5 Star
Set in contemporary and World War II France, this is the story of
Sister Bernard: her forbidden love, her uncertain faith, and her guilt-
ridden past.
A once -bustling convent in the South of France is
closing, leaving behind three elderly nuns. Forced, for the first time,
to confront the community that she betrayed decades ago, Sister Bernard
relives her life during the war.
At thirty, Sister Bernard can
hear the voice of God-strident, furious, and personal. When a young Nazi
soldier, a member of the German occupying forces, asks her to meet him
in the church in secret one evening, she agrees. And so begins the
horrifying and passionate love affair that will deafen the heavens and
define her life, tempting her into duplicity. Obedience is a powerful exploration of one woman's struggle to reconcile her aching need to be loved with her fear of God's wrath.
Sabrina-Kate - 5 Star
I was not initially keen to read Obedience as I’m not a big fan of organized religion so I was pleasantly surprised to find myself captivated by the story within. The book touched on many intense emotions from characters whose vocations would never have made me consider them in this way.
I found it interesting how a lot of
aspects in Obedience were left open to interpretation as I find that it a
true way to view things connected to religion. It made me consider
things in a deeper, more profound way and also made me question what I
knew to be true.
The main character, Sister Bernard, had
a very troubling and unsettling life for many reasons, but largely due
to how people treated her and due to her naivete. I found it very
heartbreaking to see how many times she was disappointed and hurt yet
there was a somewhat childlike acceptance of it all that, along with
hearing God’s voice, led me to believe that she might have a stronger
faith than most of us or that she had psychological issues. Again, this is an
example of something that was left open to interpretation.
The vivid descriptions of absolutely
everything from circumstances, people, places and events made me feel
often that I was actually there in the moment. I found myself racing
through the book to see what would become of them all as the book is
divided up in the past and present, alternating between the two. You see
where they are currently but the interesting part is to see the path
that led them there.
Thank you to Penguin USA for our review copy! All opinions are our own.
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