Read a book set in a convent about growing up amid turmoil

The Guineveres — Sarah Domet

What to Read This Week

The Guineveres by Sarah Domet

What It’s About

Four girls—all named Guinevere—try to escape from the convent where they’re sent to live in during the War. The girls are there for different reasons, but they come together in their desire to escape the convent, but in doing so, all end up, as punishment, working in the convent hospital with the nuns. They are there to help the War Effort, an important job for the girls, and tend to soldiers wounded from battle. 

As the girls all imagine different lives for themselves as they imagine what they’d do when they leave the convent, their lives in the present begin to diverge as well. What once brought them together tears them apart.

A memorable quote:

We all have moments that define us, moments that we can call to mind years later and remember what we felt, what we thought, how the air shifted in the room around us until we felt breathless and we knew nothing in the world could ever be the same. 

This isn’t a book about war, and it isn’t a book about religion. But the war and the convent serve as an important backdrop for the girls as they become women, shaping them into who they are and what they believe. 

Who Will Like It

Personally, I have read so many World War II novels that I’m a bit burnt out on them, and I have been for a while. I particularly liked this one because an actual war was never specified, and the book wasn’t really about that anyway. Again, it served only as a backdrop to help focus on the characters themselves and how that was shaping their lives, which was a refreshing viewpoint to read in historical fiction. Readers who may be hesitant to pick up historical fiction because they’re tired of “war books” may want to give this one a chance. 

And, Domet’s writing, as seen in the quote above, is stunning, so readers who are looking for lush prose that will stop you in your tracks will also enjoy this read. 

Next Up

I’ve been doing quite a few audiobooks lately so I can knit while I read, and I’m tackling my January TBR goals with a vengeance. I’m listening to Sharks in the Time of Saviors, a literary novel about a Hawai’ian family trying to do what’s best for their family and their community, and reading How to Date Men When You Hate Men, which is pretty self-explanatory.  

Let me know what you’re reading this week and if you think The Guineveres is a book you’ll pick up. 

If you need more recommendations, visit the full site for all past books recommended!

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