The Corner That Held Them
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The author of Lolly Willowes recreates life in a convent during the era of the Black Death in this spellbinding work of medieval historical fiction.
“One of the great British novels of the 20th century: a narrative of extraordinary reach, power and beauty.” —Sarah Waters, New York Times–bestselling author of The Paying Guests
In a Benedictine convent of no great note, the nuns do their chores, and seek to maintain and improve the fabric of their house and chapel, and struggle with each other and with themselves. The story that emerges is a picture of a world run by women—but also a stirring, disturbing, witty, and utterly entrancing portrait of a community.
What is the life of a community and how does it support, or constrain, a real humanity? How do we live through it and it through us?
Set in the era of the Black Death, Sylvia Townsend Warner’s The Corner That Held Them is a historical novel like no other.
Sylvia Townsend Warner
Sylvia Townsend Warner was an English musicologist, novelist, and poet. Her debut novel, Lolly Willowes, was published in 1926. Her focus was subverting societal norms, and her work heavily rejects the Church and embraces female empowerment and independence. Her romantic relationship with fellow poet Valentine Ackland influenced her own writing, and they collaborated on the collection Whether a Dove or a Seagull in 1933. The two were active in the Communist Party, and Marxist ideals appear in Warner’s later works.
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