The Rebel Nun by Marj Charlier

 The Monastery of the Holy Cross was once the most prestigious royal monastery in Gaul (Western Europe) of the early Middle Ages, “populated largely by Frankish women of royal and noble birth…” The monastery started declining after a rebellion of nuns against the rising misogyny and patriarchy of the medieval church. This story is based on the true story of Clotild, the rebel nun.

Poitiers, 588 AD. Sister Clotild of the Holy Cross Monastery is a witness to drastically changing approach toward women, who “were declared unclean, and (..) were prohibited from touching the sacramental objects. Priests could no longer sleep with their wives…”

Clotild is illegitimate daughter of King Charibert and with her curious mind as a child she was allowed to study alongside her half-brothers. She learned the purpose of different herbs from her mother. She was expected to be the next abbess, but that’s not what happens.

Under the new abbess controlled by a bishop, whatever joy the sisters were allowed to have gets eroded. Despite the cold, the bishop cuts the rations of wood and food. Thus, the first plans for escape spark the nighttime conversations.

The routine of prayer and work satisfied Clotild in the way it absorbed the hours of the day. But the cloistered life under the new abbess and the controlling bishop leaves her bereft of purpose. And that’s when she starts questioning the purpose of life. Before she saw purpose in reading and copying old manuscripts, deepening intellectual curiosity with classics and philosophy. That is what she considered a life worth living. Now, there is only gnawing left.

In the 6th century Europe, women’s choices were very limited. Many of them entered the monastery to escape marriages and the danger of childbearing, not for their piety. As a woman, you had three choices: marriage, prostitution, or the cloister.

Clotild is a truly remarkable heroine and fully captured in this story. She enters the cloister willingly to seek protection for her uncertain future. She adapts to the simple life and under the right tutelage finds some joy in daily tasks. But with the new abbess, when the little joy she was allowed to have is squished out of her life and constant hunger reminds her of her existence and when she sees wrong-doing such as thievery, adultery, gluttony. What do you do? Do you just close your eyes and accept the corruption. No, she is an inspirational character who refuses to stand by and watch the values of Christianity crumble to the ground. She stands up for what she believes is right.

I applaud authors who shed light on little known pockets of history. Not only that, but the craft of weaving such poignant story and illuminating with such beautiful prose, I’m full of admiration and grateful for such authors. This gem of historical fiction, penned by a very talented writer is the kind of story that makes this genre very fascinating.

Brilliantly written. The voice of Clotild pulled me into the story from her first words. I was very captivated by her story, wanting to know what happens next, when the tipping point comes, how she handles the rebellion and how it ends. The setting is very real, you can feel the cold walls of the cloister and the simple life they experience with some hunger; and how that affects them. The feelings of disappointment, shame, starvation and isolation are very real as well. But there is still a glimpse of hope that fairness would prevail.

This is one of those moving stories that when the end comes you’re not ready to part from this heroine and this gifted writing.

Release date: 2 March 2021

Source: Blackstone Publishing