Review: The Monastery

The quality of the writing and the development of the structure of this book are generally well-done. The novel is split between present-day United States and medieval France, with the principle character linking the two periods through a kind of reincarnation. The exact nature of the linkage - whether there are two people or one in the two bodies, and the way in which the soul or souls transfer between the two realities - remains unclear in spite of the discussions on reincarnation and time.

The story begins with Rebecca, a modern woman facing uncertainty as to who she is as an individual, independent of her husband and children. She falls asleep, and Cecilia appears in the medieval period as an amnesiac, leaving Rebecca's unconscious body behind. Cecilia is abandoned at the monastery of the title, her amnesiac condition attributed to her suffering through a brutal gang rape. The novel alternates between the two periods, gliding over the essential paradox - if time is non-linear, why cannot both Cecilia and Rebecca live? And how can Cecilia, whether or not she is a distinct from Rebecca, have the language skills she shows immediately on her arrival and recovery?

Much of the story focuses on the bizarre situation in the medieval monastery and on Cecilia's relationships with the monks. The author uses this section to explore polyandry, and it often reads like a textbook description rather than a story with conflict and struggle. The motivation for the relationship between Cecilia and the monks appears implausible, especially given the unlikelihood that Cecilia would be literate in any language and that a small, poor monastery would have (or inherit) many books, especially books on Islam. Many of the characters are rather two-dimensional. This is more noticeable in the modern section of the book, where Rebecca's husband and family do not really come to life. However, many of the monks and other medieval characters are stock figures - the violent one, the shy one - rather than fully-developed.

The historical setting is perhaps a bit idealized in the monastery, especially when the monastery's cleanliness and comfort is contrasted with the dirt and smells of other parts of the medieval world. I had some other difficulties with the setting including the ever-popular plot device but debunked idea of 'first night' or 'droit du seigneur'; and the use of 'thrall' to refer to men able to become armed retainers. 'Thrall' usually refers to one of the categories of unfree people in a medieval society, and those were usually not permitted to take service as knights. It also seems highly improbable that a medieval family would accept a 'marriage' made by a son who had been monk without evidence that he had been released from his original vows and then married. Vows were of extreme importance during this period, especially for those families with land to pass on, and should have been the first and strongest argument of the family against a marriage rather than a final one. Finally, Cecilia's philosophical discussions and her personality seem to reflect their formation in the twentieth century, not in the medieval period.

Aside from these points, the book is a fast, entertaining read, with the language and writing being above average.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Cheryl - RAM

Book Review: The Monastery