Quiet, assured debut novel set in medieval England, concerning a young woman's entry into the religious lifeone as tumultuous as anything on the outside. Early on in Australian writer Cadwallader's narrative, we learn that young Sarah, still a teenager, has lost her sister in childbirth: "Emma didn't speak, just looked at me, her eyes fading. Blood dripped, then ran." The elegant understatement of that terrible moment speaks to Cadwallader's approach throughout: the England of the mid-13th century is a place of rupture, oppression, intolerance, and violence outside, but within the tight-holding walls of the Midlands church and the "rough lodging" it offers, little of that outside world can enter. Even so, in time, Sarah, though seeking escape, engages with that worldand she must, for it presses in on all sides. And besides, she's not quite cut out for the isolation. Cadwallader is a poet of loneliness; few writers have captured so completely the essential madness that accompanies hermitage, the grayness and sameness of each and every day: "The stones were faces that came out when my candle was alight, some laughing, some staring, some as sad as me." She is also very good at describing the power relations that inhere in religious hierarchy ("Sister, I'm your confessor and guide. You are to obey me in all things, as your Rule says") without resorting to too-easy anachronisms, though Sarah does have her protofeminist moments. In a time when self-assertion was tantamount to sin, Cadwallader's language and tone seem just right. Readers may wish there were a little more action to move the story along, but this is an appropriately contemplative piece that is kin less to Ellis Peters' Cadfael mysteries than to Mary Sharratt's Illuminations as imaginings of medieval faith and the faithful. Sympathetic, fully realized characters and good use of period details make this a winning work of historical fiction. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

In 13th-century England, 17-year-old Sarah seals herself in a tiny cell attached to the village church, having chosen to renounce the outside world and live out her days in prayer as the new anchoress. What motivates a young woman to live such an ascetic and isolated life is slowly disclosed during the course of the novel, and what is revealed brings into focus questions related to gender, sexuality, power, fear, shame, and the nature of faith. VERDICT Careful historical research is blended subtly in this impressive, nuanced debut. While the slow pacing and shift of narration between Sarah and her confessor, Father Ranaulf, might deter some readers, the prose is fluid, lyrical, and accessible. The details on a little-known aspect of medieval monastic life and the tension between Sarah's desire to withdraw from the world and yet remain very much a part of it makes for compelling reading.-Lyndsie Robinson, Milne Lib., SUNY Oneonta © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

*Starred Review* At 17, Sarah voluntarily enters a small cell to be permanently secluded from medieval English society. By taking the vows of an anchoress, she has dedicated herself to praying for others. Her only contact is to be with her maids, the priest who is her confessor, and the women of the village, who will come to her for intercessions and advice. In this life, Sarah desires safety, simplicity, and a release from the judgments and expectations of the outside world, leaving nothing between herself and God. She soon finds, though, that not even in her tiny chamber can she fully retreat. Dealing with unforeseen trials, fearing temptations of the flesh, and wrestling with heartbreaking memories of losing her sister, she contemplates for the first time the possibility of failure in her new role. Cadwallader's vivid period descriptions set a stunning backdrop for this beautiful first novel as Sarah rejects a larger world that will not allow her to live on her own terms and goes about creating a smaller one that will. Sarah's path will intrigue readers at the crossroads of historical fiction, spirituality, and even feminism as she faces the internal and external pressures on women of the Middle Ages.--Ophoff, Cortney Copyright 2015 Booklist

Sarah, a 17-year-old English girl who lives during the 13th century, chooses to become an anchoress at her local church. This means that she is to live forever in a tiny, dank room attached to the church with only three windows and a door nailed shut. A priest receives her weekly confession and offers spiritual advice. Sarah counsels her two maids, who live in an adjacent room, and also advises local villagers. The rest of the time she prays for the welfare of the village and her patron, Sir Thomas, who provides for her care. What events led to an educated young woman becoming a holy woman? And can she possibly stay dedicated to God? While not for every teen, this lovely, spiritual novel is perfect for readers questioning or reaffirming their belief system. Sarah truly believes that becoming an anchoress will keep her from harm, but even a nailed door cannot prevent evil. The church and townsfolk have secrets, and young women during this time period were never safe or free to make their own decisions. There's no romance in this novel, but the layered relationship that Sarah develops with the manuscript creator, Father Ranaulf, is well done and nuanced. Full of searching prayer, saints' tales, mystery, and quiet rebellion, this is a unique literary novel that can be paired with John Boyne's A History of Loneliness (Farrar, 2015). VERDICT Recommended for soul-searching literary teen readers.-Sarah Hill, Lake Land College, Mattoon, IL © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

THE FULL CATASTROPHE: Travels Among the New Greek Ruins, by James Angelos, (Broadway, $16.) To understand Greece's current financial crisis, look to its full history, not just reports of endemic corruption and dysfunction, Angelos argues here. Competing images of Greece - as both a birthplace of Western culture and modern floundering state - have exacerbated tensions between the country and the rest of Europe. THE ARCHITECT'S APPRENTICE, by Elif Shafak. (Penguin, $17.) During the Ottoman Empire, a young boy from India studies under the sultan's chief architect and helps to construct some of the region's most magnificent structures: the Suleimaniye and Selimiye mosques. Shafak's novel captures the era's richly textured social fabric and functions as "a love poem to the cosmopolitan beauty of Istanbul," our reviewer, Christopher Atamian, said here. YOUNG ELIOT: From St. Louis to "The Waste Land," by Robert Crawford. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $18.) This biography traces the influences of Eliot's Midwestern upbringing on his writing years after he moved to his adopted home, England. Crawford "has done exceptional spadework in turning up clues that take us deeper into Eliot's symbolic landscapes, often rooted in childhood," David Yezzi wrote here. THE ANCHORESS, by Robyn Cadwallader. (Picador, $16.) In this novel, it's 1255 England and 17-year-old Sarah, fleeing indignities and violence in the secular world, has chosen to cloister herself in a small cell in her village's church. From her room, she learns to balance the outside world's influence with her interior life as she deepens her relationship with God, and wrestles with the fraught relationship between piety and gender. I AM SORRY TO THINK I HAVE RAISED A TIMID SON, by Kent Russell. (Vintage, $16.) Russell's essay collection forms a pointillistic portrait of American masculinity, including dispatches from its extremes - Russell writes about Juggalos, Amish people who love baseball and a snake handler - and his own experience. As an outlier in a military family, Russell is often at odds with his father as they spar over competing ideas of what it means to be a man. THE SUNLIT NIGHT, by Rebecca Dinerstein. (Bloomsbury, $16.) Both Yasha and Frances have fled to the far reaches of an Arctic archipelago: He, a Russian immigrant living in Brighton Beach, came to bury his father, while Frances sought refuge from her family and ex-boyfriend, armed with a desire to paint. The novel follows them as they forge a bond while grappling with their losses. INDEPENDENCE LOST: Lives on the Edge of the American Revolution, by Kathleen DuVal. (Random House, $18.) Eight representative historical figures shed light on the American battle for independence on the Gulf Coast. African-Americans, Native Americans, Irish immigrants and Cajuns all contributed to the area's fight, which was the site of some important British defeats.