If The Anchoress by Robyn Cadwallader isn’t already on your radar, it should be.
Told in exquisite prose, it’s ostensibly the story of Sarah, a medieval nun who, at the age of 17, locks herself away from the world in a tomb-like room to pray; but it’s much more than that.
It’s a tale of grief as Sarah comes to terms with the loss of both her mother and sister in childbirth. It’s a narrative of gender politics, as she negotiates her weekly interaction with her father confessor, Ranaulf; fends off the unwanted advances of the local feudal lord, Sir Thomas; and bears witness to the scars inflicted on village women who have little power in a patriarchal, church-dominated world. It’s also a story about art and its possibility of liberation and redemption, whether it’s the art of the illuminated manuscripts that Ranaulf works on, or the art of living, of attuning to the least sensory inputs, the sounds, smells and glimpses of Sarah’s rural medieval world.
This is the standout achievement of this book, for me: the novel, while beginning as a tale of deprivation and renunciation, ends up celebrating the very embodied world Sarah was determined to reject.
…I could no longer resist the demands made by my senses. I’d had no idea that sounds and smells could separate themselves; as if unravelling a piece of cloth, day by day, thread by thread, I began to recognise them. This is mill wheel, this is cartwheels, this is dragging a sack, this is throwing a bucket of water, this is digging, scything, ploughing, and even, sometimes, whispered seed scatter. (120-21)
The Anchoress has already been extensively reviewed for the Australian Women Writers challenge, making it, I’d hazard, one of the challenge’s most popular books so far for 2015. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a front-runner for this year’s Stella Prize.
~
This review forms part of my contribution to the Australian Women Writers Challenge and the Aussie Author Challenge 2015. You can find other participants’ reviews via these links:
- Tracey Carpe Librum
- Maja
- Elizabeth Jane Corbett
- Kelly @ Orange Pekoe
- Brona’s Books
- Jennifer Cameron-Smith
- Julia Tulloh Harper
- Linda Funnell
- Karen M and
- Amanda Curtin
Author: Robyn Cadwallader
Title: The Anchoress
Publisher: Fourth Estate (an imprint of HarperCollins)
Year: 2015
ISBN: 978 0 7322 9921 7
Devoted Eclectic 
whisperinggums
/ September 11, 2015Funnily enough, I was just concatenating my list of Literary reviews to date, and this book is one of the most reviewed books in the Literary category. I haven’t read it yet, though it’s in the pile! So many review copies to read, and my reading group books, that getting to others is tricky.
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Elizabeth Lhuede
/ September 11, 2015I know the feeling! My To Be Read pile is expanding, even though I’ve been reading more than just the ones I’ve reviewed. I’d be interested to know what you think of this one when you get to it.
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