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An enclosure act: The Anchoress by Robyn Cadwallader

1/9/2015

11 Comments

 
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Sarah is seventeen in 1255 when she chooses to be enclosed in a cell, seven paces by nine, at the side of the village church. Fleeing the grief of losing her mother and her younger sister in childbirth, and the unwelcome attentions of the lord of the manor, she renounces the world and all its dangers and disappointments to a living death dedicated to God. With guidance from The Rule, a book copied without flourishes by her reluctant confessor, Father Ranaulf, she’s also responsible for the moral welfare of her two servant women and, indirectly through her prayers, the well-being of the village, proud to have an anchoress in their midst, even if they cannot see her.

It takes great skill to compose an engaging narrative about a woman who never leaves her room, but Sarah is an intriguing character. We wonder about her motivation for being there, the impact of her incarceration on her body and mind and, when we discover along with her that one of the previous inhabitants of her cell left in disgrace, whether she will stay. And, much as Sarah would prefer to renounce the world, she cannot be completely isolated, as she hears the church services through a slit in the adjoining wall and the rhythms of village life on the other side, and as women from the village come to solicit her prayers.

This novel provides an interesting insight into life in a mediaeval English village, with its feudal system on one hand and the power of the church on the other. Through the sections from the point of view of Father Ranaulf, we also get a taste of monastery politics and the pressures on scribes prior to Guttenberg’s invention of the printing press. There is also a reference to the early enclosure Acts when the lord decides to usurp the common land, mirroring Sarah’s personal enclosure. Yet the novel seems highly contemporary in its themes of religiosity; obsession and interdependency. For this reader it also connected with preoccupations of my own debut novel, Sugar and Snails, in terms of self-harm; fear of sexuality; triumph over the body; a preoccupation with death (and the church) and the reliability of adolescent decision-making (although, of course, in mediaeval times there was no such thing as adolescence and Sarah, at seventeen, would have long been considered an adult).

The Anchoress is published by Faber and Faber who provided my review copy.

While I could imagine sharing Sarah’s religious mania, I’m not sure I’d have voluntarily put myself in a situation of such utter dependence. What if there were some emergency that required me to get out but my calls for help went unanswered? This is part of the theme of what I hope to be my second novel, Underneath, which I’ve recently read through after a gap of about a year. Perhaps more to the point, it connects to the theme of the latest flash fiction challenge from Charli Mills. Over in Idaho, Charli is concerned about encroaching wildfires, and the bravery of the men and women who fight them. In Europe, we’ve been shamed for the past week by stories of migrants, particularly refugees from the war in Syria, dying in pursuit of a better, safer, healthier life for their families. There’s no way I could do justice to their plight in my 99 words – and revisiting Charli’s prompt I see I’ve strayed slightly from the need for help in an extreme weather event – but here’s my paltry contribution:

When the water swirled around our feet, the boatman insisted we’d be there soon. What choice had we? We peered through the darkness for dry land.

When we asked for jackets, they said to start bailing. When the sea reached our knees, we asked about the radio. But rescue meant repatriation and prison for the crew.

They said we were too many, but we hadn’t been too many when they took our dollars. We pleaded for the children as the waves crashed overhead. When the water reached our waists, they launched the dinghy and left us to our fate.

Thanks for reading. I'd love to know what you think. If you've enjoyed this post, you might like to sign up via the sidebar for regular email updates and/or my quarterly Newsletter.
11 Comments
geoff link
1/9/2015 02:46:28 pm

Extraordinary sounding book; the isolation would be beyond me. I can't really get my head round how anyone could put themselves through such an ordeal. But neither can I imagine the lives of the asylum seekers and refugees that fill our screens and thoughts. I wish I had an answer. Yvette Cooper's intervention is a worthy and admirable one but I can't help thinking the solution lies nearer home in Syria and Afghanistan though quite how one influences that without yet another military engagement I haven't the first clue. Your flash is a powerful reminder of the human side to all these headlines. A Whirlwind indeed.

Reply
Annecdotist
2/9/2015 07:56:55 am

I think as a man you'd be excused the anchor role, so you can stay connected, Geoff!
I think the West is experiencing another side of globalisation with the refugee crisis: we've benefited from having the whole world as our marketplace, and now they're saying they want what we have we don't know what to do. Glad the flash evoked this – now I just need to write one with the solution embedded within it!

Reply
Norah Colvin link
2/9/2015 12:58:42 am

As I read your review I was reminded of two other stories, both probably having nothing in common with each other or this one, which just goes to show how my mind shoots off in all directions. The first I thought of was one of your short stories about a singing nun, the second was the story of Galileo's confinement as told by Dava Sobel in "Galileo's Daughter". To be confined to a space as small as seven by nine paces sounds horrendous to claustrophobic me! Unfortunately the religious cruelty of those times is still being suffered by many around the world. It does sound an interesting read though I find little from that time period appealing.
How exciting to have read your second novel "Underneath". I hope it didn't disappoint and I look forward to reading about its journey as it comes out from under the covers.
You flash is a wonderful display of your writing prowess, as well as the horror that meets many of those fleeing one in the thought of a better life. I like the way your have increased the tension, and the final despair, as the boat and its passengers succumb to the watery depths. Despicable, heartless boatmen. I really enjoyed this post and the flash.

Reply
Annecdotist
2/9/2015 08:04:22 am

Thank you, Norah, I haven't read Galileo's Daughter but this novel did remind me of my own short story, The Invention of Harmony, but probably only because it features someone choosing the religious life in preference for the dangers of childbirth. I don't know much about it but the period does interest me because, for all I'm suspicious of the vested interests of the church, given that women were not considered people in their own right, joining a nunnery doesn't seem such a bad choice for the times.
Glad the flash works for you – well the boatmen were unfeeling but I suppose they saw the refugees as cargo rather than people. A horrible prospect, but not so much farther from how we all behave when we tolerate having a far more comfortable life than most of the world's population.

Reply
Charli Mills
2/9/2015 01:41:38 am

This is definitely a book I'll read! I studied women's medieval literature in college and read one of the anchoress books -- Julian of Norwich. Fascinating! For all the institutions of the time, people were remarkably free in their thinking and we have more women writers during that time than the renaissance. While politics were part of the church so was education, music, healing and crazy things like walling oneself off from the world to seek God.

I think natural disasters evokes human loss and naturally, with what has occurred this week with Syrian refugees, your mind would go there. The trusting of the people who paid to escape and the betrayal because of greed and unexpected high seas is tragic.

Reply
Annecdotist
2/9/2015 08:12:05 am

Yes, Charli, the church was so integral to people's lives – and I'm certainly grateful to it for the choral music I so love. While I've heard of Julian of Norwich, I know little about her life, and I wonder if you'd enjoy this novel more or less through having that context. I was appalled and fascinated by what I read here – and also surprised that, while harsh, it wasn't as deprived as I might have expected.
Thanks for the prompt for the flash. When I read it, I couldn't think of anything but the refugees, but wasn't sure if I wanted to/was able to write about their situation. But your prompts always urge us to push a little further with our writing practice.

Reply
Derbhile Graham link
2/9/2015 01:52:00 am

Sounds like a fascinating book. I remember learning about the anchoress Julian of Norwich when I was doing English in college. Thanks for bringing us another thought provoking book review.

Reply
Annecdotist
2/9/2015 08:14:51 am

Thanks, Derbhile. As I said in response to Charli, I don't have that background knowledge, so I'm not sure what difference that would make to the reading. But I think it's one that merits a wide readership.

Reply
Irene Waters link
2/9/2015 05:53:07 am

Personally I couldn't take the claustrophobia that such a small space would give me however I can understand surviving the isolation. Sometimes you are more alone in company than in a small space where you are the solitary occupant.
Your flash is so pertinent to the tragedy that is occurring in Europe at the moment. Too many deaths already. Hopefully the world will come up with a solution to prevent more whilst granting these people their human rights.

Reply
Annecdotist
2/9/2015 08:24:43 am

I thought it would be claustrophobic, Irene, but when I paced it, 7 by 9 isn't as small as I expected – but still too small to live for the rest of your life. I agree that it's possible to be lonely in company and one of the things I thought would be particularly difficult about Sarah's life would be being able to hear things happening around her but being unable to join in – I'd rather be a hermit out in the wilds!
And yes, the refugee crisis is dreadful and very much in need of a solution.

Reply
Norah Colvin link
6/9/2015 08:36:23 am

Thanks for your response to my comment and for the great discussion this post has raised. Seems we are all united in our thoughts about the refugee crisis. Let's hope a solution is found soon, but how I can't imagine. It is true what you say about "blind" tolerance to the substandard living conditions of many of the world's population. Again, for what to do about it I have no suggestions.

Reply



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