Women in the Wall

by Julia O'Faolain

In the novel -- as in history -- Radegunda is the wife of Clotair, King of Gaul, seized by him as a prize of war. When she suspects Clotair of murdering her brother, she retreats from the blood-lust of the Dark Ages. Taking the young, innocent Agnes with her, she establishes a religious order where pain and denial are deemed the pathways to virtue and redemption. But the "calm" of self-renunciation cannot last when a sexual scandal involving Agnes is exposed. To expiate this sin, the "victim" fanatically decides to wall herself up. This decision sets off vicious rivalries among the women and draws Radegunda back to the kind of world she had escaped from.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Female Authors, Literary Fiction, Medieval, France

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_O...

Reviews

[Netanella]

“I think you should meet my stepmother,” he told me. “An extraordinary woman. Very holy. You’ll have to go to Poitiers. I’ll give you an escort. Our roads, unfortunately, are unsafe. One can’t see to everything at once. We are plagued by civil wars. My brothers are most rapacious. I sometimes wish my father had strangled them at birth. He killed his nephews so as to prevent civil war in his own time but had no thought for mine. Unforesighted. But, as you know, Rome had a lot of civil war so we needn’t feel ashamed.” - Frankish princeling to the poet Fortunatus

I'm giving this a 4 star rating for several reasons, even though I can't really say if I liked it or not. I am most definitely disturbed by it, in a The Last Temptation of Christ sort of way, because anyone well versed in Catholic doctrine or early Medieval ecclesiastical history would consider this revisionist at best, and obscenely vile at worst.

I'm not sure what to think of the book, but I can't seem to get it out of my mind.

In canonical history, Radegund is a Frankish queen of early Gaul (6th century BCE) who left her husband Clotair to found the abbey of the Holy Cross at Poitiers. Known for her charity and her healing skills, she is revered in the Catholic Church as a saint. One of her close female friends, the lady in waiting Agnes, becomes the first abbess at Holy Cross. She is also canonized in the Catholic Church.

O'Faolain takes these historical figures, and the poet Fortunatus, and weaves her own story, one that is grounded in the worldly, and very earthy, affairs of this early Medieval period. Many readers may take offense at the author's emphasis on the mundane and the mundane motivations that drive the characters in her book. Radegunda's flight from her husband is caused, not so much by his killing her brother, but by her revulsion of him in bed. Early in the novel, Fortunatus (who goes on in history to become a bishop) goes to a brothel for his pleasures, and then unwittingly assists in an abortion. Agnes and Fortunatus have a sexual affair, and Agnes gives birth, in secret, to a little girl named Ingunda. Whether there is any kernel of a truth in any of this, I have no idea. But it certainly makes for interesting reading.

[Rebecca Jessup]

Sheds a lot of light on Gaul in the 7th or 8th century, the socio-political chaos and the dominance of the Catholic church as an escape and haven from the perils of the outside world, particularly for women -- but a harsh escape, with hazards of its own. When I finished the book I had the sense of loss, of leaving behind a world that I had become immersed in.

[Ann Tonks]

It's so long since I've read it that I all I can remember is that I enjoyed it enough to keep it on my book shelf 40 years.

[Sadie]

Fascinating for me because it created a convincing picture of the 6th century, and of religious and political belief at that time in Europe.

[Kathi Olsen]

This is actually listed as historical fiction as there are 2 made up characters in the story. The time period is roughly 568 to 587. Reading this was like reading Les Miz when Hugo went off on tangents about understanding different aspects of life of the time period. This was not a fast or particularly enjoyable read and I almost stopped about 3 times. I understand life in convents during that time would be pretty rough, but the people were also quite narrow minded and had a limited understanding of the scriptures

[k]

3.5 stars. Parts were really lovely, and parts were odd. The shifting among numerous first-person narrators was hard to follow and the real plot didn't seem to pick up until about two-thirds or so through the book. But the prose was lovely and the story interesting.

[Stephanie Kohlhoff]

Interesting subject (Radegunda) - but the actual writing is underwhelming.

[Mgb]

It is sometimes difficult to read books about times long gone(in this case the 500s AD) with language and ideas so alien to us. Add to that trying to help the reader understand why one would voluntarily be immured for life. The author does a fair job of this task...and pulls off a strong ending. I first read this book about 40 years ago and remembered it as ‘great’ and ‘weird’. Now I would classify it as ‘pretty good’ and ‘weird’.

[Sarah]

Skipped vast chunks of this as political intrigues between men with similar names and religious superstition do not hold my interest for long. I suppose there's a limit to how interesting one can make life in a 6th century convent, even, or maybe especially if the book is based on true events.

[Cortney]

I will have to come back to this some day--I was unable to get even 50 pages in. I would try again with an audiobook version...something about the writing was just such a slog. But there is so little historical fiction written about this era that I really WANT to read it...

[Cphe]

Wasn't sure what to make of this when I started, undecided whether to persevere or abandon initially. Quite a violent and bloody book in some respects, life in early Gaul, the religious and political aspects. Ended up finding it an interesting read once I was used to the style of delivery.

[Helen]

Multiple female leads and a Game of Thrones plot. What’s not to like? Plus you get to revel in not having to cope with living in the C6th.

[Janet]

wow!