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The Butcher's Daughter: A Novel
In 1535, England is hardly a wellspring of gender equality; it is a grim and oppressive age where women—even the privileged few who can read and write—have little independence. In The Butcher’s Daughter, it is this milieu that mandates Agnes Peppin, daughter of a simple country butcher, to leave her family home in disgrace and live out her days cloistered behind the walls of the Shaftesbury Abbey. But with her great intellect, she becomes the assistant to the Abbess and as a result integrates herself into the unstable royal landscape of King Henry VIII.As Agnes grapples with the complex rules and hierarchies of her new life, King Henry VIII has proclaimed himself the new head of the Church. Religious houses are being formally subjugated and monasteries dissolved, and the great Abbey is no exception to the purge. The cosseted world in which Agnes has carved out for herself a sliver of liberty is shattered. Now, free at last to be the master of her own fate, she descends into a world she knows little about, using her wits and testing her moral convictions against her need to survive by any means necessary . . .The Butcher’s Daughter is the riveting story of a young woman facing head-on the obstacles carefully constructed against her sex. This dark and affecting novel by award-winning author Victoria Glendinning intricately depicts the lives of women in the sixteenth century in a world dominated by men, perfect for fans of Wolf Hall and Philippa Gregory.
347 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 19, 2018
232 people are currently reading
952 people want to read
About the author
Victoria Glendinning
44 books54 followersBritish biographer, critic, broadcaster and novelist. She is President of English PEN, a winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, was awarded a CBE in 1998 and is Vice-president of the Royal Society of Literature.
Glendinning read modern languages at Oxford and worked as a teacher and social worker before becoming an editorial assistant for the Times Literary Supplement in 1974.
She has been married three times, the second to Irish writer, lawyer and editor Terence de Vere White, who died of Parkinson's disease in 1994.
Glendinning read modern languages at Oxford and worked as a teacher and social worker before becoming an editorial assistant for the Times Literary Supplement in 1974.
She has been married three times, the second to Irish writer, lawyer and editor Terence de Vere White, who died of Parkinson's disease in 1994.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews
July 19, 2018
Agnes Peppin is the daughter of a butcher. As a young girl she makes a mistake. She meets a boy and becomes pregnant. Having disgraced her family, she is sent to Shaftesbury Abbey to have her child and then become a nun. She is lucky. The only reason she is accepted at Shaftesbury is because her mother has powerful connections through her family. When Agnes has the baby, it is sent away to be raised by the father's family and she settles in to life in the Abbey. Agnes is chosen as assistant and secret-keeper by the Abbess because she can read and write. Unfortunately King Henry the VIII is on the throne and his Great Matter threatens the abbey. The king divorces one wife, marries another, beheads the new wife....and along the way monasteries and abbeys are dissolved, their assets taken by the crown and the buildings razed. It's not a safe time to be Catholic. Finally Agnes is faced with the question of where she will go when Shaftesbury Abbey is no more.
I enjoyed this book. It was a bit slow at the beginning, but as I got to know the characters and got pulled into the daily life of a disgraced girl in the Tudor era, I found myself mesmerized by the story. Agnes lives in an age where women had few choices....men mostly made their choices for them. I liked the fact that the story gave another angle to the tale of King Henry and his fracas with the Catholic Church. I had never really thought about what it might have been like for the nuns and priests who suddenly had no place to live and no church to worship in. It must have been terrifying and extremely sad for them. Not to mention dangerous. Agnes also discovers that there is much hypocrisy, lying and secrets hidden by those around her.
I found this book to be quite thought provoking. Agnes accepts so much without question or argument because she really isn't allowed to have an opinion. She's a woman.....a disgraced woman....and she knows her place in the scheme of things. At first, I thought she was weak, but then I realized she just knows things are they way they are. She has no hope of changing anything so why voice any dissent? And she learns that pointing out hypocrisy or problems usually just ends with her getting in trouble for noticing something that isn't her concern. So it's not really weakness....but wisdom on her part to remain silent. I don't think I would have survived had I lived in the Tudor era.
All in all, an interesting read. Anyone interested in the Tudor era would enjoy this story.
**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Overlook (W.W. Norton) via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**
I enjoyed this book. It was a bit slow at the beginning, but as I got to know the characters and got pulled into the daily life of a disgraced girl in the Tudor era, I found myself mesmerized by the story. Agnes lives in an age where women had few choices....men mostly made their choices for them. I liked the fact that the story gave another angle to the tale of King Henry and his fracas with the Catholic Church. I had never really thought about what it might have been like for the nuns and priests who suddenly had no place to live and no church to worship in. It must have been terrifying and extremely sad for them. Not to mention dangerous. Agnes also discovers that there is much hypocrisy, lying and secrets hidden by those around her.
I found this book to be quite thought provoking. Agnes accepts so much without question or argument because she really isn't allowed to have an opinion. She's a woman.....a disgraced woman....and she knows her place in the scheme of things. At first, I thought she was weak, but then I realized she just knows things are they way they are. She has no hope of changing anything so why voice any dissent? And she learns that pointing out hypocrisy or problems usually just ends with her getting in trouble for noticing something that isn't her concern. So it's not really weakness....but wisdom on her part to remain silent. I don't think I would have survived had I lived in the Tudor era.
All in all, an interesting read. Anyone interested in the Tudor era would enjoy this story.
**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Overlook (W.W. Norton) via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**
July 6, 2018
3.5 stars rounded up for the detail of this period and the quiet, quite slow, story telling ability. It's a prose that's encapsulates layer upon layer of the period, but is not dialect difficult or in anyway overblown obtuse.
What nearly managed to push this to a 3 star was the nuance of Agnes's thoughts; they bridged highly revisionist in several aspects and curtaining various comparisons and equations that I'm not so sure would be formed as they were in her life's repertoire of serial experiences. But the story telling ability to contain them in the personality points so carved into finely polished and finished planks- I couldn't go below the 4 star rating. But that's the only issue I could find with this and when it did occur it was not in huge bounds as I've found in numerous historical fiction of women's lives.
Agnes holds a personality that is unusual in any age, IMHO. She is quiet, nearly introverted, but has rock hard self-identity. And she lives with most of her thoughts outside of the abstract. A girl and woman with her feet solidly in the corporal. Nearly cynical and often hedonistic but with periods of strong adventurous tendencies. But not always of the adrenaline rush types. Very sane, quite intelligent, and not holding revenge or scorn for long periods of time.
Her story was worth the telling. And I found it enjoyable to read.
It's slow and the long period in the convent with her Abbess will be too curtailed and dry for most 2018 readers, IMHO. But I liked it. It's seldom you get such an introverted "look" and interpretation of so many different women. And not only from their physical appearances or reactions either.
The entwining of all the Tudor history was at skim depth but it was excellent to the portraying of the ending for all those convents and monasteries and other church owned lands/buildings. That was nearly a 5 star and seldom detailed as well. That entire process is entirely underdone in fiction.
What nearly managed to push this to a 3 star was the nuance of Agnes's thoughts; they bridged highly revisionist in several aspects and curtaining various comparisons and equations that I'm not so sure would be formed as they were in her life's repertoire of serial experiences. But the story telling ability to contain them in the personality points so carved into finely polished and finished planks- I couldn't go below the 4 star rating. But that's the only issue I could find with this and when it did occur it was not in huge bounds as I've found in numerous historical fiction of women's lives.
Agnes holds a personality that is unusual in any age, IMHO. She is quiet, nearly introverted, but has rock hard self-identity. And she lives with most of her thoughts outside of the abstract. A girl and woman with her feet solidly in the corporal. Nearly cynical and often hedonistic but with periods of strong adventurous tendencies. But not always of the adrenaline rush types. Very sane, quite intelligent, and not holding revenge or scorn for long periods of time.
Her story was worth the telling. And I found it enjoyable to read.
It's slow and the long period in the convent with her Abbess will be too curtailed and dry for most 2018 readers, IMHO. But I liked it. It's seldom you get such an introverted "look" and interpretation of so many different women. And not only from their physical appearances or reactions either.
The entwining of all the Tudor history was at skim depth but it was excellent to the portraying of the ending for all those convents and monasteries and other church owned lands/buildings. That was nearly a 5 star and seldom detailed as well. That entire process is entirely underdone in fiction.
June 11, 2021
The Butcher's Daughter, by Victoria Glendinning, is literally a story of a country butcher's daughter, Agnes Peppin. The year is 1535 and Agnes is forced to leave her family home in disgrace, and her parents send her to be a nun at Shaftesbury Abbey. For Agnes, this is not a punishment. She has a room and food, albeit a very primitive existence, and because she can read, she is given a good job in the Abbey.
King Henry VIII, however, has decided to make himself the head of the Church of England and sets out to destroy all Catholic churches, abbeys, and monasteries. Even though Shaftesbury Abbey is one of the largest and most productive, it is destroyed and all of the nuns are out of a home and vocation, and are destined to find a way to survive in a world where women have very few chances of being able to support themselves.
Agnes is left to her own devices and the story of her journey and experiences is fascinating. Her struggles and the people she meets along the way weave a story of survival in the very poorest of times. This book discusses and describes many of the abbeys and monasteries and churches that were actually destroyed and the villages that surrounded them.
This is historical fiction at its best. Very detailed descriptions of places and conditions of poverty and the rule of the hierarchy of the kingdom all put together in a great story. Shaftesbury Abbey is a real place and the ruins are still present. Once again, I learned true facts from a historical novel. Fans of "Wolf Hall" and Phillipa Gregory will enjoy. For me, this is 5 stars.
-Mary
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King Henry VIII, however, has decided to make himself the head of the Church of England and sets out to destroy all Catholic churches, abbeys, and monasteries. Even though Shaftesbury Abbey is one of the largest and most productive, it is destroyed and all of the nuns are out of a home and vocation, and are destined to find a way to survive in a world where women have very few chances of being able to support themselves.
Agnes is left to her own devices and the story of her journey and experiences is fascinating. Her struggles and the people she meets along the way weave a story of survival in the very poorest of times. This book discusses and describes many of the abbeys and monasteries and churches that were actually destroyed and the villages that surrounded them.
This is historical fiction at its best. Very detailed descriptions of places and conditions of poverty and the rule of the hierarchy of the kingdom all put together in a great story. Shaftesbury Abbey is a real place and the ruins are still present. Once again, I learned true facts from a historical novel. Fans of "Wolf Hall" and Phillipa Gregory will enjoy. For me, this is 5 stars.
-Mary
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June 29, 2018
Review coming soon.
July 19, 2019
Agnes Peppin is shipped off to be a nun after falling pregnant with an illegitimate child. She adjusts to life in Shaftesbury Abbey when Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell initiate the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Life changes for all those used to living as a Bride of Christ. This was a good piece of historical fiction; Agnes is a likeable character and the time period is a fascinating one.
May 28, 2019
I liked the first 2/3 or so, with more about life in the town and then the abbey, and about the process of dissolution and the corruption that went along with it. The later parts veered toward weird for me.
December 20, 2019
Victoria Glendinning is perhaps best known as a biographer having published notable biographies of Trollope and Vita Sackville-West. Her biographer’s attention to detail is evident in her novel The Butcher’s Daughter. In 1535, Agnes Peppin is living at the back of her father’s butcher’s shop helping to make brawn and blood puddings. She has access to slightly more education that most girls of her class as she lives next to Bruton Abbey where she learns her letters from some of the church Cannons. When she falls pregnant, Agnes’ baby is taken from her and she is forcibly admitted to Shaftesbury Abbey as a postulant. It is her learning that allows her to become assistant to the Abbess, Dame Elizabeth de Zouch, and to act as witness to the dissolution of the monasteries. Agnes is an ordinary woman whose life is made extraordinary by her proximity to the events of the age. I loved the descriptions of daily convent life in Tudor times and the small details of clothes and food. Chaucer and the Wife of Bath is referred to several times during the story and it did feel a little like that. The Butcher’s Daughter is bawdy in places. It has themes around the corruption of the church and the government. Agnes literally and figuratively journeys forwards keeping company with those who cross her path. She ultimately decides that she needs no-one other than herself to be happy. An enjoyable and quite light-hearted novel about a turbulent time in history.
April 2, 2025
This was so freaking good, peak historical fiction writing for me. It reminded me of Ann Baer’s “medieval woman” in that it takes us through the daily and yearly life of a Tudor era woman. It also reminded me a bit of Seton’s “Katherine” in the attention to historical detail. A bit slower and more prose focused, but I absolutely loved how this story is told and how immersed I felt in this world. CW for all manner of unpleasant subjects like child loss, SA, CSA, it was a brutal time to live.
This books takes us through the life of Agnes, a disgraced butcher’s daughter who is sent to a nunnery, then sees said nunnery destroyed by everyone’s favorite asshole, Henry VIII, the fallout of the dissolution of religious houses across England, and Agnes’s own personal journey.
I’ve never read a book from the POV of someone directly impacted by the dissolution of England’s Abbeys and Monasteries. It must have been absolutely terrifying and heartbreaking for the people who lived there and depended on them for social safety nets. How spooky it must’ve felt to be one of the last nuns remaining, especially if you didn’t have a family to go home to.
Agnes’s POV is extremely interesting- she’s not a “good” person per se, and she felt very human and real to me. Her observations of the world around her and the things that happen to her can feel cold at times, or passive, but I think that’s a testament to the era. When saying no isn’t an option, how do you protect yourself?
This books is very dark and horrific at some points, so be warned. The tone that is set from the first few opening pages is how the entire book is. If that’s extremely unpleasant for you, you probably won’t like it.
But I love books about gross, weird, unpleasant things, especially if in a historical setting, so I’m obsessed.
This book captures the feeling of what it would be like to live in a time before phones, modern transport, email - it feels lonely but at the same time like a heady sense of freedom. Agnes has no obligations to anyone, people can’t call or text her, she can go where she wants and is barely aware of current events. I love living in this age and time (modern medicine and being able to call people I love) but it’s overwhelming to be this available and connected all the time, and a relatively new phenomenon in human history.
It’s not all unpleasant though - there are many moving passages here, “there will always be butterflies” and ultimately this is a story about freedom and finding hope in survival, choosing your own path.
This books takes us through the life of Agnes, a disgraced butcher’s daughter who is sent to a nunnery, then sees said nunnery destroyed by everyone’s favorite asshole, Henry VIII, the fallout of the dissolution of religious houses across England, and Agnes’s own personal journey.
I’ve never read a book from the POV of someone directly impacted by the dissolution of England’s Abbeys and Monasteries. It must have been absolutely terrifying and heartbreaking for the people who lived there and depended on them for social safety nets. How spooky it must’ve felt to be one of the last nuns remaining, especially if you didn’t have a family to go home to.
Agnes’s POV is extremely interesting- she’s not a “good” person per se, and she felt very human and real to me. Her observations of the world around her and the things that happen to her can feel cold at times, or passive, but I think that’s a testament to the era. When saying no isn’t an option, how do you protect yourself?
This books is very dark and horrific at some points, so be warned. The tone that is set from the first few opening pages is how the entire book is. If that’s extremely unpleasant for you, you probably won’t like it.
But I love books about gross, weird, unpleasant things, especially if in a historical setting, so I’m obsessed.
This book captures the feeling of what it would be like to live in a time before phones, modern transport, email - it feels lonely but at the same time like a heady sense of freedom. Agnes has no obligations to anyone, people can’t call or text her, she can go where she wants and is barely aware of current events. I love living in this age and time (modern medicine and being able to call people I love) but it’s overwhelming to be this available and connected all the time, and a relatively new phenomenon in human history.
It’s not all unpleasant though - there are many moving passages here, “there will always be butterflies” and ultimately this is a story about freedom and finding hope in survival, choosing your own path.
June 27, 2018
What an amazing novel.
Agnes Peppin is a fabulous character and she really is woman with a heart and lots of personality.
A mix of Historical fact and brilliant fiction The Butchers Daughter is set in 1535 and the reign of King Henry VIII.
Agnes is a woman who has shamed her family, she enters into the care of the nuns and her story, her life and most of all her musings are just spectacular to read about. I loved getting to know her.
This is action packed and pacy and at times quite sad. The Reformation means the dissolution of the monasteries and the ladies face unsurety. I smiled in places and was shocked by some of the actions of those who make the decisions. I especially loved the 'Go boil your head' history and while these all added flavour to what is a brilliant read, what makes this book so good is the writing. It is sublime and a complete joy to read.
I would highly recommend this book, even if you are not a fan of Historical fiction, this is book with many facets. I was hooked and completed it in a morning as I just could not put it down.
It is truly amazing and one of the best reads this year so far.
Agnes Peppin is a fabulous character and she really is woman with a heart and lots of personality.
A mix of Historical fact and brilliant fiction The Butchers Daughter is set in 1535 and the reign of King Henry VIII.
Agnes is a woman who has shamed her family, she enters into the care of the nuns and her story, her life and most of all her musings are just spectacular to read about. I loved getting to know her.
This is action packed and pacy and at times quite sad. The Reformation means the dissolution of the monasteries and the ladies face unsurety. I smiled in places and was shocked by some of the actions of those who make the decisions. I especially loved the 'Go boil your head' history and while these all added flavour to what is a brilliant read, what makes this book so good is the writing. It is sublime and a complete joy to read.
I would highly recommend this book, even if you are not a fan of Historical fiction, this is book with many facets. I was hooked and completed it in a morning as I just could not put it down.
It is truly amazing and one of the best reads this year so far.
August 6, 2018
Agnes Peppin lives a reasonably comfortable life as the daughter of a village butcher, but must give it all up when she has a baby out of wedlock. Choices are few for girls like Agnes in 1535, but with family connections Agnes is luckier than most, able to gain entry into Shaftesbury Abbey. She will live out her days in religious service--except the times are changing. Cromwell has the ear of King Henry VIII, and he uses his power to begin sweeping reforms of the hundreds of monasteries and abbeys across England, and their immense wealth. Shaftesbury's days are numbered despite the efforts of its Abbess. Agnes and her sisters must go their ways, in a particularly poignant section of the book. Agnes' journey will take her home to Bruton, then to London, as she searches for stability. This book offers an unflinching look at male-centric Tudor England in all of its unsavory glory. It also presents us with a brave young woman who soldiers on despite every bad hand dealt her, and who in the end does not choose tradition and security. Readers will be completely immersed in Agnes' story. Her pragmatic worldview does not mean she is a wilting violet: "Authority belongs to men. Their authority cannot be denied because it is not an idea. It is a fact. Yet I do not wish I were a man. So many men are like children, they cannot think beyond their own concerns and desires, and they tailor their opinions and allegiances to serve the same." Adult.
August 17, 2019
The Butcher’s Daughter is an assured addition to the world of historical fiction. Glendinning sets the scene extremely well, conjuring a vivid picture of the 1500s, a time period which I have not read about often. The historical detail was accurate but not over-bearing, giving the story a chance to shine in its own right.
The long chapters in this book make it easy to get caught up in this story, despite its slow pace. Most people would claim to know something of Tudor history – even just the story of Henry VII’s wives at its most basic. This book offers a fresh take on that time period and I felt like it gave me a greater understanding of the possible reasons behind what happened during this era, despite some of the historical events not being described in great depth.
The narrative voice is confident and readers cannot help but root for the protagonist, Agnes. It was refreshing to read about a woman of that era who knew her own mind and could confidently convey her thoughts to the reader, while maintaining a meek appearance as demanded of her by the society in which she lived. (Yes, I’m aware that I’m talking about Agnes as if she were a real person but she was just such a fully realised character!) I would describe this as a quietly feminist book; it doesn’t shout about its themes but there is a definite sense of righteousness evoked when reading about Agnes.
Overall, this is definitely a slow read but one which fans of historical fiction should find worthwhile!
The long chapters in this book make it easy to get caught up in this story, despite its slow pace. Most people would claim to know something of Tudor history – even just the story of Henry VII’s wives at its most basic. This book offers a fresh take on that time period and I felt like it gave me a greater understanding of the possible reasons behind what happened during this era, despite some of the historical events not being described in great depth.
The narrative voice is confident and readers cannot help but root for the protagonist, Agnes. It was refreshing to read about a woman of that era who knew her own mind and could confidently convey her thoughts to the reader, while maintaining a meek appearance as demanded of her by the society in which she lived. (Yes, I’m aware that I’m talking about Agnes as if she were a real person but she was just such a fully realised character!) I would describe this as a quietly feminist book; it doesn’t shout about its themes but there is a definite sense of righteousness evoked when reading about Agnes.
Overall, this is definitely a slow read but one which fans of historical fiction should find worthwhile!
February 19, 2020
Victoria Glendinning's "The Butcher's Daughter" tells the story of Agnes Peppin, a young girl who, after sullying her reputation with a local boy enters Shaftesbury Abbey, lives through the dissolution of the abbey under Henry VIII, and then sets out on her own, learning to survive in mid 1500s England.
This book was disappointing for me. Overall I felt the writing lacked sophistication - perhaps because the story was told by poorly educated Agnes, but the nuances that were still achievable were sorely lacking. The tone rarely varied from a matter-of-fact quality, even whilst Agnes was discussing the death of a child, the execution of a lover, or the destruction of the one piece of property she held near and dear. Additionally, I found parts of the story implausible. Even in the mid-1500s, I think it would be highly unusual for random strangers to propose marriage to people they had met just moments before. One storyline I did find interesting was the segment on Shaftesbury Abbey's destruction; however, I would recommend CJ Samson's "Dissolution" as a much more compelling story set in this time frame.
Although readable, I found this book lacked energy, sophistication, and depth of ancillary characters. There are other books set in Henrician England I could recommend over this one. 2.5 stars, rounded up.
This book was disappointing for me. Overall I felt the writing lacked sophistication - perhaps because the story was told by poorly educated Agnes, but the nuances that were still achievable were sorely lacking. The tone rarely varied from a matter-of-fact quality, even whilst Agnes was discussing the death of a child, the execution of a lover, or the destruction of the one piece of property she held near and dear. Additionally, I found parts of the story implausible. Even in the mid-1500s, I think it would be highly unusual for random strangers to propose marriage to people they had met just moments before. One storyline I did find interesting was the segment on Shaftesbury Abbey's destruction; however, I would recommend CJ Samson's "Dissolution" as a much more compelling story set in this time frame.
Although readable, I found this book lacked energy, sophistication, and depth of ancillary characters. There are other books set in Henrician England I could recommend over this one. 2.5 stars, rounded up.
October 23, 2018
To be honest, I couldn't even get through this one. I can't quite put my finger on why, but I think, partially, I kept forgetting who the characters were, then I'd be confused about what was going on. Also, I think the plot development was perhaps a bit too slow for me, too. I don't like to give up on a book, but sometimes I just have to!
March 4, 2019
This book is so unbearably slow without anything really happening. I would skip it
June 25, 2018
This story is told from the perspective of Agnes Peppin, that we first meet as a young girl as she tells us of her life with her father (the butcher) and her mother, a remote figure often called out to ‘prepare the dead’. Agnes and her best friend have been taught to read and do maths, unlike many others, and have a reasonable, existence. That is, until Agnes meets a boy and falls pregnant – and her life is forever changed. As her mother is related to a ‘noted’ family, Agnes is sent off to the Shaftesbury Abbey to join the nuns – and away from the shame. Not without skills or talents, and a history of working hard in all conditions, Agnes is slowly accepted into the abbey life: her ability to read and write brings her into a privileged position with the Abbess as an assistant and secret-keeper.
Agnes has a front-row seat to the machinations surrounding the tentative future of the Abbey – and we watch as she learns to discern between foes without power and foes with the backing of the King. As the people and place she’s known and believed to be a safe haven from the vagaries of a life without protection or profession is destroyed, we see her friendships, worries and above all, pragmatism as her life plans, again, turn in ways unexpected. For me, Agnes’ voice was solidly matter-of-fact: few moments of fancy and daydreaming were there, as there was little time or opportunity – she was a woman in a man’s world: destined and determined to do as she was directed with few options for self-determination.
What comes forward in this story is the struggle and the feel of Tudor England from the perspective of one who was living it: dealing with not only the struggles of daily life and finding ways to survive for another day but the effect that the Dissolutions had on the entire population. The contents of the King’s treasury could not meet the demand of his expenses, and as the King demanded more from his subjects, the effects of those seeking to fulfill his wishes spread wide and far. From the religious peoples being ousted from homes and security, or even killed for their resistance to the loss of work, lands and protection to the ‘commoners’ that the Abbeys once conveyed – all is shown in the search by one young woman as her life progresses. There is no “happy ending” here – were it not for the palpable and present voice of Agnes retelling the story, it could have been a list of tragic moments by a King besotted, instead it becomes engrossing and difficult to look away from: bringing the England of Henry VIII into focus and allowing readers to feel present in a time difficult to capture in other ways.
I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via Edelweiss for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.
Review first appeared at I am, Indeed
Agnes has a front-row seat to the machinations surrounding the tentative future of the Abbey – and we watch as she learns to discern between foes without power and foes with the backing of the King. As the people and place she’s known and believed to be a safe haven from the vagaries of a life without protection or profession is destroyed, we see her friendships, worries and above all, pragmatism as her life plans, again, turn in ways unexpected. For me, Agnes’ voice was solidly matter-of-fact: few moments of fancy and daydreaming were there, as there was little time or opportunity – she was a woman in a man’s world: destined and determined to do as she was directed with few options for self-determination.
What comes forward in this story is the struggle and the feel of Tudor England from the perspective of one who was living it: dealing with not only the struggles of daily life and finding ways to survive for another day but the effect that the Dissolutions had on the entire population. The contents of the King’s treasury could not meet the demand of his expenses, and as the King demanded more from his subjects, the effects of those seeking to fulfill his wishes spread wide and far. From the religious peoples being ousted from homes and security, or even killed for their resistance to the loss of work, lands and protection to the ‘commoners’ that the Abbeys once conveyed – all is shown in the search by one young woman as her life progresses. There is no “happy ending” here – were it not for the palpable and present voice of Agnes retelling the story, it could have been a list of tragic moments by a King besotted, instead it becomes engrossing and difficult to look away from: bringing the England of Henry VIII into focus and allowing readers to feel present in a time difficult to capture in other ways.
I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via Edelweiss for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.
Review first appeared at I am, Indeed
January 3, 2019
This was a somewhat uneven read for me. The beginning drew me in (four stars), I became a bit bogged down in the middle (two stars), but I enjoyed the last third the most (four stars again). All in all, three stars.
June 23, 2019
Set in Tudor England, this book follows the dissolution of the monasteries through the eyes of one of the young nuns, which gives it quite an unusual perspective. I hadn't really thought too much what would happen to all the religious men and women suddenly dispossessed and made homeless. Some could not return to family, many could not cope without the order of the Rule to guide their lives. This story sets the scene very credibly, and we follow how various characters cope.
However, the key character, Agnes Peppin, is much more rounded and we follow her story from before she goes to the convent, and what happens to her afterwards. It almost reads as fact, not fiction, as she travels to London and becomes involved with Thomas Wyatt, an historical figure.
I found the book to be historically accurate and written in an entertaining and endearing style. All the fictional elements seemed to be very credible and wove well into the story. I enjoyed it very much.
Thank you to NetGalley and Duckworth Publishing for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
However, the key character, Agnes Peppin, is much more rounded and we follow her story from before she goes to the convent, and what happens to her afterwards. It almost reads as fact, not fiction, as she travels to London and becomes involved with Thomas Wyatt, an historical figure.
I found the book to be historically accurate and written in an entertaining and endearing style. All the fictional elements seemed to be very credible and wove well into the story. I enjoyed it very much.
Thank you to NetGalley and Duckworth Publishing for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
August 27, 2019
Agnes Peppin is the daughter of a West Country butcher, her mother is related to a noble family. When Agnes becomes pregnant she gives birth and then, to reduce the embarrassment, she is placed in the Abbey of Shaftesbury to become a nun. Whilst Agnes adjusted to life in the cloister the outside world is changing and King Henry is ensuring that there are fewer monastic dwellings. Thrust into the world Agnes and her fellow sisters have to adapt to survive.
This is a very slow novel that builds gradually. The characters are beautifully drawn and Agnes herself is complex with surprise motivations at times. This is a completely different perspective on the time when Henry VIII made himself head of the Church and what became known as the Dissolution took place. Here the impact on both the people in the religious houses and also the communities around are explored. It is a really wonderful book that deserves to be savoured.
This is a very slow novel that builds gradually. The characters are beautifully drawn and Agnes herself is complex with surprise motivations at times. This is a completely different perspective on the time when Henry VIII made himself head of the Church and what became known as the Dissolution took place. Here the impact on both the people in the religious houses and also the communities around are explored. It is a really wonderful book that deserves to be savoured.
May 8, 2018
A wonderful travel through England during the reign of Henry the Eighth. Our protagonist is a young woman named Agnes who finds herself an outlier in that although the daughter of a butcher, she yearns for more than a family and home, she wants to read and be free. We follow her journeys from her home to an Abbey where she is a novice and then after the dissolution of the abbeys by Henry the Eighth, around the countryside in England. I was absolutely transported. The descriptions and imagery in this book were wonderful and I could imagine every moment in minute detail. This book should be required reading when taking world history classes because it outlines how the changes in politics had their tolls on the common people. I found no flaws in this book and it appeared to be very meticulously researched as well.
This book was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
October 22, 2019
I nearly did not read this book because of the title - I make a point of not reading 'The So-and-So's Daughter' or 'The Somebody's Wife', but I chose it because I really enjoy Victoria Glendinning's books - and I am very glad I did, it was an excellent read. The story is set during the time of the dissolution of the monasteries, Agnes Peppin is sent in disgrace to Shaftesbury Abbey as a novice nun just before King Henry VIII decides to close and destroy all of the religious houses. The first half of the book deals with the closure and destruction of Shaftesbury Abbey, the second half with how Agnes manages to live her life. Thoroughly recommended.
June 19, 2019
I have read many books about Henry VIII - his break with the Pope, his marriages, his confiscation of the riches held by the Catholic Church in England. This is the story of one woman who was set adrift as a result of his breaking down of a convent. There were thousands of women and men, young and very old, who were turned out of their homes and made to find ways to live. Henry and his ministers didn't care, they just wanted the gold, gems and land. Very interesting to look at the events through another lens.
July 3, 2018
The premise--what happens to the nuns when Henry VIII closes the monasteries and abbeys--is a good one. But the book is dull and pedestrian, peopled by dim and shallowly created characters, narrated by a young woman who upon leaving her abbey goes on a Forrest Gump-like journey through the period's famous figures and places.
March 25, 2019
In any period time, in any place of the world, there has always been a great human drama in three acts: Poverty, Struggle, and Reinvention. It has been a substratum of thespian play of human life in pursuit of will to meaning, freedom of will. It is a history of human society at the highest, it is a history of an individual at the best. It becomes history of the humankind woven into a great tapestry of time that transcends the subjectivity of time and discovery of universal truth - truth that is contemporaneous both with their times and with ours. Victoria Glendinning’s The Butcher’s Daughter speaks to the reader of our time this universality of human conditions through the narrative of eponymous Agnes Peppin in endless search of self-reliance, independence, and autonomy yo triumph over the vicissitudes of life with invincible resilience and unyielding quest for freedom of will.
Set in the mid 16th century Tudor England under the reign of Henry VIII, it is a historical fiction with a veneer of a contemporary fashionable memoir of Agnes Peppin of intellectual ambition and social aspiration in the face of her lowly social status as a daughter of a country butcher. In fact, this is a tale of a young woman’s incessant struggle to preserve a sense of purpose and a tenacious grasp on intellectual superiority, not of a manifesto pontificating about inequalities and injustice bestowed upon womanhood, which is elegantly conveyed in Agnes’s frequent reference to the story of Mary and Martha in the New Testament. Agnes thinks that Jesus was unjust and unkindly to Martha, her alter ego, who had to take up all domestic menial drudgery, letting her cook meals and wash dishes, while her sister Mary sit beside him and listen to him as long as she pleases. Agnes sees her pathetic self ignored despite her intelligence and intellectual ambition through the figure of Martha and berates Jesus for taking side with the noble, dainty Mary who - under the aegis of Jesus - gets away with menial labor often associated with women of lowly birth. Agnes then further identifies herself with venerable Zeta, a holy woman of the medieval Italy serving as the same family as a maidservant, calling her “good Martha.” Agnes’s defense of the domestic paragons belies her buried sense of bitterness expressed in a general resentment of aristocratic shirkers smothered under daily duties, the existential demands of life ascribed to the members of her social class.
As a matter of fact, Agnes evokes a proverbial image of 19th century American pioneer woman - a woman of coarseness and strength combined with acuteness and acquisitiveness with that restless, nervous energy making her beautiful embodiment of resilience and self-reliance. Elsewhere in the book, Agnes unravels her woebegone wishes to chase her Pyrrhic dreams: “Silk and velvet are lovely. So are emeralds and pearls. A butcher’s daughter may aspire to those things even though it is unlikely, the way things are, that they will come her way. But too much dross comes with all that gold.” And yet, she still steadfastly holds onto her aspiration to achieve vertical social mobility to be a Mary, for she believes that it is her true vocation of life to become a self-reliant single woman with a room of her own and money, just as Virginia Wolfe asserts for a woman’s social as well as economic independence. After all, Agnes is not just another vain half-educated, semi-literate Martha trying to emulate privileged Mary but a strong-headed, courageous, and intelligent woman who finds a solace in learned solitude outside the social and religious confinements as her sense of true identity becomes conspicuous in search of her place in the world.
A richly illuminating read, it is also an informative historical account of the ways of life in Tudor England, such as customs, clothes, trades, and the general ethos of the time, without infelicity to provoke a sense of anachronism or incongruity. It is a surprisingly easy read in terms of the choice of everyday words and pellucid expressions without a display of pedantic knowledge on history and magisterial claim on academic superiority, given the author’s pedigree as Oxford-educated scholar and award-winning novelist. That is the gem of this highly intoxicating read: Glendinning’s interpretations draws on her exceptional knowledge of these historical sources, but she wears her leaning lightly and writes with a general reader in mind, which is a true purpose of the Arts. Furthermore, Glendinning’s superb story-telling narrative skills makes her characters all the more realistic and alive, rendering the whole story contemporary with our time and relative to our concern. Glendinning takes the freedom of imagination in the context of regarding historical events and people to create her own fiction that reads like nonfiction. To encapsulate, this is an enjoyable and enlightening read that holds the reader’s attention without invasion of diversion or boredom.
Set in the mid 16th century Tudor England under the reign of Henry VIII, it is a historical fiction with a veneer of a contemporary fashionable memoir of Agnes Peppin of intellectual ambition and social aspiration in the face of her lowly social status as a daughter of a country butcher. In fact, this is a tale of a young woman’s incessant struggle to preserve a sense of purpose and a tenacious grasp on intellectual superiority, not of a manifesto pontificating about inequalities and injustice bestowed upon womanhood, which is elegantly conveyed in Agnes’s frequent reference to the story of Mary and Martha in the New Testament. Agnes thinks that Jesus was unjust and unkindly to Martha, her alter ego, who had to take up all domestic menial drudgery, letting her cook meals and wash dishes, while her sister Mary sit beside him and listen to him as long as she pleases. Agnes sees her pathetic self ignored despite her intelligence and intellectual ambition through the figure of Martha and berates Jesus for taking side with the noble, dainty Mary who - under the aegis of Jesus - gets away with menial labor often associated with women of lowly birth. Agnes then further identifies herself with venerable Zeta, a holy woman of the medieval Italy serving as the same family as a maidservant, calling her “good Martha.” Agnes’s defense of the domestic paragons belies her buried sense of bitterness expressed in a general resentment of aristocratic shirkers smothered under daily duties, the existential demands of life ascribed to the members of her social class.
As a matter of fact, Agnes evokes a proverbial image of 19th century American pioneer woman - a woman of coarseness and strength combined with acuteness and acquisitiveness with that restless, nervous energy making her beautiful embodiment of resilience and self-reliance. Elsewhere in the book, Agnes unravels her woebegone wishes to chase her Pyrrhic dreams: “Silk and velvet are lovely. So are emeralds and pearls. A butcher’s daughter may aspire to those things even though it is unlikely, the way things are, that they will come her way. But too much dross comes with all that gold.” And yet, she still steadfastly holds onto her aspiration to achieve vertical social mobility to be a Mary, for she believes that it is her true vocation of life to become a self-reliant single woman with a room of her own and money, just as Virginia Wolfe asserts for a woman’s social as well as economic independence. After all, Agnes is not just another vain half-educated, semi-literate Martha trying to emulate privileged Mary but a strong-headed, courageous, and intelligent woman who finds a solace in learned solitude outside the social and religious confinements as her sense of true identity becomes conspicuous in search of her place in the world.
A richly illuminating read, it is also an informative historical account of the ways of life in Tudor England, such as customs, clothes, trades, and the general ethos of the time, without infelicity to provoke a sense of anachronism or incongruity. It is a surprisingly easy read in terms of the choice of everyday words and pellucid expressions without a display of pedantic knowledge on history and magisterial claim on academic superiority, given the author’s pedigree as Oxford-educated scholar and award-winning novelist. That is the gem of this highly intoxicating read: Glendinning’s interpretations draws on her exceptional knowledge of these historical sources, but she wears her leaning lightly and writes with a general reader in mind, which is a true purpose of the Arts. Furthermore, Glendinning’s superb story-telling narrative skills makes her characters all the more realistic and alive, rendering the whole story contemporary with our time and relative to our concern. Glendinning takes the freedom of imagination in the context of regarding historical events and people to create her own fiction that reads like nonfiction. To encapsulate, this is an enjoyable and enlightening read that holds the reader’s attention without invasion of diversion or boredom.
March 2, 2021
More like a 3.5, rounded up for readability and a different perspective on the dissolution of the monasteries in England during King Henry VIII's reign.
It consists of a narrative by a fictional character named Agnes Peppin, a young woman during the turbulent Tudor era of the years: 1535-1554. For the first few years of her story, she is a novice nun in the large Abbey of Shaftesbury Convent. Her account is by turns, doleful, raunchy and philosophical. I hasten to say that I use the term, "raunchy" to mean that she describes sexual acts in a very earthy way, but those scenes are mercifully brief and never explicit. Some of the writing is truly eloquent. As the full extent of the destruction of the former religious houses becomes apparent, one character observes: "Our land is strewn with ruins."
The story as told from Agnes's point of view, shows a country torn and confused by changing laws, attitudes and morals, many being reversed within months, days or even hours! It reminds me greatly of the modern woes we are facing here in the US in our own turbulent times of COVID and political unrest.
The cover synopsis of the book talks about "obstacles constructed against her sex." I found this ironic, because through-out the book, the author repeatedly shows the reader just how resourceful and resilient most of the women were. The nuns who were exiled from their former lives in the Abbey proved their capable flexibility in contriving methods of earning a living by various means, such as hiring themselves out as nurses, fruit-pickers, harvesters nannies, and seamtresses. Agnes herself joins forces with another nun to peddle merchandise from house-to-house. Of course, many of these 16th century women return to their birth families, or get married, which were the most common options open to them. The whole aspect of landing on their feet and thriving in many cases was admirable as well as seeming very authentic. Women through-out the ages, have always shown a genius for finding creative and lucrative ways of supporting themselves.
I enjoyed the end of the book dealing with the actual historic event, "Wyatt's Rebellion." The way the plot was interwoven into the fictional life of Agnes and the real life of Thomas Wyatt, the poet's son, was expertly handled. I have always been a fan of Thomas Wyatt, the father's, poetry, especially his famous ode to Anne Boleyn, including the phrase: " Noli me tangere, for Caesar's I am." So I appreciated that this book built its theme around this line of his " They flee from me who sometime me did seek," as a way of highlighting the fickleness of people and institutions.
The writing itself had a few mild quirks of vocabulary and usage that, I think, were placed there to indicate the gaps in Agnes's education. It is a thoughtful book and a thought-provoking look at a well-documented subject, to which it brings a fresh approach.
It consists of a narrative by a fictional character named Agnes Peppin, a young woman during the turbulent Tudor era of the years: 1535-1554. For the first few years of her story, she is a novice nun in the large Abbey of Shaftesbury Convent. Her account is by turns, doleful, raunchy and philosophical. I hasten to say that I use the term, "raunchy" to mean that she describes sexual acts in a very earthy way, but those scenes are mercifully brief and never explicit. Some of the writing is truly eloquent. As the full extent of the destruction of the former religious houses becomes apparent, one character observes: "Our land is strewn with ruins."
The story as told from Agnes's point of view, shows a country torn and confused by changing laws, attitudes and morals, many being reversed within months, days or even hours! It reminds me greatly of the modern woes we are facing here in the US in our own turbulent times of COVID and political unrest.
The cover synopsis of the book talks about "obstacles constructed against her sex." I found this ironic, because through-out the book, the author repeatedly shows the reader just how resourceful and resilient most of the women were. The nuns who were exiled from their former lives in the Abbey proved their capable flexibility in contriving methods of earning a living by various means, such as hiring themselves out as nurses, fruit-pickers, harvesters nannies, and seamtresses. Agnes herself joins forces with another nun to peddle merchandise from house-to-house. Of course, many of these 16th century women return to their birth families, or get married, which were the most common options open to them. The whole aspect of landing on their feet and thriving in many cases was admirable as well as seeming very authentic. Women through-out the ages, have always shown a genius for finding creative and lucrative ways of supporting themselves.
I enjoyed the end of the book dealing with the actual historic event, "Wyatt's Rebellion." The way the plot was interwoven into the fictional life of Agnes and the real life of Thomas Wyatt, the poet's son, was expertly handled. I have always been a fan of Thomas Wyatt, the father's, poetry, especially his famous ode to Anne Boleyn, including the phrase: " Noli me tangere, for Caesar's I am." So I appreciated that this book built its theme around this line of his " They flee from me who sometime me did seek," as a way of highlighting the fickleness of people and institutions.
The writing itself had a few mild quirks of vocabulary and usage that, I think, were placed there to indicate the gaps in Agnes's education. It is a thoughtful book and a thought-provoking look at a well-documented subject, to which it brings a fresh approach.
August 16, 2018
This historical fiction set in the time called the Dissolution of the Monasteries, during which Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell set about to systematically tear apart the fabric of Catholic religion in England, Ireland and Wales. One scholar calls this period, from 1536 - 1541, "one of the most revolutionary events in English history. There were nearly 900 religious houses in England, around 260 for monks, 300 for regular canons, 142 nunneries and 183 friaries; some 12,000 people in total, 4,000 monks, 3,000 canons, 3,000 friars and 2,000 nuns. If the adult male population was 500,000, that meant that one adult man in fifty was in religious orders."
In this book, Agnes Peppen (the butcher's daughter) finds herself via not so unfamiliar to today circumstances, to be a postulant at Shaftesbury Abbey, the second richest convent in England. Because she has contrived to be taught to read and write, she finds herself as the assistant to the Abbess, and so learns much of what is going on as the King and Cromwell threaten their way of life. After the Abbey is thrown down, she and her sisters are cast on the road in a world they know little about, but at least Agnes is a bit better prepared because of her association with the Abbess.
This is a well told tale with well formed characters. While it is rather dark, it is more than the oft told tale of women held down through the domination of men. The history of this period of Tudor history is drawn large, and Agnes is forced to continually examine her moral convictions, experiences and thoughts on all sorts of things in order to survive. However, while there is no conventional happy ending, Agnes discovers that despite huge upheaval, the world goes on and "there will be butterflies".
In this book, Agnes Peppen (the butcher's daughter) finds herself via not so unfamiliar to today circumstances, to be a postulant at Shaftesbury Abbey, the second richest convent in England. Because she has contrived to be taught to read and write, she finds herself as the assistant to the Abbess, and so learns much of what is going on as the King and Cromwell threaten their way of life. After the Abbey is thrown down, she and her sisters are cast on the road in a world they know little about, but at least Agnes is a bit better prepared because of her association with the Abbess.
This is a well told tale with well formed characters. While it is rather dark, it is more than the oft told tale of women held down through the domination of men. The history of this period of Tudor history is drawn large, and Agnes is forced to continually examine her moral convictions, experiences and thoughts on all sorts of things in order to survive. However, while there is no conventional happy ending, Agnes discovers that despite huge upheaval, the world goes on and "there will be butterflies".
April 11, 2023
“I would be the first to say that women are women’s best supporters, for few men will help a young woman when she is down and useless they wish to shove their hands up under her gown. I have met men who are sincere in their kindness, but it is the sincerity of a cat playing with a mouse. If you do not fancy taking the risk for a short period of pleasure and maybe some material advantage, it is wiser to run before they pounce. Woman with woman on the other hand is self with self and we are each of us our best friends and our worst enemies.”
I miss Agnes Peppin already. In fact, I will now be asking myself on occasion, “WWAPD?” (What would Agnes Peppin do?)
She is a feisty, intelligent, witty woman in a man’s world. A nun turned worldly sinner. She can see through everyone’s BS and puts her desires first. She has worn many hats, -habits, if you will- fallen in love, a woman enamored with dogs and the human condition. She does not care about politics or the King’s Court. She does not care about being a complacent wife and living comfortably. Agnes Peppin desires the WORLD.
If you want to read about a strong, independent Tudor woman, this is your book. Agnes’s storytelling is superb and never dull. You see the reign of King Henry VIII in her eyes, and those that come after him. It is laced with historical accuracy as Agnes witnesses it. Whether she is a nun, the mistress of an enemy to the crown, or a woman obsessed with Chaucer - Agnes draws you in and is a friendly face along the way.
I cannot say enough kind things about this book. It will stay with me for a long time. If you are a fan of historical fiction, specifically set in the Tudor period, read this. Agnes is a fantastical woman, and I love her dearly.
I miss Agnes Peppin already. In fact, I will now be asking myself on occasion, “WWAPD?” (What would Agnes Peppin do?)
She is a feisty, intelligent, witty woman in a man’s world. A nun turned worldly sinner. She can see through everyone’s BS and puts her desires first. She has worn many hats, -habits, if you will- fallen in love, a woman enamored with dogs and the human condition. She does not care about politics or the King’s Court. She does not care about being a complacent wife and living comfortably. Agnes Peppin desires the WORLD.
If you want to read about a strong, independent Tudor woman, this is your book. Agnes’s storytelling is superb and never dull. You see the reign of King Henry VIII in her eyes, and those that come after him. It is laced with historical accuracy as Agnes witnesses it. Whether she is a nun, the mistress of an enemy to the crown, or a woman obsessed with Chaucer - Agnes draws you in and is a friendly face along the way.
I cannot say enough kind things about this book. It will stay with me for a long time. If you are a fan of historical fiction, specifically set in the Tudor period, read this. Agnes is a fantastical woman, and I love her dearly.
April 17, 2021
Oh, so enjoyed this tale in every way. Sorry to not find any other books from this author that might appeal to me. VG is so spot on describing old age, illness and death in the times of 1550's, a very dark period in England.
Cliques and special friends exist in every society, then and now. This character recognizes this fact after several trial and error episodes in her life. Special treatment for men and the slops for women still exist today. Just because this is 2021, it is ageless that children are born out of benefit of marriage or protection, even from 'family'. It amazes me to think that any of us can trace our ancestors, considering all the beds visited in times gone by.
The phrase I've heard or read 'go boil yer heid' now is clear due to this tale. When those who were beheaded & placed on a pike at the gates, they were first boiled. Gruesome means of killing those who were not with you.... to be drawn and quartered, cast to far flung places. It's not enough to have dispatched your enemy, it was important to do so in such a nasty manner.
Greed and power of the powerful, or those that come into power, never changes. Ageless is greed.
I especially liked the last few pages. Great way to end a tale. I've been to Shaftsbury & wish I'd know the history of the era, seen the abbey ruins. Today the view from the center high point of Shaftsbury at what is called Gold Hill, on a clear day is breathtaking to the point of making one weep. I doubt the weeping view affected the citizens in 1550, theirs was very bleak.
Cliques and special friends exist in every society, then and now. This character recognizes this fact after several trial and error episodes in her life. Special treatment for men and the slops for women still exist today. Just because this is 2021, it is ageless that children are born out of benefit of marriage or protection, even from 'family'. It amazes me to think that any of us can trace our ancestors, considering all the beds visited in times gone by.
The phrase I've heard or read 'go boil yer heid' now is clear due to this tale. When those who were beheaded & placed on a pike at the gates, they were first boiled. Gruesome means of killing those who were not with you.... to be drawn and quartered, cast to far flung places. It's not enough to have dispatched your enemy, it was important to do so in such a nasty manner.
Greed and power of the powerful, or those that come into power, never changes. Ageless is greed.
I especially liked the last few pages. Great way to end a tale. I've been to Shaftsbury & wish I'd know the history of the era, seen the abbey ruins. Today the view from the center high point of Shaftsbury at what is called Gold Hill, on a clear day is breathtaking to the point of making one weep. I doubt the weeping view affected the citizens in 1550, theirs was very bleak.
May 31, 2024
This book gave an interesting insight into what life was like for the nuns and priests during the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1500s. They were mostly cast adrift and those like the protagonist in this book, Agnes, who had no family to return to, were left homeless and destitute. They had no security and lived from hand to mouth, or as Eleanor beautifully puts it, “from now on, for us, it will be just one thing after another”.
At times I found Agnes too accepting but then as a nun with no money, family or reliable friends perhaps she was wise to accept the things she could not hope to change.
My main criticism of the book is that I found it slow, especially the part describing life in the abbey before the dissolution (which unfortunately constituted 2/3 of the book - longer than the blurb would have you believe). Also, upon dissolution the majority of the priests and nuns in the abbey appeared to descend into debauchery immediately. I understand that debauchery could be the knee jerk reaction of a few to both desperation and no longer feeling repressed, but I don’t find it believable that it would be the reaction of the majority. And finally, I would have expected more wonder and amazement from the otherwise intelligent Agnes at her subsequent sexual encounters.
That said, I found the ending inspiring; Agnes’ self knowledge and inner strength prevailed as she chose the life of a nomad and her books and writing over the security of being a wife with a home. She was finally free.
At times I found Agnes too accepting but then as a nun with no money, family or reliable friends perhaps she was wise to accept the things she could not hope to change.
My main criticism of the book is that I found it slow, especially the part describing life in the abbey before the dissolution (which unfortunately constituted 2/3 of the book - longer than the blurb would have you believe). Also, upon dissolution the majority of the priests and nuns in the abbey appeared to descend into debauchery immediately. I understand that debauchery could be the knee jerk reaction of a few to both desperation and no longer feeling repressed, but I don’t find it believable that it would be the reaction of the majority. And finally, I would have expected more wonder and amazement from the otherwise intelligent Agnes at her subsequent sexual encounters.
That said, I found the ending inspiring; Agnes’ self knowledge and inner strength prevailed as she chose the life of a nomad and her books and writing over the security of being a wife with a home. She was finally free.
January 6, 2025
The Butcher's Daughter (Hardcover) by Victoria Glendinning
Agnes Peppin - daughter of the butcher Thomas Peppin and his wife, Dorothy - is fifteen y/o when she falls for a boy, Peter Monpesson. She gets pregnant and is sent to a convent where she gives birth to their son, Peter Peterkin.
She ends up in a convent at Shaftesbury Abbey. But with her great intellect, she becomes the assistant to the Abbess, Elizabeth Zouche, and as a result, integrates herself into the unstable royal landscape of King Henry VIII.
As Agnes grapples with the complex rules and hierarchies of her new life, King Henry VIII has proclaimed himself the new head of the Church. Religious houses are being formally subjugated and monasteries dissolved, and the great Abbey is no exception to the purge. The cosseted world in which Agnes has carved out for herself a sliver of liberty is shattered. Now, free at last to be the master of her own fate, she descends into a world she knows little about, using her wits and testing her moral convictions against her need to survive by any means necessary.
Narrated from Agnes's first-person point of view this was a very slow-paced, boring book. There is no plot - but rather Agnes keeps going on tangents and introducing many secondary characters who are never developed.
I never cared for any of the characters and thought the historical facts were hidden in a nonexistent plot that they are made irrelevant.
Do not recommend the book.
Agnes Peppin - daughter of the butcher Thomas Peppin and his wife, Dorothy - is fifteen y/o when she falls for a boy, Peter Monpesson. She gets pregnant and is sent to a convent where she gives birth to their son, Peter Peterkin.
She ends up in a convent at Shaftesbury Abbey. But with her great intellect, she becomes the assistant to the Abbess, Elizabeth Zouche, and as a result, integrates herself into the unstable royal landscape of King Henry VIII.
As Agnes grapples with the complex rules and hierarchies of her new life, King Henry VIII has proclaimed himself the new head of the Church. Religious houses are being formally subjugated and monasteries dissolved, and the great Abbey is no exception to the purge. The cosseted world in which Agnes has carved out for herself a sliver of liberty is shattered. Now, free at last to be the master of her own fate, she descends into a world she knows little about, using her wits and testing her moral convictions against her need to survive by any means necessary.
Narrated from Agnes's first-person point of view this was a very slow-paced, boring book. There is no plot - but rather Agnes keeps going on tangents and introducing many secondary characters who are never developed.
I never cared for any of the characters and thought the historical facts were hidden in a nonexistent plot that they are made irrelevant.
Do not recommend the book.
February 15, 2020
A beautiful book that gives a glimpse into the world of the people in the monasteries that Henry VIII destroyed.
The book starts a bit slowly, but gives a good impression of life at that time. Agnes initially seems a girl with little spirit ... she just lets it all come over her. She becomes pregnant and is single, she accepts her destiny without questions. The baby is housed with the father, and she is taken to the monastery (a rich monastery where she can only go through the good family connections of her mother.
There she becomes the right hand of the Abbes, because she can read and write, she also accepts this without questions. But here you begin to notice that Agnes certainly has her own opinion, which takes place almost exclusively in her head, but she does not pronounce the things out loud.
She also sees that in monastic life there are really things that should not happen within the walls of a place for god. Sisters who are too intimate, sisters who keep their worldly possessions, men who are too fond of young boys, she observes them but does not expose them.
The king's plans, they are impossible to the Abbes, incomprehensible, unthinkable. Her Abbey is rich, it provides many people with work, she is highly regarded. The king will demolish small religious houses but not hers. It is clear that Agnes thinks for herself because she questions her Abbes opinion.
Like many residents of Abbey’s , Agnes is on the street trying to find her own way, and she certainly does. I think she is a heroic woman who chooses her own path and turns off the easier options.
I enjoyed traveling through this traumatic time in Agnes' head and eventually seeing her go her own way.
The book starts a bit slowly, but gives a good impression of life at that time. Agnes initially seems a girl with little spirit ... she just lets it all come over her. She becomes pregnant and is single, she accepts her destiny without questions. The baby is housed with the father, and she is taken to the monastery (a rich monastery where she can only go through the good family connections of her mother.
There she becomes the right hand of the Abbes, because she can read and write, she also accepts this without questions. But here you begin to notice that Agnes certainly has her own opinion, which takes place almost exclusively in her head, but she does not pronounce the things out loud.
She also sees that in monastic life there are really things that should not happen within the walls of a place for god. Sisters who are too intimate, sisters who keep their worldly possessions, men who are too fond of young boys, she observes them but does not expose them.
The king's plans, they are impossible to the Abbes, incomprehensible, unthinkable. Her Abbey is rich, it provides many people with work, she is highly regarded. The king will demolish small religious houses but not hers. It is clear that Agnes thinks for herself because she questions her Abbes opinion.
Like many residents of Abbey’s , Agnes is on the street trying to find her own way, and she certainly does. I think she is a heroic woman who chooses her own path and turns off the easier options.
I enjoyed traveling through this traumatic time in Agnes' head and eventually seeing her go her own way.
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