I am not at all religious, in fact, have always felt little interest in what bits of religion I encountered as a child. And I have no opinion about Catholicism. So, it’s going to be hard to write this review without sounding anti-Catholic. I promise I am not. But anti the way this school is run—yes.
Nanda Grey’s father is a recent convert to Catholicism, and Nanda also is eager to embrace it. So, her father has enrolled her in school at the Convent of the Five Wounds. It is a very strict school. Letters in and out are read, even to and from parents, censored and sometimes confiscated. Girls are not allowed to be in pairs. Pictures and text are cut out of storybooks, which in fact are only occasionally available. All the students’ reading seems to be on religious topics. Not much time is spent in the novel discussing school subjects, but a lot is spent on religious matters. In fact, for a while I wondered what else the children might be learning, if anything (but apparently some Latin is included, big surprise).
Nevertheless, Nanda is fervently involved in all this, even though she is periodically checked by Mother Radcliffe, who seems to find her willful. (The idea is to break the will, which I think is awful.)
It took me longer to read this short book than it should have because I got really tired of the religious bent to it. In fact, there are about six pages of Nanda’s meditations that she wrote during a retreat, and I completely skipped them. But I was appalled by some of the ideas of the school. For example, when Nanda is still quite young, she talks about how every child should be prepared and happy to die at any moment. It’s in a sermon by a priest, but it’s obviously part of the girls’ consciousness—and embraced. I found it shocking.
Throughout, there are events and incidents that show constant attempts to work against the girls’ natural likes and interests. Parts are assigned in a play not based on the girls’ interests or abilities but counter to them. And the lead, Nanda’s best friend Léonie, who is very good at her part, is removed from it because she’s enjoying it.
Nanda’s enthusiasm and devotion begin to encounter setbacks as she approaches the age of fourteen. Then she runs into a major obstacle, one that even affects her relationship with her beloved father.
The novel doesn’t have much of a plot but is more involved with the daily details of school life.
What? Me Read? 