such extraordinary material.
Author Robyn Cadwallader is an academic medievalist. Her PhD thesis examined the story of Saint Margaret and attitudes to women in the Middle Ages.
She became interested in the lives of anchoresses during her research.
Why has the protagonist Sarah chosen the life of an anchoress? Perhaps through grief caused by the death of her mother, and later her sister in childbirth. Perhaps to escape the unwanted attentions of Thomas, the son of the Lord of the Manor. Maybe she has a genuine religious vocation.
At the beginning of Sarah's incarceration there is a ceremony which resembles burial rites. She is led in the darkness of night from the church, through the graveyard to a cell on the shady side of the church. Death is all around her.
They laid me down on the floor, scatterings of dirt and words falling on me, into my mouth and eyes. Death desired me and I accepted: 'Here I will stay for ever; this is the home I have chosen.'
Sarah presses her hands against the door of the cell. She feels the nails splintering the wood as the door is sealed. The cell is dark and dank and nine paces long. Stone walls are interrupted by a peep-hole, a 'squint', into the nave of the church, and two small, low windows.
Through her senses of smell and sound, Sarah begins to learn about life of the village outside her cell. She recognises the voices of people who go about daily lives from which she is excluded.
The Anchoress is filled with Robyn Cadwallader's sensuous, richly poetic language.
I left my Rule open and walked around my four walls, touching their roughness, feeling shallow gouges where the masons had chipped them square and flat. When I held my candle to them, their dull colour transformed, glowing yellow even more strongly than it would in sunlight.
The author describes Sarah's desire to please God by fasting, which leads to near starvation and hallucinations. Sarah also experiments with self-flagellation and wearing a hair shirt. The latter results in an erotic dream.
The Anchoress is peopled with Sarah's two maids, her confessor and the village women who visit her for counsel. She catches glimpses of them through the curtained windows. She is privy to gossip. The maids, Louise and Anna, take care of her physical needs. Sarah remembers her mother and sister, Emma. She thinks about the anchoresses who lived in her cell before her. And there is Thomas, who casts a dark shadow.
Through visitors to Sarah's cell, the reader is provided with information about the hard life in a medieval village. We learn of the rhythms of Church and agrarian life. The author also describes the harsh treatment of the villagers by the Lord of the Manor. In a subplot with Sarah's confessor Ranaulf at its centre, we also learn about the making of books by scribes and illustrators.
I'm very glad I read this book, in spite of my previous reservations. This novel is a fine achievement.
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