Confessions of a Pagan Nun: A Novel [Paperback]

Kate Horsley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 10, 2002

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

When we think of the Dark Ages, we often think of a dim, primitive society where people struggled just to stay alive, with no room for spirituality or philosophy. The cool, clear, gemlike precision of Horsley's (Crazy Woman) new novel tells another tale. Gwynneve is born into a world suspended between paganism and Christianity: Ireland circa 500 C.E. While the rest of Europe was well on its way toward Christianity, at this time Ireland remained much closer to its pagan traditions. After losing her mother, Gwynneve trains as a druid and practices as one for many years. By the time she sets her story down, though, she has converted to Christianity and become a nun. The book is written as a memoir detailing her journey from her birth into a pagan tribe to her end as a Christian with near-saintly status. Her story is not just that of a strong woman making her way in a hostile world. It is also the story of what happens to a country when a new religion takes the place of the old. A beautifully written and thought-provoking book; recommended for all fiction collections.Wendy Bethel, Southwest P.L., Grove City, OH
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

This brief but vivid novel presents itself as a recently discovered manuscript composed by 1 of the 19 nuns of Saint Bridget in Kildare, at the dawning of Ireland's Christian era. Gwynneve was a druid before the tonsured clerics began to convert her people, offering them new technologies in exchange for conversions. When her druidic teacher and lover, Giannon, is kidnapped, apparently by followers of the new god, Gwynneve falls into despair that is lifted only when she hears of a community that keeps the old Celtic ways under the guise of Christian ritual. In it, she is set to a task that suits her perfectly: copying manuscripts of the church fathers, especially Augustine, with whom she has a running intellectual battle. As she records her life's story, she also relates the melodramatic doings of her convent, which include the abbot's fall from chastity and later self-mutilation. Poetically written and marvelously researched, the novel offers complex theological arguments wrapped in a compelling story about memorable characters. Patricia Monaghan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala (September 10, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570629137
• ISBN-13: 978-1570629136
• Product Dimensions: 4.8 x 0.5 x 7.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #342,982 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars absolutely wonderful, November 20, 2002

By 

Sarka Jeanee "sarka9" (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Confessions of a Pagan Nun (Hardcover)

Confessions of a Pagan Nun is a thought-provoking and breath-taking book. Horsley's style is poetic and simple and both her story and her characters are engaging. She masterfully recreates a time when Paganism was the predominant religion and Christianity was struggling to gain acceptance.
Gwynneve, the narrator of the story, is a nun living in a monastery of Saint Brigit in Ireland during the sixth century. Along side her work transcribing the writings of Saint Patrick and Saint Augustine, Gwynneve tells the story of her Pagan childhood and her life in the monastery, where events are beginning to unfold that threaten Gwynneve and force her to define her beliefs.
The language of the novel is beautiful and filled with rich imagery. When recounting the death of her mother, Gwynneve says "Soon my mother began to shed blood through her mouth. Death was surely just outside our door, drawn by the smell of her blood."
The first-person narrative creates intimacy between Gwynneve and the reader, as Gwynneve discusses the power struggle between the Old Religion and the new. "Rather than seeing a contest between druid and Christian, I see a kinship between stone chapel and stone circle. One encloses and protects the spirit; the other exposes it and joins it with the elements." She goes on to address what she believes is an illogical desire of Christianity to denounce other religions. "Even now I do not understand a jealous God, for if He made all things, than any form of worship that protects His creations and is not destructive or cruel to them must please Him."
Gwynneve also recounts how the Christians stole and reshaped Pagan rituals and places of worship. "Now they make the ancient wells and standing stones into Christian relics, attributing their power to saints," says Gwynneve. "I do not quarrel with this practice, for I believe that which is sacred does not care by what name it is called. But I often wish that I did not know history so well so that I could believe in the Christian rendition of our landscape. Knowledge often spoils devotion."
Horsley's novel is a splendid mix of fiction, philosophy and history. Confessions is an enjoyable and an enlightening read.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable Historical Theme..., October 23, 2004

By 

SR9 (NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Confessions of a Pagan Nun: A Novel (Paperback)

This small book was a quick read, and gave an interesting look into what life might have been like in the times when druids and monks met on the same ground. I certainly enjoyed the perspective used by this author to bring the reader into the main character's descriptive memory.

The only reason I did not rate this book higher was due to it's predictable storyline. Everything that happens after one significant turning point with our heroine's mentor is obvious before it occurs. The ending is bittersweet, but again, unsurprising and blunt. The reader can wager a guess to the ending after the third or fourth chapter.

Still, all in all, a good book with heart. I'd recommend it, especially to anyone interested in the Celtic life of a woman in the early conversion times.

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lyrical yet realistic, rates: 5 HANDKERCHIEFS, December 26, 2004

By 

Maeve of Tara "Avid Reader" (Ireland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Confessions of a Pagan Nun: A Novel (Paperback)

Spoiler alert: CONFESSIONS OF A PAGAN NUN is a brilliant novelette, guaranteed to break your heart! I have to warn you so that you can brace yourself to handle the inevitable, tragic ending. The author, however, does leave a miniscule possibility for us to imagine that Gwynneve, the gallant heroine, did not suffer all that much in the end; so feel free to augment the finale with your own imagination. Kate Horsley's writing is multi-faceted: lyrical yet often no-nonsense, albeit on occasion hard to read because of the bevy of Gaelic words and expressions, yet her knowledge of the era (6th Century)and locales and terrain (County Kildare, Ireland) is strong, and her insights into the character of Gwynneve, the Druid turned a nun, are illuminating. Once you enter Gwynneve's thoughts, you get to be part of her flesh, and page after page, you suffer from the cold and the dampness, shiver as goosebums appear along your arms, run down the back of your neck, your feet trouble you as if they were about to disintegrate into the mulchy earth full of rotting leaves, and your eyes... burn from the smoke of that one waxen candle lighting the parchment in front of you.

Thankfully, Gwynneve does experience moments of happiness. And of course, there are those short-lived Irish summers, "when the wind is green," and you, the reader, may feel as tempted as our heroine to pause in your work and "stand outside on the hill and see the valley and the waves of hills beyond."

Raised in a village of fishermen and pigkeepers during the time of Ireland's transition from Paganism to Christianity, she is blessed with the love of Murrynn, her wonderfully drawn, strong-hearted, vibrant mother (Murrynn deserves a novel of her own!), and later on with the love of handsome Giannon, her Druid teacher, reluctant lover, a very complex, tormented man who seems tempted by Christianity to foresake his druidic soul.

Gwynneve is deeply romantic yet level-headed, learns quickly, retains what she learns, suffers the tragic loss of her beloved mother, then gets separated from her equally beloved teacher, in time bridges the gap between Paganism and Christianity, and still manages to retain her remarkably clear sight of how things truly are: "... I wonder if she (Sister Ailenn) has taken her thoughts from St. Paul and St. Augustine, who connect self-disgust with righteousness. Self-hatred seems to me an evil thing in itself rather than an antidote to evil. If we practice self-hatred, then the sacrifice we make of ourselves and our lives is not sacred, for it is then a gift of something we hate rather than of something that he have nurtured and loved."

CONFESSIONS OF A PAGAN NUN, despite its brevity, shows well the clear-eyed observations of a young woman who, while caught in the relentless machinery of the fast-approaching dark era, continues to think independently, and of course, pays the price. "... I had thought that the love of Christ would make us kinder and less likely to smash skulls. But now I see that we will be asked to smash skulls for Christ."

This part from the Epilogue, written by "Giannon, the Mute," is still haunting me: "... I have news that should be known.... In her own death, Gwynneve was not false... and as she sat down on the stones around the well, she addressed the abbot gently, saying, "I wish I could live more."

I like to repeat that you should brace yourself before you read this novel; but when you finish it, offer a little prayer for Gwynneve's soul. Although she died fifteen centuries ago, she returns to life each time one of us reads her story, and thus her wish of being allowed to live, is granted. Slainte, Gwynneve!