Sacred Hearts
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Rosalyn Landor
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By:
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Sarah Dunant
About this listen
The year is 1570, and in the convent of Santa Caterina, in the Italian city of Ferrara, noblewomen find space to pursue their lives under God’s protection. But any community, however smoothly run, suffers tremors when it takes in someone by force. And the arrival of Santa Caterina’s new novice sets in motion a chain of events that will shake the convent to its core.
Ripped by her family from an illicit love affair, sixteen-year-old Serafina is willful, emotional, sharp, and defiant–young enough to have a life to look forward to and old enough to know when that life is being cut short. Her first night inside the walls is spent in an incandescent rage so violent that the dispensary mistress, Suora Zuana, is dispatched to the girl’s cell to sedate her. Thus begins a complex relationship of trust and betrayal between the young rebel and the clever, scholarly nun, for whom the girl becomes the daughter she will never have.
As Serafina rails against her incarceration, others are drawn into the drama: the ancient, mysterious Suora Magdalena–with her history of visions and ecstasies–locked in her cell; the ferociously devout novice mistress Suora Umiliana, who comes to see in the postulant a way to extend her influence; and, watching it all, the abbess, Madonna Chiara, a woman as fluent in politics as she is in prayer. As disorder and rebellion mount, it is the abbess’s job to keep the convent stable while, outside its walls, the dictates of the Counter-Reformation begin to purge the Catholic Church and impose on the nunneries a regime of terrible oppression.
Sarah Dunant, the bestselling author of The Birth of Venus and In the Company of the Courtesan, brings this intricate Renaissance world compellingly to life. Amid Sacred Hearts is a rich, engrossing, multifaceted love story, encompassing the passions of the flesh, the exultation of the spirit, and the deep, enduring power of friendship.
©2009 Sarah Dunant (P)2009 Random HouseListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“A cast of complex characters breathe new life into the classic star-crossed lovers trope while affording readers a look at a facet of Renaissance life beyond the far more common viscounts and courtesans. Dunant’s an accomplished storyteller, and this is a rich and rewarding novel.”–Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Dunant's brilliant imagination is at its powerful best as she re-creates the routines, the crotchets and tiny details of convent life in 1570. The reader can hear the rustle of nuns' habits and the murmur of their prayers….[a] captivating novel…packed with complex relationships, passion, sorrow and religious devotion….this novel unequivocally does what fiction is supposed to do and rarely does: It takes us to a place we could never personally experience. Dunant creates such a living and tangible environment, built on meticulous yet unobtrusive research, that she shares with us the joys and sorrows, the frustration and anger, the rebellion, submission and sometimes even the presence of God.”—Washington Post
“A great read that throws a light in a hidden corner of history, with a bonus: Although written for a secular crowd, it never discounts the possibility of miracles.”—Cleveland Plain Dealer
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The powerful city-state of Saraykeht is a bastion of peace and culture, a major center of commerce and trade. Its economy depends on the power of the captive spirit Seedless, an and at bound to the poet-sorcerer Heshai for life. Enter the Galts, an empire committed to laying waste to all lands with their ferocious army. Saraykeht has always been too strong for the Galts to attack, but now they see an opportunity.
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REALLY Hard to Rate!
- By Trip Williams on 04-27-15
By: Daniel Abraham
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Illuminations
- A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen
- By: Mary Sharratt
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Skillfully interweaving historical fact with psychological insight and vivid imagination, Sharratt's redemptive novel brings to life one of the most extraordinary women of the Middle Ages: Hildegard von Bingen, Benedictine abbess, visionary, and polymath. Offered to the Church at the age of eight, Hildegard was entombed in a small room where she was expected to live out her days in silent submission as the handmaiden of a renowned but disturbed young nun, Jutta von Sponheim.
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Strong woman; weak novel
- By connie on 12-01-12
By: Mary Sharratt
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Ophelia
- By: Lisa Klein
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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In this re-imagining of Shakespeare's famous tragedy, it is Ophelia who takes center stage. A rowdy, motherless girl, she grows up at Elsinore Castle to become the queens most trusted lady-in-waiting. She catches the attention of the captivating, dark-haired Prince Hamlet, and their love blossoms in secret. But bloody deeds soon turn Denmark into a place of madness, and ultimately, Ophelia must choose between her love for Hamlet and her own life.
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nice idea, poorly executed
- By Darryl on 06-11-16
By: Lisa Klein
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Archangel
- Samaria, Book 1
- By: Sharon Shinn
- Narrated by: Tamara Marston
- Length: 17 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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A tale of the distant future by the author of The Shape-Changer's Wife brings listeners to a world in which the fate of all life rests on the voice of an angel.
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An All-TIme Favorite
- By Carol on 02-27-11
By: Sharon Shinn
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Sylvia
- By: Bryce Courtenay
- Narrated by: Edwina Wren
- Length: 19 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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From master storyteller Bryce Courtenay comes a colorful, lusty story set in the 13th century, an epic tale of a Europe torn by religious intolerance. The story centers around Sylvia Honeyeater, who sings like an angel and can literally charm the birds from the trees. The narrative also features the Pied Piper of Hamelin, Francis of Assisi, the Muslim Sultan and his harem, and the fervor that becomes the Children's Crusade and then, later, the Crusades.
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a departure for Bryce
- By G. on 06-11-07
By: Bryce Courtenay
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Mirror Mirror
- By: Gregory Maguire
- Narrated by: John McDonough, Kate Forbes, Barbara Rosenblat, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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It is 1502, and seven-year-old Bianca de Nevada lives at Montefiore, the farm of her father, Don Vicente. But one day a noble entourage makes its way up to the farm. In the presence of Cesare Borgia and his sister, the lovely and vain Lucrezia, no one can claim innocence for very long. When Borgia sends Don Vicente on a quest, he leaves Bianca under the care of Lucrezia. She plots a dire fate for the young girl in the woods below the farm, but salvation can be found in the dark forest as well.
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Interesting re-telling of the fairy tale.
- By Patricia on 03-04-10
By: Gregory Maguire
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Women of the Silk
- A Novel
- By: Gail Tsukiyama
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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In Women of the Silk, Gail Tsukiyama takes listeners back to rural China in 1926, where a group of women forge a sisterhood amid the reeling machines that reverberate and clamor in a vast silk factory from dawn to dusk. Leading the first strike the village has ever seen, the young women use the strength of their ambition, dreams, and friendship to achieve the freedom they could never have hoped for on their own.
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Another beautiful historical fiction!
- By T. Hoyt on 09-28-24
By: Gail Tsukiyama
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Narcissus and Goldmund
- By: Hermann Hesse
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Narcissus and Goldmund is the story of a passionate yet uneasy friendship between two men of opposite character. Narcissus, an ascetic instructor at a cloister school, has devoted himself solely to scholarly and spiritual pursuits. One of his students is the sensual, restless Goldmund, who is immediately drawn to his teacher's fierce intellect and sense of discipline.
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My favorite of Hesse's novels, wonderfully read.
- By David on 10-21-11
By: Hermann Hesse
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Merivel
- A Man of His Time
- By: Rose Tremain
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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In search of answers, Merivel sets off for the French court. But Versailles leaves him in despair, until a chance encounter with a seductive Swiss botanist allows him to dream of an honorable future. But back home, his loyalty and medical skill are about to be tested to the limit, while the captive bear he has brought back from France begins to cause havoc.
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On Foolishness and Mortality
- By Ilana on 12-27-14
By: Rose Tremain
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All the Ever Afters
- The Untold Story of Cinderella’s Stepmother
- By: Danielle Teller
- Narrated by: Jane Copland
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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In the vein of Wicked, The Woodcutter, and Boy, Snow, Bird, a luminous re-imagining of a classic tale, told from the perspective of Agnes, Cinderella’s "evil" stepmother. We all know the story of Cinderella. Or do we? As rumors about the cruel upbringing of beautiful newlywed Princess Cinderella roil the kingdom, her stepmother, Agnes, who knows all too well about hardship, privately records the true story...
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Not what I was expecting...
- By IonyWinter on 07-15-19
By: Danielle Teller
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A Shadow on the Wall
- A Novel
- By: Jonathan Aycliffe
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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In the countryside of Victorian England, Edward Atherton, rector of Thornham St. Stephen, has taken on the arduous task of restoring the ancient church. But he should never have meddled with the tomb that lay beneath the church's crumbling walls. The moment the workman raises the tomb lid, an unspeakable horror escapes.
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Very enjoyable and wonderful narration
- By sidhecat on 08-15-15
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Heart’s Blood
- By: Juliet Marillier
- Narrated by: Ruth Urquhart
- Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Whistling Tor is a place of secrets: a mysterious, wooded hill housing the crumbling fortress belonging to Anluan - a chieftain whose name is spoken throughout the region in tones of revulsion and bitterness. A curse lies over Anluan's family and his people, and the woods themselves hold a perilous force whose every whisper threatens doom. Then the young scribe Caitrin appears in Anluan's garden, admiring the rare plant known as heart's blood. Retained to sort through entangled family documents, Caitrin brings about unexpected changes.
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Very engrossing
- By Amazon Customer on 01-22-19
By: Juliet Marillier
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The Passion of Artemisia
- By: Susan Vreeland
- Narrated by: Gigi Bermingham
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Set against the glorious backdrops of Rome, Florence, and Genoa, and Naples, peopled with historical characters and filled with the details of the life of a 17th-century painter, The Passion of Artemisia is the story of Gentileschi's struggle to find love, forgiveness, and wholeness through her art.
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Disappointing
- By Kay on 05-21-03
By: Susan Vreeland
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The Architect's Apprentice
- By: Elif Shafak
- Narrated by: Piter Marek
- Length: 16 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1540, 12-year-old Jahan arrives in Istanbul. As an animal tamer in the sultan's menagerie, he looks after the exceptionally smart elephant Chota and befriends (and falls for) the sultan's beautiful daughter Princess Mihrimah. A palace education leads Jahan to Mimar Sinan, the empire's chief architect, who takes Jahan under his wing as they construct (with Chota's help) some of the most magnificent buildings in history.
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I feel like I should like it more than I do
- By nyog on 04-19-17
By: Elif Shafak
What listeners say about Sacred Hearts
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Sandy
- 07-12-15
Excellent and accurate!
The story was a captivating. One can feel the pain and distress that must have plagued all the women who were forcibly monachated.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Yuefang
- 05-01-14
Unknown Life As Nuns
I cannot imagine living as nun in 21st century, I'm always thinking being a nun is a choice, but not until I listen the audiobook. OMG that was terrible and shocking for me, a young girl was forced into nunnery.
As the story goes I find out that nuns also have demons in them just like everybody living outside the nunnery, they can be jealous,hatred,betrayal,trust, and love.
Honestly this is my first spiritual genre audiobook, I can't say the whole aspect of the story is fact, I just enjoy and regard it as pure fiction. I also love Rosalyn Landor, she's done a great job!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- JACK
- 12-13-10
Lovey Reading
Was a little concerned that the book would be too long for the subject matter, but the hours went by too fast as I became immersed in the time period, the convent and the lives of the nuns. Very well read. I would definitely listen to another by both the author and narrator.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Dennis Royer
- 04-14-11
Literary fiction and not an action thriller
Being an action junkie, I found the pace of this story to be excruciatingly slow. The author, Sarah Dunant, described convent life in such laborious detail that I felt every bit the prisoner listening as Serafina, the 16-year-old protagonist, enslaved to the sisters of the Santa Caterina convent. What kept me engaged was sympathy for Serafina while she endured abject despair. Fortunately, there is a satisfying ending.
Students of history will enjoy the well-researched background material provided by the author and Rosalyn Landor does an excellent job with the narration. Her characters have distinct voices that are easy to identify.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 07-01-22
Truly a gem of a story brought to life by an excellent performer.
Everything from Sarah Dunant is ridiculously good. This story is a favorite with rich, fully formed characters. Great performance did it justice and helped set the tone for this book. I wish she was the narrator for all of Ms Dunant’s stories. I’d love to listen to The Birth of Venus by the same performer.
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- Barbara
- 04-19-10
A riveting historical novel
I love well-written historical novels and I've always been fascinated by the life of nuns. This book was a gripping look into the world of an Italian convent--the politics, the spiritual lives, the practicalities. It was well done and the narration was absolutely perfect. Well worth the time.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Helen L
- 05-02-12
Well done Sarah!
Would you listen to Sacred Hearts again? Why?
yes, it's a good historical representation of the period told with sensitivity through the experiences of nuns and the plight of women of that era.
What other book might you compare Sacred Hearts to and why?
Anya Seaton "The Green Darkness".. the story telling is as gripping.
If you could take any character from Sacred Hearts out to dinner, who would it be and why?
Sarah Dunant, the author... because she is an old friend.
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3 people found this helpful
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- B. Chambas
- 10-21-13
Refreshing and Empowering Perspective
What made the experience of listening to Sacred Hearts the most enjoyable?
So often we are told by media, fiction, and culture at large that the Church, past and present, supports and perpetrates the subjugation of women. In fact, as this novel demonstrates, medieval convents could be incredibly liberating places for the women who lived there. Here we see women governing themselves, pursuing science and the arts, being allowed to live up to their potential in ways that they have rarely been allowed to do elsewhere. By the same token, the novel is not naive to the pressures and abuses of power that took place from without and within. The historicity is textured and beautiful. The characters are rich with complexity, conflicts emerging both within them and from without. I was spellbound throughout, changing my mind more than once about whether I believed Serafina should find a place for herself in Santa Caterina or should escape to her beloved Iacobo (sp?). Thank you for this novel.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Moragne
- 02-14-11
Blessed Love
This is the third book by Sarah Dunant set in Italy during the Renaissance and this doesn't disappoint. I joke about little girls becoming nuns because their fathers don't want them to date or something, and this book was right up my alley concerning that(which is partially why I enjoyed it so.)
I took my time reading this because I wanted to savour the detail and get a good feel for convent life. I felt the closeness, the harshness, the love, the hate, the alien-ness of being locked away from the world and yet still expected to serve in it on some level.
The books starts out how I feel many women would respond if put into that situation. Screaming. This book made me glad that I'm a woman of the 21st century and can choose. I don't know what I would do if I were Serafina and forced into a place I didn't want to be. I don't believe I'd have her courage.
I really liked all the of people Dunant placed in the convent to give it depth and movement. I'll be honest I'd made a horrible nun being surrounded by women and this book just confirmed it took strong women not to kill each other. There are factions and alliances to make Survivor seem like kindergarten recess. There's lying, gossip, back-talk and all done under a veil of "silence."
Dunant takes you into a world that you hope to never experience, but almost want to try out even if just for a day.
There were a few problems though. Sometimes I felt things were too overly explained. I also felt that the ending was a bit abrupt. I mean it ended well, but I felt like there could have been more closure. I also wish that one of the characters had a much bigger part in the book overall.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Sonomaguys
- 01-04-12
Beatifull
As with the previous 2 books of this genre by the author, this book shines. In many ways I consider it the most complex yet compared to the previous 2 novels, all the action takes place in a relatively small space- in a convent.The characters are 3 dimensional, the politics within the convent mirror the larger political forces of that era. And the description of the honest spiritual yearnings of the nuns is balanced with the psychology of supression, rationalization and sublimation as attempts to maintain their sanity since these women were imprisoned from childhood.
I am very sorry its the last novel; hopefully there will be a 4th.
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5 people found this helpful