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Sisters of Arden: on the Pilgrimage of Grace Kindle Edition

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 198 ratings

"Far from the concourse of men..."

Arden Priory has remained unchanged for almost four hundred years when a nameless child is abandoned at the gatehouse door.

As Henry VIII’s second queen dies on the scaffold, the embittered King strikes out, and unprecedented change sweeps across the country.
The bells of the great abbeys fall silent, the church and the very foundation of the realm begins to crack.

Determined to preserve their way of life, novitiate nuns Margery and Grace join a pilgrimage thirty thousand strong to lead the king back to grace.

Sisters of Arden is a story of valour, virtue and veritas.

'Arnopp’s insight and extensive and faultless research shines'

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07KYP7N4Q
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ (December 10, 2018)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 10, 2018
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1810 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 226 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1700018078
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 198 ratings

About the author

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Judith Arnopp
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Judith Arnopp's novels are set during the War of the Roses and the Tudor era. They focus on women like Margaret Beaufort, Anne Neville, Elizabeth of York, Anne Boleyn, and Mary Tudor.

She has a Master's degree in medieval studies and a BA in English and creative writing from the University of Wales, making Historical Fiction the only obvious career choice.

She lives on the coast of West Wales with her husband, John, and now her family have flown the nest she writes full time from her home overlooking Cardigan Bay.

Her early books were set in the Anglo Saxon period but since switching to the Tudor era her career has flourished and she now has a substantial collection of titles in her catalogue. All books are available on Kindle and in paperback, some are on Audible.

Judith also writes non-fiction, her most recent published by Pen and Sword is a study of Tudor clothing and fashion, How to Dress Like a Tudor. Her work features in several anthologies and magazines.

You can find more information on judithmarnopp and follow her blog on juditharnoppnovelist blogspot and most social media

platforms.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
198 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2018
    I always enjoy Judith Arnopp's books and this one was no exception. Covering the brutal disruption of the purge of catholic churches and monasteries by Henry VIII, it focuses on a couple of the nuns cast out from their poor monastery with nothing to sustain them. I quickly became invested in the fortunes of the women and their trials of deprivation and I must say I miss them now that I have finished the book. Highly recommend!
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2022
    A story that needed to be told. If you're a Tudor fan, then you no doubt are aware of Henry VIII closing down the abbeys and churches. This is a story about one such Abbey and the people who resided there. Great characters and story telling, you will feel like you are on this journey with them. Another terrible notch in King Henry's belt.
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2019
    What happened to the sisters and those who worked at the monasteries when Henry VIII purged the Catholic churches? This novel was a vivid story of people enduring starvation, homelessness, and fear for their lives because a King wanted way more than his share.
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2019
    The truth is best told in the guise of fiction. The reigns of tyrant kings, the impact it has on thousands or millions of commoners, the ruination of churches and entire religions, can be yawn-inducingly familiar to history students--but show us the impact on a single commoner, show readers the dire plunge from barely living to fighting to survive one more day, and the dry history books take on new life.

    Margery, Grace, Frances, John, the half-dozen Sisters of Arden, are fictional creations but they seem real to the reader. Sadly, hey have real-life counterparts who suffered, starved, or got imprisoned or lynched.

    Names like Thomas Cromwell, Anne Boleyn, and Jane Seymour, get a mention, but they remain at a believable narrative distance from our young narrator. One-Eyed Aske, William Gascoigne, Robert Constable, and Lord Darcy are names I think I should know, but I haven't hunted online for more. Arden is a real place, and the author describes her research in the afterword.

    The first-person, present-tense narration is a popular device in contemporary YA novels, but for historical fiction like this, I find it a bit off-putting, especially when the prose is a little more wordy than I like. I would cite examples, but I read this from a new 10th generation Kindle Paperwhite, a miserable experience after having the first-generation Kindle Fire, and until I adapt to the updates in e-readers, I won't be reviewing books in as much detail as I used to. Maybe that's a good thing. I wonder how many people even read my reviews. Are you reading this? Do I sound grouchy? I want to emphasize the merits of this novel but the Paperwhite (Kindle) has soured my mood.

    So, this is an interesting book for the history, but the prose could use some tightening and polishing. (Didn't prologues fall out of fashion a long time ago?) I don't want to sound harsh. I've been spoiled by Elizabeth Letts, Laura Frantz, and other authors who tackle the daunting task of working actual historical events and people into their fictional narratives. This is an endearing tale that will reward readers who care about "little" people who don't get their names in history books but their lives deserve to be remembered, even if it's in the guise of fiction.
    5 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2020
    Pilgrimage of Grace- things I hadn't thought of before. All of the severe hardships the pilgrims had to endure. I loved the main character - Marger.y
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2021
    It is a good read. I learned more of the time period that I love to read about. Anything 15th century works for me.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2018
    I have always enjoyed books about the Tudor period and this one dealing about the destruction of the monasteries was fascinating to me.I highly recommend this book.
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2019
    4.5 stars

    Margery is a young girl who has known nothing of life but the tiny, isolated Arden Priory in North Yorkshire, when Henry VIII gives the order for Catholic religious houses across the land to be dissolved. Cast out to fend for herself, along with two other young women and a small baby, the novel is about her dangerous journeys to York and Pontefract, the news she hears about the uprisings against the atrocities committed in the King's name, and her journey back to what she hopes will be safety.

    Judith Arnopp describes the world of Margery so well; I liked seeing the 16th century from the POV of the ordinary people, so far away from that of the aristocracy and nobility that they might as well have inhabited another planet. Ms Arnopp has a lovely, easy-to-read writing style, and it is clear that the book is well-researched without the research ever seeming intrusive.

    It's a short novel, and at times I would have liked more detail about various events, but there was no part that I didn't enjoy. The 'Author's Note' at the end is most interesting, and I was intrigued to find out that Arden Priory actually existed; on the whole, Sisters of Arden made me want to read more about the time, which is a sign of good historical fiction. The ending gives hope for the future, with a different purpose for Margery.

    I liked this book very much and would most definitely recommend to anyone who likes well-written, authentic fiction based on fact about this period.
    3 people found this helpful
    Report

Top reviews from other countries

  • SuzM
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent history from below.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 2, 2020
    Judith Arnopp writes masterly historical fiction exploring the lives of the great and the good and the not so good of Tudor times, from Margaret Beaufort to Bloody Mary, but I do especially love the books that veer off centre stage to peer into the lives of the unknown women who never made it into any records. The Sisters of Arden draw us into the lives of nuns and the orphaned lay sister Marjory, who have been eking out an impoverished existence at the isolated nunnery of Arden on the Yorkshire Moors until Henry VIII’s break with Rome brings the King’s (and Cromwell's) Men to close the place, wreck the buildings and force the nuns out, to find shelter elsewhere.
    This is an era casually discussed in history books as a moment of change but, for those living through it, it was an traumatising overturning of centuries of tradition, belief and understanding. Religion, the basis of all security in the life to come, was torn apart and the dissolution of the monasteries deprived the country of the nearest thing it had to social welfare. The old, the sick, the handicapped, the orphaned, the destitute were now abandoned and desperate. Many, determined to turn the King back from this overthrow of all they had known, banded together in the Pilgrimage of Grace, hoping by force of numbers to turn the clock back. Their attempt was inevitably doomed and retribution was sickeningly brutal. That brutality is captured in Sisters of Arden, but so too is the exhausting daily struggle against cold and starvation, and the hopes and fears of ordinary bewildered people. An excellent read.
  • Christine Boos
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent historical fiction
    Reviewed in Germany on May 26, 2020
    A beautiful, poignant, and realistic depiction of life led by nuns expelled from their abbey at the time of the dissolution of monastries, abbeys under Henry VIII. An accurate account of the pilgrimage of Grace shows the horrors of this tragic journey but also an astonishing to survive. Excellent book!
  • JM Donaldson
    4.0 out of 5 stars Unusual And Thought Provoking
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 8, 2020
    An insightful novel about The Pilgrimage of Grace which followed the Dissolution of The Monasteries during the reign of Henry VIII of England. The author is well informed and effectively brings to life the dispossessed nuns and lay people of Arden Priory in North Yorkshire. Interesting to include a young woman with Downs Syndrome among the characters - the delightful Sister Frances. 'Sisters of Arden' is a refreshing optic on the much rehearsed Tudor period: it is an absorbing and thought-provoking story.
  • Student Crystal
    5.0 out of 5 stars Breathtaking.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 25, 2024
    I loved this story. History, yet again, brought to life by Judith Arnopp. This author never fails to bring such great insight into her stories blending fact and fiction together so beautifully. This time encapsulating the life and times of those unworldly nuns and their immense struggles during the dissolution. As if their daily life wasn’t hard enough, having it demolished before their eyes and becoming displaced would prove treacherous on body and soul. I’m not a religious person and thought I might find the story a bit too pious or, dry, but I couldn’t have been further from that idea. Such a heart-wrenching story of human suffering, while continuing to strive for what is felt to be right, for a better life and most of all, the fight for survival. Well done! 👏❤️
  • Terry Tyler
    5.0 out of 5 stars 4.5 stars - histfic definitely worth a read!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 7, 2019
    4.5 stars

    Margery is a young girl who has known nothing of life but the tiny, isolated Arden Priory in North Yorkshire, when Henry VIII gives the order for Catholic religious houses across the land to be dissolved. Cast out to fend for herself, along with two other young women and a small baby, the novel is about her dangerous journeys to York and Pontefract, the news she hears about the uprisings against the atrocities committed in the King's name, and her journey back to what she hopes will be safety.

    Judith Arnopp describes the world of Margery so well; I liked seeing the 16th century from the POV of the ordinary people, so far away from that of the aristocracy and nobility that they might as well have inhabited another planet. Ms Arnopp has a lovely, easy-to-read writing style, and it is clear that the book is well-researched without the research ever seeming intrusive.

    It's a short novel, and at times I would have liked more detail about various events, but there was no part that I didn't enjoy. The 'Author's Note' at the end is most interesting, and I was intrigued to find out that Arden Priory actually existed; on the whole, Sisters of Arden made me want to read more about the time, which is a sign of good historical fiction. The ending gives hope for the future, with a different purpose for Margery.

    I liked this book very much and would most definitely recommend to anyone who likes well-written, authentic fiction based on fact about this period.

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