Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant
Sacred Hearts was written by a familiar author to me - Sarah Dunant. I have also read her books: "The Birth of Venus", "Birth Marks", "Mapping the Edge". This novel was an interesting peek into the life in a convent in Italy in 1570. This was a time when girls without prospects, or girls of wealthy families could only afford a dowry for one of their daughters - the rest would go to the convent. One of the elements I enjoyed was one of the senior sisters was a dispensary mistress, who tended to the ill within the convent in a rather modern manner. I didn't finish this book feeling like it was exciting and new, but it was interesting and kept me engaged to the end.
The Sex Lives of Cannibals was given to me by a friend. It is not about cannibals or sex. It's a travel documentary of several years spent on an atoll in the pacific. At times it drug on commenting on politics and environmental issues, but I did enjoy the adventures and struggles he shared in a pretty amusing way. If I ran across one of his other travelogues of his adventures in Fiji or China, I might be tempted to pick it up and read it.
Catching up on posting my recent reads - Tears of Pearl is the 4th in a series of Victorian era detective novels by Tasha Alexander. It was pretty good. The detecting takes place in a harem in Constantinople. Not my favorite of the series, but definitely readable.
Sacred Hearts was written by a familiar author to me - Sarah Dunant. I have also read her books: "The Birth of Venus", "Birth Marks", "Mapping the Edge". This novel was an interesting peek into the life in a convent in Italy in 1570. This was a time when girls without prospects, or girls of wealthy families could only afford a dowry for one of their daughters - the rest would go to the convent. One of the elements I enjoyed was one of the senior sisters was a dispensary mistress, who tended to the ill within the convent in a rather modern manner. I didn't finish this book feeling like it was exciting and new, but it was interesting and kept me engaged to the end.
The Sex Lives of Cannibals was given to me by a friend. It is not about cannibals or sex. It's a travel documentary of several years spent on an atoll in the pacific. At times it drug on commenting on politics and environmental issues, but I did enjoy the adventures and struggles he shared in a pretty amusing way. If I ran across one of his other travelogues of his adventures in Fiji or China, I might be tempted to pick it up and read it.