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Marj Charlier

Autore di The Rebel Nun

3 opere 51 membri 4 recensioni

Opere di Marj Charlier

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This is a fictional account of an incident at a monastery in sixth-century France, in which Clotild, the titular rebel nun, leads an action protesting political machinations within the monastery and the resulting negative living conditions for the sisters. This uprising was doomed from the outset, and this narrative is often quite bleak. There are also, conversely, moments of Sister Act-style levity and absurdity that somehow felt both out of place and perfectly appropriate.

In my mind, The Rebel Nun cannot avoid comparisons with Lauren Groff's [b:Matrix|57185348|Matrix|Lauren Groff|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1617287438l/57185348._SY75_.jpg|87447766], another recent novel that reimagines the history of women in the Catholic church. And like Matrix, I thought a few minor elements of the story felt a bit off, and the story often dragged and grew a bit tedious with extraneous details. But overall, I enjoyed both books a great deal, and am in awe at the imagination and attention to detail of the authors.… (altro)
 
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RandyRasa | 2 altre recensioni | Sep 1, 2022 |
Marj Charlier's The Rebel Nun is a swiftly moving, absorbing read. Based on a little-known historical event, when a Sixth-Century nun led her spiritual sisters to rebel against growing patriarchal control of the Christian church. Clotild, the central character, had hopes of being elected abbess of the female monastery of the Holy Cross. When the (male, of course) bishop awards the title to someone else, despite a tradition of the sisters electing their own abbess, Clotild grows increasingly direct in challenging the changes to her monastery and to the faith in general.

Clotild, at least as depicted by Charlier, isn't the Sixth-Century nun you might expect. It's not just that she rebels, not just that she leads her sisters on a multi-day trek to appeal to Clotild's royal relatives and church higher-ups, not just that she strikes a bargain with an angry warrior who has his own reasons for hating the bishop making life miserable at Holy Cross. She's also a polytheist—"wedded" to Christ, but still worshiping ancient goddesses and engaging in rituals to honor them. In other words, Clotild isn't just a thorn in the church's side, she's a heretic.

The Rebel Nun is one of those works of historical fiction that brings a present-day sensibility to the past. Sometimes that works; sometimes it doesn't. Here, it's mostly effective, though at moments I found myself wondering if her reasoning or language really reflected her times. I also appreciate the depiction of a sea-change in the Christian church as the faith became increasingly patriarchal. The faith has had so many different guises over the centuries, but the Sixth Century changed the faith for the next fifteen-hundred years to follow, and still dominates many current religious practices and assumptions.

Read this book if you're looking for an imperfect, but gutsy heroine, if you're interested in church history, or if you're interested in trying to perceive the world through the zeitgeist of other eras. You'll find Clotild makes for very good company.

I received a free electronic ARC of this title from the publisher for review purposes; the opinions are my own.
… (altro)
 
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Sarah-Hope | 2 altre recensioni | Apr 26, 2021 |
For more reviews and bookish posts please visit: https://www.ManofLaBook.com

The Rebel Nun by Marj Charlier is a historical fiction story, centered on Clotild who led nuns in a rebellion against the patriarchy of the church. Ms. Charlier is a published author and journalist

Clotild is the bastard daughter of a king. During the sixth-century, at the age of 13, she enters a convent which is the only place she can be guaranteed safety from the king’s former wives.

During her time, Clotlid enjoyed the relative safety, comradery, and purpose of being a nun. When the abbess dies, Clotlid – as well as the other nuns – believe that she is the natural choice to run the famous Monastery of the Holy Cross.

The bishop of Poitiers, however, blocks Clotlid’s appointment so he can take control of the Monastery along with its holly relic, a splinter from the “True Cross”, while making the nuns’ lives difficult. Clotlid and several other nuns escape and start a dangerous journey to appeal to their royal relatives for help. The bishop refuses to back down and the nuns find themselves, for the first time, fighting armed men.

This book was very well put together. The narrative was tight, story was very interesting, characters were fleshed out, and the writing was fantastic.

Unlike many other works of fiction, or historical fiction, The Rebel Nun by Marj Charlier looks kindly upon medieval monasteries. Many girls and women didn’t have many choices, even, and sometimes especially, if they came from royalty. Nun, wife and mother, prostitute where usually the only options many women had. And sadly, in many places in the world this is still true.

The descriptions of the positive aspects of the nunnery, the peace of mind and protection it afforded to women really have a huge impact on this story. It explains why many of them were willing to risk life and limb for the institution.

Even though this novel takes place centuries ago, it is a very contemporary story. Clotild sees the few rights and privileges she has as a woman erodes in-front of her as the Catholic Church changes it’s dogma to disenfranchise women, and is powerless to do anything about it. Instead of sitting back, she takes matters into her own hands, hoping to make a change.

This book told a strong, dramatic story in a very skilled way. It was a sad, but inspiring novel, of the struggle of women to fight against a religious / societal system, changing to specifically to disenfranchise them.
… (altro)
 
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ZoharLaor | 2 altre recensioni | Mar 24, 2021 |
Marcia returns to her hometown in Iowa after an internship in Central America. She wants to make this a quick stop to tie up some loose ends then start on her life do-over. What she returns home to is more than loose ends it's a tangled mess that has her moored in Johnson Station for an undetermined amount of time.
She's in her late fifties, and she's already approaching her sell-by date, and she needs to find a job fast to help her get out of this mess that is no fault of her own. Also getting a job at her age is a lot harder than she anticipated even with her skills.
Marcia wants out of this oppressive town so bad, and experience a new life in a large city that she can lose herself in and become the woman she feels she's destined to become. But unfortunately, life has a way of getting in her way.
I found this bittersweet novel to be a very relatable read. the characters are very enduring; this is the third book in this series, but it does well as a stand-alone.
Disclosure: I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an e-galley of this book to read and give my honest opinion. The opinions I expressed above are my own.
… (altro)
 
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sj1335 | Oct 21, 2018 |

Statistiche

Opere
3
Utenti
51
Popolarità
#311,767
Voto
½ 3.7
Recensioni
4
ISBN
12
Lingue
1

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