An imagining of life in a covent in Renaissance Italy. Through the tale of a young woman who has been shut up in a covent against her will, the novel deals with autonomy, pragmatism, and free will. There are repeated references to the Council of Trent and the counter-reformation, along with discussions sotto voce about sidestepping it. After all, rules and laws are nothing but words on paper by themselves, certainly important in the making but ineffective without implementation. Which, as the nuns in the convent realise all too quickly, involves interpreting the text of the written word and navigating the realpolitik of the implied word... The young woman, incidentally, unlike so many women through history who were virtually imprisoned in convents, did manage to make her way out with the guile of an older, sympathetic nun and the acquiescence of the abess who was both ruthless and compassionate.
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