A novel of sensitive dedication. The Atlantic Monthly
Rumer Godden deals precisely with the theme of the religious life . . . as representing the heart of holiness of the Church. It is at once a life of great peace and often equally intense struggle. America magazine
This extraordinarily sensitive and insightful portrait of religious life centers on Philippa Talbot, a highly successful professional woman who leaves her life among the London elite to join a cloistered Benedictine community. In this gripping narrative of the crises surrounding the ancient Brede abbey, Rumer Godden penetrates to the mysterious, inner heart of a religious communitya place of complexity and conflict, as well as joy and love. It is a place where Philippa, to her own surprise and her friends astonishment, finds her life by losing it.
