Historical fiction fans caught on early to the skill and appeal of Sarah Dunant’s novels which include The Birth of Venus and In the Company of the Courtesan. In her new novel, Sacred Hearts, Dunant recreates life inside Santa Caterina, a 16th century convent.

“By the second half of the sixteenth century, the price of wedding dowries had risen so high that most Italian aristocratic families could afford to marry off only one daughter. The remaining young women were dispatched into convents, and not all of them went willingly.”

Dunant’s novel is told through the voices of Suora Zuana, the convent’s dispensary mistress and Serafina, Santa Caterina’s newest novice.

Suora Zuana was raised by a strong, intelligent father who was also a physician. He taught Zuana as much about the healing arts as he could but neither his love nor skill prepared Zuana for what would happen when he died. A young single woman without a dowry went to a convent which is where Zuana has been for the last sixteen years. Fortunately, her skills allowed her some freedoms within the confines of the convent’s dispensary.

Serafina is an angry, emotional young woman whose father paid a large dowry to the convent in order to keep the girl from an inappropriate romance. On Serafina’s first night in the convent, her rage and ferocity requires that Zuana give her a calming draft. Zuana recognizes the pain the young woman is going through and takes her under her wing.

Sacred Hearts is first a novel about these two women who had absolutely no control over their own lives except what they could exert using their intelligence and some manipulation. But it also offers a fascinating and rich perspective into sixteenth century convent life; I learned a lot! ~Patti