The Corner That Held Them (VMC) - Softcover

Sylvia Townsend Warner

Softcover

ISBN 10: 086068878X ISBN 13: 9780860688785

Publisher: Virago, 1993

Synopsis

In memory of the wife who had once dishonoured and always despised him, Brian de Retteville founded Oby - a twelfth-century convent in a hidden corner of Norfolk. Two centuries later the Benedictine community is well established there and, as befits a convent whose origin had such chequered motives, the inhabitants are prey to the ambitions, squabbles, jealousies and pleasures of less spiritual environments. An outbreak of the Black Death, the collapse of the convent spire, the Bishop's visitation and a nun's disappearance are interwoven with the everyday life of the nuns, novices, successive Prioresses and the nun's priest, in this affectionate and ironic observation of the more wordly history of a religious order.

About this title

Review:

Spellbinding (SUNDAY TIMES)

The charm, the wit, the speculation make the book very remarkable (TLS)

No one after Hardy has inwoven more closely the sheer feel of material things, of weather, of light across water or foliage... (George Steiner, TLS)

More people should know how GOOD she is ... a marvellous nose for character (Spectator)

Book Description:

During the 14th century, in Norfolk, the inhabitants of a Benedictine convent go about daily business. Here are the dramas - Black Death, the fall of the convent spire, the Bishop's visitation, a nun's disappearance - together with everyday squabbles, ambitions, jealousies and pleasures.

About this edition

• Publisher: Virago
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 086068878X
• ISBN 13: 9780860688785
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320