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Lambs of God
'marvellous' - The New York Times
The flock of nuns and the flock of sheep had been together for so long that the sheep, if they had enough brains to consider the matter at all, thought of the nuns as part of the flock rather than shepherds.
For Iphigenia, Margarita and Carla, the crumbling monastery they live in is their whole world.
They have their daily routines and at their nightly knitting circle, they tell stories - stitching into their work fairy tales and myth. Whatever exists beyond their island home is forgotten.
That is until one day Father Ignatius arrives intent on transforming their forgotten paradise into a luxury resort, complete with a helipad and marina. In an attempt to protect their peaceful existence, the Sisters find themselves willing to do almost anything to save their beloved home...
'Lush and quirky, full of tangled stories, richly comic events and deep symbolism.' - Courier Mail
'The reason for success is Lambs of God is a filmic, intensely sensual book, with a great idea at its core.' - The Weekend Australian
'A novel of wit, suspense and surprises, a disconcerting and potent combination of elements.' - Sunday Age
The flock of nuns and the flock of sheep had been together for so long that the sheep, if they had enough brains to consider the matter at all, thought of the nuns as part of the flock rather than shepherds.
For Iphigenia, Margarita and Carla, the crumbling monastery they live in is their whole world.
They have their daily routines and at their nightly knitting circle, they tell stories - stitching into their work fairy tales and myth. Whatever exists beyond their island home is forgotten.
That is until one day Father Ignatius arrives intent on transforming their forgotten paradise into a luxury resort, complete with a helipad and marina. In an attempt to protect their peaceful existence, the Sisters find themselves willing to do almost anything to save their beloved home...
'Lush and quirky, full of tangled stories, richly comic events and deep symbolism.' - Courier Mail
'The reason for success is Lambs of God is a filmic, intensely sensual book, with a great idea at its core.' - The Weekend Australian
'A novel of wit, suspense and surprises, a disconcerting and potent combination of elements.' - Sunday Age
272 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1998
42 people are currently reading
1102 people want to read
About the author
Marele Day
19 books29 followersDay was born in Sydney, and grew up in Pagewood, an industrial suburb. She attended Sydney Girls High School and Sydney Teachers' College and in 1973 obtained a degree from Sydney University. She has worked as a patent searcher and as a researcher and has also taught in elementary school during the 1980s.
Her Claudia Valentine series features a feminist Sydney-based private investigator but her breakthrough novel was Lambs of God which was a departure from the crime genre and features two nuns battling to save the island on which they live from developers; it became a bestseller.
She lives on the New South Wales North coast.
Marele Day's four book Claudia Valentine series has become a minor classic in Australian crime writing, but her Lambs of God (1998) was even more highly acclaimed as an original and provocative literary work, published in the US by Riverhead and in the UK by Sceptre. Her most recent novel was Mrs Cook, a rich portrayal of the life of a woman whose passion and intellect matched that of her celebrated husband.
Her Claudia Valentine series features a feminist Sydney-based private investigator but her breakthrough novel was Lambs of God which was a departure from the crime genre and features two nuns battling to save the island on which they live from developers; it became a bestseller.
She lives on the New South Wales North coast.
Marele Day's four book Claudia Valentine series has become a minor classic in Australian crime writing, but her Lambs of God (1998) was even more highly acclaimed as an original and provocative literary work, published in the US by Riverhead and in the UK by Sceptre. Her most recent novel was Mrs Cook, a rich portrayal of the life of a woman whose passion and intellect matched that of her celebrated husband.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 147 reviews
January 14, 2016
This is a rather strange book that I had a hard time getting into, but ended up really liking a lot. Three nuns between the ages of late forties to seventies have been living for a very long time on a remote island without any contact with the outside world. Their version of Catholicism blends in nature worship and mythology. Their daily lives consist of, in addition to praying, tending their flock of sheep, who they believe are the souls of other nuns who have since passed away, shearing the sheep and knitting the wool. Their lives change when they get a visit from outside, a young priest who is investigating the property where they live with the interest of turning it into a resort for the wealthy. I can’t describe what happens without giving away spoilers, so it will suffice to say that the nuns in an attempt to keep their home are each in their own individual way forced to revisit and confront their pasts. It was fascinating. I highly recommend this novel!
December 21, 2014
I had never heard of Marele Day before hearing of this novel on the knitting community Ravelry. It was mentioned in one discussion of novels with knitting as a theme. Many participants recommended this novel, so I got curious.
It´s a very weird novel and difficult to describe. Three nuns live peacefully on a remote and deserted island together with their sheep. They breed sheep for food, wool and company. They live in a closed community dependent only of themselves, the sheep and God.
Something happens which changes their way of living and one part of the novel is quite suspenseful.
The story is of course about much more than what is happening in the monastery. It´s about life and and faith and how we deal with both of those things. It´s sometimes very funny and sometimes deeply sad.
I liked her language a lot. Poetic and vivid.
It´s a wonderful and thought provoking novel which will stay in my mind for a long time.
It´s a very weird novel and difficult to describe. Three nuns live peacefully on a remote and deserted island together with their sheep. They breed sheep for food, wool and company. They live in a closed community dependent only of themselves, the sheep and God.
Something happens which changes their way of living and one part of the novel is quite suspenseful.
The story is of course about much more than what is happening in the monastery. It´s about life and and faith and how we deal with both of those things. It´s sometimes very funny and sometimes deeply sad.
I liked her language a lot. Poetic and vivid.
It´s a wonderful and thought provoking novel which will stay in my mind for a long time.
September 19, 2025
It is rare for me to give anything over a 3 star rating but this book deserves it. Although I nearly gave up on it a few times, I am so glad that I persevered to the end. It is totally impossible to categorise this so I will give the bare bones of the plot.
Three nuns of varying ages live a simple and happy life in an abbey on a remote island accessible only by a causeway. All of the other sisters have died but the nuns believe that they live on in the bodies of the flock of sheep that they farm. Out of the blue a young, arrogant priest arrives. That is all I can say without spoiling the story.
The book certainly made me think and I will miss the nuns . They were such captivating characters!
Three nuns of varying ages live a simple and happy life in an abbey on a remote island accessible only by a causeway. All of the other sisters have died but the nuns believe that they live on in the bodies of the flock of sheep that they farm. Out of the blue a young, arrogant priest arrives. That is all I can say without spoiling the story.
The book certainly made me think and I will miss the nuns . They were such captivating characters!
January 14, 2017
Lambs of God gifts its readers with lush imagery, memorable characters, and a pervading undercurrent of myth and magic.
It wasn't a story I was expecting to like, not only because of its religious setting, but because once I started, it took about 50 pages before I was fully settled into its world. It's slow-paced, full of vivid descriptions, slightly contrived...yet Iphigenia, Margarita, Carla, and even Father Ignatius (who I found hypocritical and didn't like much at all) were too strange to ignore, too different to dismiss outright. I'm glad I kept reading.
Recommended if you want a story about three nuns, a priest and a dilapidated monastery, tempered with magical realism.
3.5 stars
It wasn't a story I was expecting to like, not only because of its religious setting, but because once I started, it took about 50 pages before I was fully settled into its world. It's slow-paced, full of vivid descriptions, slightly contrived...yet Iphigenia, Margarita, Carla, and even Father Ignatius (who I found hypocritical and didn't like much at all) were too strange to ignore, too different to dismiss outright. I'm glad I kept reading.
Recommended if you want a story about three nuns, a priest and a dilapidated monastery, tempered with magical realism.
3.5 stars
November 6, 2020
Slightly wacky book about a trio of nuns and their determination to keep their convent, even under the pressure of a priest's dreams of rising in the church's hierarchy and how he plans to achieve that. Not sure if this book would encourage me to read other Marele Day books - it was decent, but not the highlight of my year (or anywhere near it). The TV adaptation was equally wacky, but did follow the book, mostly.
April 22, 2020
This has to be the weirdest book I have ever read. £ nuns live in a crumbling monastery cu off from the worl. the entrance hidden and overgrown. A pries is sent by the Bishop to assess the monastery for its saleablility to a conglomerate who want to build a paradise away from it all. Not surprisingly the 3 nuns are far from enamoured by the prospect. They begin to act like a triumvirate of Annie Wilkes In Stephen King's Misery.
Their attempts to stop the priest leaving descend into a level of increasing horror for the reading as the sisters encase both his legs in plaster and don't allow him even the decency of tending to his personal needs. AT this point i think the author to a dose of one of the sister's herbs and engages in symbolism and activities that are just nauseating and unnecessary as they drink their own blood and smear it around.
I felt it just went too far, it was a very uncomfortable read although the ending did bring a bit of lightness to the story. It is certainly not one i would recommend to anyone else and if it is indicative of the rest of the author's opus she is not one i would read again.
I am not sure how to rate it as i can see that some might think it quite clever but I am still washing the sour taste out of my mouth
Their attempts to stop the priest leaving descend into a level of increasing horror for the reading as the sisters encase both his legs in plaster and don't allow him even the decency of tending to his personal needs. AT this point i think the author to a dose of one of the sister's herbs and engages in symbolism and activities that are just nauseating and unnecessary as they drink their own blood and smear it around.
I felt it just went too far, it was a very uncomfortable read although the ending did bring a bit of lightness to the story. It is certainly not one i would recommend to anyone else and if it is indicative of the rest of the author's opus she is not one i would read again.
I am not sure how to rate it as i can see that some might think it quite clever but I am still washing the sour taste out of my mouth
January 9, 2021
Such a sensory novel. I had watched 2 of the 4 FOXTEL films before I finished it which were incredible, those images really stuck with me through the read.
I loved being within the walls of an enclosed sect, and how being cut off from the world had lead to a warping of their Christian faith. I loved the reincarnation of dead nuns as sheep, The Agnes Sisters.
I loved the symbolism of the fairytales, bible stories and pagan myth which embellished their personalities and exposed their pasts and their desires especially when countered with the scarcity of the nuns day to day language.
It was dark an ominous at time, but like any good fairytale it had a happy ending, but for me it was weaved in a way that was very pleasing.
I loved being within the walls of an enclosed sect, and how being cut off from the world had lead to a warping of their Christian faith. I loved the reincarnation of dead nuns as sheep, The Agnes Sisters.
I loved the symbolism of the fairytales, bible stories and pagan myth which embellished their personalities and exposed their pasts and their desires especially when countered with the scarcity of the nuns day to day language.
It was dark an ominous at time, but like any good fairytale it had a happy ending, but for me it was weaved in a way that was very pleasing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 7, 2015
This was a book club read. I was sceptical at first but soon became enchanted with this very original idea. It's among the best of books I have read. I loved the descriptions of knitting history, the strange and unusual tale of 3 nuns and their surprise visitor. I half expe ted something sinister to happen, but besides their very odd 'handling' of their problem, it was sort of ok. The story tapered off in intensity towards the end, but it had me so interested from start to end. So a great book club pick and a 5 out of 5 from me.
July 10, 2019
I read this book over 20 years ago when I was first published. With a tv series about to be shown, I decided to read it again and I loved it again. Such a clever story and beautifully written.
January 7, 2018
This strange and unsettling book is full of destabilising events. We begin in an abbey, where there are only three sisters left and their religious observances have taken on a peculiar flavour all of their own. They weave fairy tales and ancient myths as well as pagan beliefs through their understanding and observance of Christian monastic life and they have begun to connect with the environment in ways that are represented by dirt, by the wool they spin and wear and the sheep they have a symbiotic relationship with (and know they have begun to resemble). There are three nuns of differing ages, but they manage not to take on quite the stereotypes you would expect from them (although Carla comes close) nor do they quite fit the old cliche of maiden, mother, crone.
Their life is enclosed, they do not even see the seals, nor the causeway that is as shifting as the plot and relationships of the book and comes and goes to connect their "island" to the mainland, but at low-tide when there is a causeway a young and ambitious priest comes across to look at what he thinks is an abandoned monastery and to get it ready for selling or developing.
This is where it gets weird, with Ignatius as sort of a colonist coming into what he has already decided is "terra nullius" and all too ready to see the inhabitants as savages, especially given the lack of separation between themselves and their environment. Things like cutlery and dependence on technology are presented as evidence of being "civilised" while the sisters are portrayed as animalistic, instinct driven, rarely even speaking and kind of disgusting actually. At the same time throughout the book this view of them is undermined from time to time, both by Ignatius' occasional sexual attraction to one of them and by the many instances of culture by these "savages" their greater ability to weave myths and daily life together in complex ways as well as the technology of carding, spinning and knitting...human hair added to the mix. This is about gender- gendered power, culture and technology as the conflict of interests between Ignatius and the community becomes a potentially deadly game of wits.
Ignatius underestimates the three women by a long way and the reader is almost led to do the same (though there are hints all along). The "happy ending" almost seems too contrived and simple, it is achieved through the author unravelling the ideas of enclosure and in some ways self-defeating because the sisters can only win through by using power from the world they have abandoned (and a male is pivotal in this). In this story ONLY the master's tools can destroy the master's house but along the way we get some cynical views of church, culture, male power and ownership. Place and personhood are explored (often uncomfortably) and "knowing" is made complex as the irrational triumphs again and again. Surprising amounts of tolerance and forgiveness strew the emotional landscape but abuse and suffering can also lead to violence and death, while all sorts of unpleasant odors are constantly present along with dirt and degradation.
There's a disappointingly conventional and heteronormative view of sexuality, although the exploration of celibacies was sort of interesting, it wasn't quite as cynically treated as I expected (as you often find). At the end the author, reader and characters in effect have their cake (honey biscuits) and eat it too, the story weakens to allow resolution and to bring back a sense of taking the spirituality in the text more-or-less seriously (I had mixed feelings about this).
It's well worth a read and very thought provoking.
Their life is enclosed, they do not even see the seals, nor the causeway that is as shifting as the plot and relationships of the book and comes and goes to connect their "island" to the mainland, but at low-tide when there is a causeway a young and ambitious priest comes across to look at what he thinks is an abandoned monastery and to get it ready for selling or developing.
This is where it gets weird, with Ignatius as sort of a colonist coming into what he has already decided is "terra nullius" and all too ready to see the inhabitants as savages, especially given the lack of separation between themselves and their environment. Things like cutlery and dependence on technology are presented as evidence of being "civilised" while the sisters are portrayed as animalistic, instinct driven, rarely even speaking and kind of disgusting actually. At the same time throughout the book this view of them is undermined from time to time, both by Ignatius' occasional sexual attraction to one of them and by the many instances of culture by these "savages" their greater ability to weave myths and daily life together in complex ways as well as the technology of carding, spinning and knitting...human hair added to the mix. This is about gender- gendered power, culture and technology as the conflict of interests between Ignatius and the community becomes a potentially deadly game of wits.
Ignatius underestimates the three women by a long way and the reader is almost led to do the same (though there are hints all along). The "happy ending" almost seems too contrived and simple, it is achieved through the author unravelling the ideas of enclosure and in some ways self-defeating because the sisters can only win through by using power from the world they have abandoned (and a male is pivotal in this). In this story ONLY the master's tools can destroy the master's house but along the way we get some cynical views of church, culture, male power and ownership. Place and personhood are explored (often uncomfortably) and "knowing" is made complex as the irrational triumphs again and again. Surprising amounts of tolerance and forgiveness strew the emotional landscape but abuse and suffering can also lead to violence and death, while all sorts of unpleasant odors are constantly present along with dirt and degradation.
There's a disappointingly conventional and heteronormative view of sexuality, although the exploration of celibacies was sort of interesting, it wasn't quite as cynically treated as I expected (as you often find). At the end the author, reader and characters in effect have their cake (honey biscuits) and eat it too, the story weakens to allow resolution and to bring back a sense of taking the spirituality in the text more-or-less seriously (I had mixed feelings about this).
It's well worth a read and very thought provoking.
May 22, 2020
I very much enjoyed this book! The lush imagery and deeply evocative characters lent an otherworldly and spiritual mist throughout the entire novel. It was thought provoking and humorous and poignant. I was especially in love with the character of Sister Carla whose innocence and child like wonder were so well developed and integral to the story and its overall symbolic themes.
Is the book an odd one? Oh yes! However, Marele Day is a superb storyteller and brings forth such a page turning , bittersweet, and in depth tale of faith, mysticism, and the struggle of wills and divine intervention.
Is the book an odd one? Oh yes! However, Marele Day is a superb storyteller and brings forth such a page turning , bittersweet, and in depth tale of faith, mysticism, and the struggle of wills and divine intervention.
July 22, 2014
A highly unusual and thought provoking tale about the nature of faith, belief and religion. 3 feral nuns, the last of an island community, have their solitude broken by the arrival of a priest who has plans for their home. What the nuns then do is both outrageous and understandable. Day captures the world of these nuns, enclosed for decades, and their little nonsenses and eccentricities and juxtaposes their innocence and pure faith with the more worldly understanding of the invading preist. A beautiful, clever and thought-provoking tale.
October 29, 2021
Gross. What should be interesting characters and setting (a ruined monastery on an isolated island, three nuns, and their flock of sheep) is too contrived and “literary”. A young, ambitious priest comes to the island to scope it out as a possible resort development. The characters are all unappealing and the story-line weird. There is some mild humor but WARNING it is lewd humor. There is only some minor mystery element in things that happened to the characters in their past, but it is all too convoluted and disorganized to hold interest. Give this one a pass.
April 7, 2024
I like it a lot. But the ended it was different that I expected. I have mixed feelings about it. The show take the story to another level but I like the both. I couldn't picture Ignatius as anyone but Sam Reid and he is also in the cover of the Spanish edition.
August 4, 2019
Loved this book, the purity of the mixture of stories of faith, folklore, fairy stories Shakespearian overtones were masterful done and the author truly cared about all her characters. An uplifting and thought provoking story.
October 30, 2019
Creepy, funny and sensual - recommend to anyone with a passing interest in nuns/leaving society.
June 14, 2024
Good read but in pales in comparison to the TV adaptation. They took a good story and made it great.
March 4, 2025
A very different type of story. Interesting concept but overall an okay read. It kept me interested enough to want to know how it ended.
July 19, 2019
Something a bit different and plenty of laugh out loud moments
July 8, 2025
Stumbled upon this one after falling down a TikTok rabbit hole—one of those moody, slow-burning clips from the limited series adaptation that aired just before the pandemic. I ended up binge-watching all four episodes yesterday morning and then decided to read the book immediately afterward, drawn in by the series' eerie atmosphere and its strange tenderness.
There’s something about stories built around blind faith, twisted belief systems, or so-called heresies that really draws me in, especially when they’re written with care and depth, as this one is. Lambs of God is both whimsical and unsettling, quietly symbolic and yet sharp in its portrayal of isolation, devotion, and survival. It inhabits that uncanny space where the grotesque becomes poetic, where characters are both saints and sinners, depending on how the light falls upon them.
I wish I had read this sooner, but I’m also oddly glad I didn’t—because now was the perfect time to receive it. There’s a kind of comfort in its oddness, a strange clarity that lingers. It’s the kind of book you carry with you like a whispered prayer you’re not quite sure you believe in, but keep repeating anyway.
There’s something about stories built around blind faith, twisted belief systems, or so-called heresies that really draws me in, especially when they’re written with care and depth, as this one is. Lambs of God is both whimsical and unsettling, quietly symbolic and yet sharp in its portrayal of isolation, devotion, and survival. It inhabits that uncanny space where the grotesque becomes poetic, where characters are both saints and sinners, depending on how the light falls upon them.
I wish I had read this sooner, but I’m also oddly glad I didn’t—because now was the perfect time to receive it. There’s a kind of comfort in its oddness, a strange clarity that lingers. It’s the kind of book you carry with you like a whispered prayer you’re not quite sure you believe in, but keep repeating anyway.
June 20, 2019
If it weren't for the hype and fact this is about to become a miniseries (which looks great), I don't think I would have persevered with this book. It took a while to get into and was quite stilted, and sometimes jarring with the changes in tense. Having said that, after 40-odd pages, it did pick up (though not everyone would last this long). My main issue was that none of the characters were particularly likeable, or even that interesting. The setting, a remote, unnamed island, was evocative if a little too symbolic. Where I found Day excelled was her dialogue, which was witty and peculiar. Sadly, towards the end, I stopped caring and finished mainly for the sake of completion.
December 26, 2019
I am not quite sure what to say about this book. Although I was not engrossed with the characters or plot, I still wanted to find out what happened in such an unusual premise. Three nuns live in a crumbling, overgrown, isolated monastery, which had been forgotten by the Bishop until a young priest thought the location offered potential for wealth.
I did not find the characters very likable, but, as their back stories unfolded through a series of flashbacks, I could see reasons for their behaviours. These stories also introduced several surprises. The author has left the ending open-ended, but with enough background for the reader to choose an ending they prefer.
I did not find the characters very likable, but, as their back stories unfolded through a series of flashbacks, I could see reasons for their behaviours. These stories also introduced several surprises. The author has left the ending open-ended, but with enough background for the reader to choose an ending they prefer.
November 27, 2008
Exceedingly quirky and weird. Frequently hilarious, often squirm-inducing, but it had depth that surprised me. It features three forgotten nuns in a crumbling ruin of a monastery, lots of sheep, and a priest who stumbles across them in his quest to turn the property into a holiday resort. Oh, and knitting. Lots of knitting.
Also: I seem to be continuing my recent recurring theme of books about monks & nuns. It's unintentional, I swear.
Also: I seem to be continuing my recent recurring theme of books about monks & nuns. It's unintentional, I swear.
July 17, 2021
An unusual but interesting novel. Though some things seem odd at first the are explained through symbolism and metaphors as the story unfolds. At the heart of it all is the influence we have on one another along with the influence of our environment. Which is right, which is wrong ..... maybe not either just different.
Read
January 2, 2015good
February 7, 2020
Whimsical and weird. I liked listening to their way of life and resourcefulness in the isolated nunnery. But had to stop reading when it seemed like they were torturing the priest.
March 6, 2017
Un’Australia selvaggia e isolata dovrebbe fare da cornice a una storia complessa e ricca, che racchiude in sé diverse vite tenute insieme dall’invisibile filo del destino.
Ma più che di Australia, in questo romanzo, troviamo il senso selvaggio e di “isolitudine” perché l’ambiente primario in cui si struttura la scena è proprio un isolotto abbandonato, dove sorgono le rovine di un vecchio villaggio di pescatori prima e un antico monastero di suore di clausura più in là.
Un ambiente feroce, che nel corso del tempo si è impossessato di quanto lasciato dall’uomo riprendendosi il suo spazio e trasformando il luogo in modo inaccessibile o quasi. Il verde dei rami e dei rovi, il fango, la presenza delle foche sugli scogli, il mare che come per miracolo, scopriremo a lettura avanzata, si solleva e si dirada per creare un lembo di passaggio di sabbia con il resto del continente, sono tutti elementi forti e presenti all’interno della storia, che hanno un peso enorme sulle vicende.
Una volta entrati dentro questa dimensione, è più facile per il lettore comprendere le dinamiche interattive tra i vari personaggi, e immaginarne la verosimiglianza: ci sono tre suore che si sono adattate a vivere nell’antico convento in rovina, che nel rispetto della clausura non hanno per decenni avuto più contatti con l’esterno e che dedicano le loro giornate alla fede, ai rituali che ricordano e che hanno nel tempo modificato perché nessuno in quel frangente, una volta decostruito il villaggio, si è posto il problema di renderle partecipi delle evoluzioni del tempo.
Suore che allevano pecore le quali, a loro volta, altro non sono che la reincarnazione delle sorelle perdute, che rispettano la legge divina occupandosi della raccolta del cibo, dei sacrifici animali e delle preghiere, cardano la lana con cui intessere i loro vestiti sgangherati. La loro esistenza procede immutabile, sino all’avvento di un agente esterno, rappresentato da Ignazio, braccio destro del vescovo che, convinto di trovare un rudere disabitato, irrompe nelle loro vite con l’intento di riqualificare l’isola a centro turistico di lusso.
Continua su:
http://www.lastambergadeilettori.com/...
Ma più che di Australia, in questo romanzo, troviamo il senso selvaggio e di “isolitudine” perché l’ambiente primario in cui si struttura la scena è proprio un isolotto abbandonato, dove sorgono le rovine di un vecchio villaggio di pescatori prima e un antico monastero di suore di clausura più in là.
Un ambiente feroce, che nel corso del tempo si è impossessato di quanto lasciato dall’uomo riprendendosi il suo spazio e trasformando il luogo in modo inaccessibile o quasi. Il verde dei rami e dei rovi, il fango, la presenza delle foche sugli scogli, il mare che come per miracolo, scopriremo a lettura avanzata, si solleva e si dirada per creare un lembo di passaggio di sabbia con il resto del continente, sono tutti elementi forti e presenti all’interno della storia, che hanno un peso enorme sulle vicende.
Una volta entrati dentro questa dimensione, è più facile per il lettore comprendere le dinamiche interattive tra i vari personaggi, e immaginarne la verosimiglianza: ci sono tre suore che si sono adattate a vivere nell’antico convento in rovina, che nel rispetto della clausura non hanno per decenni avuto più contatti con l’esterno e che dedicano le loro giornate alla fede, ai rituali che ricordano e che hanno nel tempo modificato perché nessuno in quel frangente, una volta decostruito il villaggio, si è posto il problema di renderle partecipi delle evoluzioni del tempo.
Suore che allevano pecore le quali, a loro volta, altro non sono che la reincarnazione delle sorelle perdute, che rispettano la legge divina occupandosi della raccolta del cibo, dei sacrifici animali e delle preghiere, cardano la lana con cui intessere i loro vestiti sgangherati. La loro esistenza procede immutabile, sino all’avvento di un agente esterno, rappresentato da Ignazio, braccio destro del vescovo che, convinto di trovare un rudere disabitato, irrompe nelle loro vite con l’intento di riqualificare l’isola a centro turistico di lusso.
Continua su:
http://www.lastambergadeilettori.com/...
December 20, 2023
This is one of the most unpredictable, wildly imaginative books I've read for a long time. It's clear from others' reviews that it's not to everyone's taste, but it was often very, very funny with the sort 0f gasping 'I don't quite believe what I've just read' that Tom Sharpe used to induce, and sometimes horrifying.
After all the macabre tale has wound to the end, there is a happy ending for every one.
Marele Day has just published a memoir called Reckless, and this is vivid, reckless storytelling. Quite how the TV series managed some of the scenes I can't imagine.
3.5 - it sagged in the middle.
Goodreads blurb
Carla, Margarita, and Iphigenia are three nuns living in a crumbling monastery on a remote island, forgotten by time, the world, and the church. Their liturgical calendar is governed by the changing of the seasons, and by the rising and setting of the sun. Their days are spent performing a ritual of prayer and storytelling, as they knit the wool of the sheep who inhabit the monastery grounds and into whose bodies they believe their deceased sisters' souls to have entered. Then, one day, seemingly out of nowhere, a priest appears. Hoping to rise in the church hierarchy, he has presented plans to his bishop to convert what he believes is an uninhabited and valuable piece of church property into a spa for the wealthy-and he has come to investigate the land. Father Ignatius is as surprised to see the nuns as they are to see a flesh-and-blood man, and what follows is the strange, moving, and often hilarious story of their struggle-a struggle of wills, but also of faith. Lambs of God is a beautifully written and haunting story of colliding traditions, conflicting beliefs, and magical trans-formations. It weaves together Christian belief, classical mythology, fairy tales, Celtic lore, and the mysteries of the natural world into one of the most memorable and gripping of contemporary novels. Like Ron Hansen's Mariette in Ecstasy, Lambs of God is a wildly original investigation into the nature and complexities of faith.
After all the macabre tale has wound to the end, there is a happy ending for every one.
Marele Day has just published a memoir called Reckless, and this is vivid, reckless storytelling. Quite how the TV series managed some of the scenes I can't imagine.
3.5 - it sagged in the middle.
Goodreads blurb
Carla, Margarita, and Iphigenia are three nuns living in a crumbling monastery on a remote island, forgotten by time, the world, and the church. Their liturgical calendar is governed by the changing of the seasons, and by the rising and setting of the sun. Their days are spent performing a ritual of prayer and storytelling, as they knit the wool of the sheep who inhabit the monastery grounds and into whose bodies they believe their deceased sisters' souls to have entered. Then, one day, seemingly out of nowhere, a priest appears. Hoping to rise in the church hierarchy, he has presented plans to his bishop to convert what he believes is an uninhabited and valuable piece of church property into a spa for the wealthy-and he has come to investigate the land. Father Ignatius is as surprised to see the nuns as they are to see a flesh-and-blood man, and what follows is the strange, moving, and often hilarious story of their struggle-a struggle of wills, but also of faith. Lambs of God is a beautifully written and haunting story of colliding traditions, conflicting beliefs, and magical trans-formations. It weaves together Christian belief, classical mythology, fairy tales, Celtic lore, and the mysteries of the natural world into one of the most memorable and gripping of contemporary novels. Like Ron Hansen's Mariette in Ecstasy, Lambs of God is a wildly original investigation into the nature and complexities of faith.
November 26, 2022
If you love books with many moving parts that constantly leave you guessing, then this is not the book for you. However if you prefer books that are rich with detail and are happy with getting lost in the hum-drum of everyday life, then you will like Lambs of God.
Unfortunately, I fall into the first category. I can see the beauty of the book, and it does pain me to only give three stars but I just couldn't get into it.
What I liked:
This book is incredibly well-written. Each of the characters in the book has their own distinctive voice and the fact that none of the characters have dramatic turn-arounds (e.g. an innocent character suddenly killing someone) should be commended.
What I did not like:
This books reads like a short-story that goes on for the length of a full novel. Very little happens in the book.
Maybe it's a vengeful side of me, but I don't like it when there aren't any consequences to actions and I feel like everyone in this story got away with something to some extent. I also struggle with books where all the characters go through inner emotional turmoil and yet NO ONE tries to make it better by communicating and trying to work out a solution.
Conclusion:
I really do feel bad about not liking the book, so do not feel put off by my criticisms if you are considering reading Lambs of God. It is exceptionally well-written; but it just wasn't the book for me.
Unfortunately, I fall into the first category. I can see the beauty of the book, and it does pain me to only give three stars but I just couldn't get into it.
What I liked:
This book is incredibly well-written. Each of the characters in the book has their own distinctive voice and the fact that none of the characters have dramatic turn-arounds (e.g. an innocent character suddenly killing someone) should be commended.
What I did not like:
This books reads like a short-story that goes on for the length of a full novel. Very little happens in the book.
Maybe it's a vengeful side of me, but I don't like it when there aren't any consequences to actions and I feel like everyone in this story got away with something to some extent. I also struggle with books where all the characters go through inner emotional turmoil and yet NO ONE tries to make it better by communicating and trying to work out a solution.
Conclusion:
I really do feel bad about not liking the book, so do not feel put off by my criticisms if you are considering reading Lambs of God. It is exceptionally well-written; but it just wasn't the book for me.
September 2, 2018
The new edition of "Lambs of God" (1997) marks the announcement by Foxtel of the 2019 TV series, an Australian production of this classic novel. I am afraid, however, that televising this imaginative, fable-like text will diminish its charm by limiting the imagination of the viewer to what is presented on the screen. The three nuns, living their pastoral, religious lives in a ruined monastery, have shut themselves off from the modern world and exist in their own devised cycle of rituals and bonds with God and with the sheep they envision as reincarnations of the souls of their deceased sisters. Day introduces a touch of the Gothic, mythical, magical, and even somewhat macabre elements of storytelling, filled with religious symbolism, comedy and sensuality. The result is a mixture of the unbelievable-made-believable as the nuns confront the intrusion of a priest sent to evict them to make room for a luxury resort on their "sacred" site. Through her masterful storytelling, Day explores the power of stories themselves, the essence of faith, and the reassessment of what truly matters in our lives. While I was immersed in this tale, the outside world was as far away from me as it was from Day's quirky characters. The reader absolutely must "suspend [her] disbelief" (Coleridge) and allow herself to be swept away by this glorious tale of redemption. What a delight!
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