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Confessions of a Pagan Nun: A Novel | 
 enlarge | Author: Kate Horsley
Publisher: Shambhala
Category: Book
List Price: $12.95
Buy New: $10.36
You Save: $2.59 (20%)
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Rating:  44 reviews
Sales Rank: 161027
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 208
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 4.9 x 0.7
ISBN: 1570629137
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9781570629136
ASIN: 1570629137
Publication Date: September 10, 2002
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Product Description
Cloistered in a stone cell at the monastery of Saint Brigit, a sixth-century Irish nun secretly records the memories of her Pagan youth, interrupting her assigned task of transcribing Augustine and Patrick. She also writes of her fiercely independent mother, whose skill with healing plants and inner strength she inherited. She writes of her druid teacher, the brusque but magnetic Giannon, who first introduced her to the mysteries of written language. But disturbing events at the cloister keep intervening. As the monastery is rent by vague and fantastic accusations, Gwynneve's words become the one force that can save her from annihilation.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 39 more reviews...
 Definitely fiction. August 13, 2008
I liked it as a story--even as an alternate universe story, but not as an historical novel. It tries to squeeze the values and world-view of modern-day neopagan feminism into 4th century Ireland.
The character also misunderstands Augustine's writings.
I liked the plot and the characters, though. It's a good read if it's not taken as seriously as it's meant to be taken.
V. interesting, but slightly stilted August 12, 2008
This novel is not very fast paced, although it is well-written. It is written as a journal, and therefore it makes sense that the narrative is slightly stilted. It comes across almost like a stream of consciousness. A fantastic insight into Ireland at the time that Christianity was becoming the dominant religion. A great historical novel.
Between two ages June 2, 2008
Gwynneve loved words. That is what started her on her path to becoming a nun. "Confessions of a Pagan Nun" is the first person account (written during breaks while copying St. Augustine and the classics of Western Literature) of her life as the unwanted daughter of a pig farmer, a woman in love with a man who cannot love as she wants, a druid, and finally a nun. As Ireland changes from the wild Pagan land of Finn MacCumhal to Patrick's repository of Western Civilazation Gwynneve struggles to change with it.
This is a fascinating look at the fictional life of an intelligent pagan who tries her hardest to convert to Christianity, but in the end cannot change her own heart. This book echoes of "Augustine's Confessions" and Anne Rices first person Vampire novels. It chronicles a life and spiritual journey, but the prose is so vivid that you can see it. As a convinced Christian I was especially struck by the author's take on the transition from paganism to Christianity in Ireland. It is definitely fiction with all the biases that authors bring to historical fiction. There are a few cliches like tyranical, sex crazed abbots and love starved nuns, pagans being persecuted into extinction and hiding, etc, but Gwynneve's questions about the faith are so pertinent and precise that I found myself reflecting on my beliefs again and I find my faith stronger.
This is thought-provoking fiction. Enjoy it and keep your brain turned on.
 A Profound Tale April 13, 2008
What can I say? I am in tears at what I have just finished reading. From the first time I saw its cover, I was captured by its beauty. I wondered if the tale was true. I bought it a few days ago, and I hate that like all books, it had to end.
A few nights ago, it was in the early hours of the morn when I began to read the first pages in lavender scented water. I read by candelight, in the sweet smell of honeysuckle, with a taste of wine now and then. I was only a few paragraphs into it, and my heart was captured.
I was thinking that this was a novel based on true events. The parchment would have been found near County Kildare, Ireland, if it were so...and dating to at least 500 A.D.
Her words are so profound, so intimate and beautiful. It was written by someone in love with life and all that was around her, though it was not always given to her in return. Sadness came, and perhaps it stayed with her until the moment of her death. But still, she did not forsake her love and hope of anything. A faith always persisted, no matter what occured before her eyes or in her heart.
The difference between religion and spirituality can also be seen and felt in this book. If you cannot see it today in the East, I do not know what will provide you the vision.
And most important, is our divine connection with everything that surrounds us. We are seperate from nothing. All of life is sacred. Each herb, each flower, even one thin paper bark of a great or simple tree. Each creature that lives in the forest, in the water, and in the sky. We were given these companions by a love so strong. Can we not reach out to it once again?
This should be read by every soul, whether you are Christian, Pagan, or anything other than these...
Let it be known that it will open something within you, and a great blossom will come forth
Awesome Book Club Choice October 26, 2007
Love it or hate it, this book will inspire conversation. I chose it for Book Club and it was the best discussion we'd had in ages.
Personally, I love it. In fact, I've read it three times. This short book is nothing less than pure poetry. I have a habit of marking beautiful or profound phrases in a book as I read it. In this book, I marked page after page. Practically the whole book was marked by the time I was done!
Thank you, Kate, for this gorgeous, if sad, narrative.
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