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Confessions of a Pagan Nun: A Novel Kindle Edition

by Kate Horsley (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 809 ratings
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A druid-turned-nun writes of faith, love, loss, and religion in this “beautifully written and thought-provoking book” set at the dawn of Ireland’s Christian era (Library Journal)

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 revisits her past, piece by piece—her fiercely independent mother, whose skill with healing plants and inner strength she inherited; her druid teacher, the brusque and magnetic Giannon, who introduced her to the mysteries of the 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.


“As a slant of sunlight illuminates jewels long buried, Kate Horsley's novel brings words to an ancient silence and a living, vivid presence to people who lived in that time of great changes and estrangements we call the Dark Ages.” —Ursula K. Le Guin
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  1. Print length
    158 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Shambhala
  5. Publication date
    September 10, 2002
  6. File size
    681 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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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.

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

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00B1EEYF6
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Shambhala (September 10, 2002)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 10, 2002
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 681 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 158 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 809 ratings

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Kate Horsley

Kate Horsley

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
809 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Salix Alba
5.0 out of 5 stars A Profound Tale
Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2008
Verified Purchase
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
10 people found this helpful
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M. J. Keel
4.0 out of 5 stars Between two ages
Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2008
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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.
3 people found this helpful
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Virtualrealist
5.0 out of 5 stars Try to remember it is a novel
Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2021
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March seemed a fitting month to read a book about Ireland after watching Wild Mountain Thyme and The Secret of Roan Innish. So, I finally read Confessions of a Pagan Nun by Kate Horsley. My friend, Teresa, recommended this book to me ages ago. So long ago, I forgot why she told me to read it. But I bought it then, and it has been waiting on my Kindle for the perfect moment. The writings of a pagan Irish Catholic nun seemed the perfect counter to St. Patrick's Day.

Let me focus on one important point. I didn't really pay attention to it when I started reading, but the full title of this book is Confessions of a Pagan Nun: A Novel. A Novel. As I was reading, I couldn't shake the feeling that this was nonfiction. I couldn't shake the feeling so much so that I had to look it up. Goodreads said it was fiction. Surely, that was wrong. Historical fiction. Ok maybe more specific but still wrong. Nope, the Internet swears this book is fiction, historical fiction. Still, it reads as true. I talked to Teresa about this after finishing. She had a similar experience. Let me know if you did too. For science...

It's not a very long book, but it feels weighty, important. In a short span, we cover topics like the conversions of pagans to Christianity and the evolution of patriarchy in a society. Coincidence that those happen at the same time? This is a beautiful book but not a happy one. Life is suffering, and this illustrates that well. At the same time, it leaves you with just a glimmer of hope. If you remain true to yourself, maybe, just maybe, it is worth it.
6 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Many virtues
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2013
Verified Purchase
One of the virtues of this novel is that it is blessedly short, as I had only two days in which to read it. It is pithy, poetically written, and contains a philosophy with which I solidly agree. Kindness, perhaps it is Christ's kindness which immortalized his message, and then was hardened into cold doctrine. Her little summary of the good and bad effects of Christianity rings true. Much was lost when we abandoned paganism. And it's taken too long for women to start regaining their former power.
7 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

JAM
5.0 out of 5 stars Well written
Reviewed in Canada on June 9, 2020
Verified Purchase
Really fascinating read and so well written.
Not the most historically accurate (still somewhat accurate) but still really really good. The idea that priests were celibate or even unmarried wasn’t practiced until a few hundred years after this took place and technically wasn’t formalized until 1921(ish?) Nuns while chaste world still have been either widows or women who were not married but they often had relations with monks and world frequently have kids.

But I loved this book. It was well written. Truly frelt taken into the story. The characters were beautifully written.
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Gayl MacKinnon
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 23, 2010
Verified Purchase
The manuscript/scrolls for some of this book was found in a burial chamber in Co. Kildare in Ireland. It tells of the time Christianity came to Ireland and how the main character started life in a Pagan community, taught by her mother, then taught by her druid mentor. Life was very hard then. She ended up in a Christian abbey, but never fully converted to Christianity, although her fellow sisters and Abbess never really knew this. In an age when very few people knew how to write, her Druid Mentor taught her to write and these are her reflections on her life. A very interesting book!
5 people found this helpful
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Leticia
5.0 out of 5 stars awesome historic novel
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 28, 2011
Verified Purchase
awesome historic novel, a real bargain and made me fall in love with the author.
book was on great conditions, it smelled good :)
2 people found this helpful
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