About this title: The story of nuns and postulants in the closed Benedictine Order in the Abbey of Brede. Through the events of the novel Philippa Talbot, an ex-civil servant, learns how to come to terms with the tragedy from her past and even gain serenity. "The River" is another book by the same author.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Description: Fair. Dust Cover Missing. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Cloth
Publisher: Viking, N. Y.
Date Published: 1969
Description: Cover Art. Good in Very Good jacket. Hard Back. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. X-library with normal flaws.......The hard cover and the jacket has light shelf wear. Spine cock.....We are very careful when we list our books, but sometimes something minor may get by.. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Viking Press
Date Published: 1969
Description: A wonderful copy with some minor edgewear to the cover. Dust Jacket may have chips and close tears. Book of the Month Club Edition. -, Hard Cover, Very Good / Good. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Viking Press, New York
Date Published: 1969
Description: Good. No dust jacket. 376 p. 23 cm. Pages clean, bright and unmarked. Binding has slight twist with worn fabric at spine heel. Corners lightly bumped with fabric rubbing. Tan/yellow boards have age and handling marks, lettering and rooster inlay on spine is clear and attractive. A well loved copy. read more
Edition: Book Club (BCE/BOMC)
Binding: Cloth
Publisher: Viking Press, N. Y.
Date Published: 1969
Description: Cover Art. Good in Good jacket. Hard Back. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. The hard cover and the jacket has some shelf wear. Owners name on the front fly...Price clip....----We are very careful when we list our books, but sometimes something minor may get by...... read more
Edition: Book Club Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Viking, New York
Date Published: 1969
Description: Good + No DJ. 12mo = 7-9" 376pp. Tan cloth covers are bumped on top/bottom of spine and corners. Illustrated endpapers. There is crayon scribbling on front endpapers, title page and dedication page-but rest of text is fine. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: The Viking Press
Date Published: 1969
Description: Good. Great reading copy. Good BCE hardcover, no dust jacket. Unmarked, bright and clean with square and tight binding. Cover is mildly soiled and pages are pleasantly toned. Enjoy reading with a real book in your hands. read more
"Being raised Baptist, I knew very little about the Catholic faith or Catholic orders, so when I read several positive reviews of Godden's, "In this House of Brede", I knew I needed to get this book and read for myself to understand a way of life very foreign yet very intriguing to me.
It was overall an enjoyable read. The story weaves in and out of the lives of most of the main sisters in the cloister. I have to admit that I gave it only 3 stars because it took me almost half way through the book before I could recognize and categorize all the characters (there are many, many sisters to remember). Also, not growing up Catholic made many of the terms and rituals sometimes difficult to follow -- however, Godden provided an index in the back of the book which answered many of my questions.
For anyone interested in knowing more about the cloistered life, I would certainly recommend this book. However, be patient when you start it and take your time learning with various characters. I think perhaps a second reading might improve my rating of this book since I would already remember most of the main characters."
"I would like to reread this book at a later time. I enjoyed it, but I was so busy I really didn't get to read it and enjoy it. I love the story and learning about life in a monastery. I really liked the nuns and their personalities, but because it took me so long to read the book, it was hard to remember some of them and the rolls they played.
The main character Philippa Talbot, a highly successful professional woman leaves her life to join a cloistered Benedictine community. We learn about the crisis in her life and how she and others adjust to life in this community.
Although this book and the monastery is fictional, the author, in preparing to write "In This House of Brede," lived for three years at the gate of an English Benedictine abbey. The notes at the back of the book give more understanding of what life would be like at a monastery and I recommend that you read those first."
"I read this book when I was in my teens, all through the Christmas Vacation of 1972. I neglected my studies, but I do not regret it. I reread it many times and it never fails to grip me and the sheer beauty of the book leaves me in tears. Philippa Talbot enters the Abbey of Brede when she is successful, at the peak of her career, all her friends are astounded, but for her the life that she had led was simply not enough. Yes, she chooses to leave all her worldly possessions in pursuit of a life as a Cloistered Benedictine nun. When she knocks on the door of the Abbey of Brede and tells the Mother Abbess, "I wish to try my vocation as a Benedictine nun in this house of Brede," that is when the real story begins. This novel with its many characters can be recognized as one of the most realistic explorations of religious life in literature. So much goes on behind those Abbey walls, but always within a framework of prayer, sacrifice, and love. Prayer, sung prayer in choir and personal prayer alone. Prayer says one of the nuns "Is our craft. . . . The craft of a contemplative religious, and as a good workman, an artist, loves his craft, we must delight in ours." The nuns all find solace and peace in their devotion to continual prayer. Their special calling is to honor God through prayer, and to change the world by doing so. What was touching for me is that lay people could ask the nuns to intercede for them during their times of need. Sacrifice - when you are thrown in the midst of so many nuns, there are so many different 'sacrifices' that are expected from you, Dame Agnes, for example resents Dame Philippa for her superior learning, Dame Agnes also resents her rival the poet Dame Veronica. So many emotions, jealousies, loneliness and rancor plague the lives of the fellow "sisters." The life of a cloistered Benedictine nun is in no way the quiet oasis that many fantasize cloistered life to be. Love - becoming a nun means that you are in the midst of women from very different backgrounds, who you are not related to and you have to love them. Love is not naturally innate. Indeed, as a nun, love towards the other sisters is a sacrifice and gift that requires the grace of God. But by continuous prayer, sacrifice, the thought of others before self, that at the end, Philippa learns to love each of the sisters equally, cherishing their many different foibles and their different natures. However, just like in a marriage in which there are times when it is so very difficult to love one's spouse, In This House of Brede illustrates that it is equally difficult to find the will to love in a cloister. This beautiful book emphasizes that what one does with ones own life is your personal choice, the choice aided by God. Thus, although we might want our lives to be one way, our Lord might have something entirely different in mind for us - perhaps more beautiful- but He will give us the strength and his love to do it. On a personal note, I know that sometimes we yearn for some thing, it could be a person, it could be a job and we pray for it with all our heart. We do "achieve this thing" but many times it turns out to be truly unsuitable for us, but always God with his infinite capacity for Love helps us through this difficult time of our lives. On a personal note, I know that sometimes we yearn for some thing, it could be a person, it could be a job and we pray for it with all our heart. We do "achieve this thing" but many times it turns out to be truly unsuitable for us, but always God with his infinite capacity for Love helps us through this difficult time of our lives."
"Rumer Godden wrote the gripping 1939 novel Black Narcissus about a group of Anglican nuns who attempt to establish a convent school in a former harem palace in the foothills of the Himalayas, the result of which is failure, insanity, and death. Thirty years later Godden returned to the subject of nuns with In This House of Brede and explored it without much of the popular-fiction melodrama. The book was a best-seller anyway because it is fascinating, but it's less of a novel and more of a profile of the cloistered life. Godden researched the book by spending three years in an abbey herself.
In This House of Brede is primarily the story of Philippa Talbot, an extremely successful businesswoman and leader, a widow in her 40s who startlingly gives it all up to become a Benedictine nun. The challenges she faces as a postulant detail for the lay reader just how difficult it is to leave the active "outside" world to start a new life in a reflective order. Yet Philippa can never leave the past completely behind. It affects how she fits into the monastic order and the roles she must play, sometimes reluctantly, and she continues to be haunted by the loss of her family in the war. The final revelation of how she lost her young son is astonishing, horrifying, and very moving.
Ultimately, however, In This House of Brede is the story of the entire community of religious women, their interactions and characters. A very satisfying read on that level."
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.
rating
