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35th out of 88 books
—
81 voters
The Land of Spices
by
Kate O'Brien
Behind the high, closed walls of a convent in the Irish countryside, the lives of its inhabitants are gently marked by the daily rituals of spiritual life. Watching over Anna, her sensitive and poetic young charge, the Mother Superior revisits her childhood relationship with her father. As Anna develops from a six-year-old to a scholarship candidate, Helen comes to underst...more
Paperback, 320 pages
Published
July 1st 2006
by Virago UK
(first published 1941)
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This book was banned because of one sentence. And yet that sentence is pivotal, so it could not be omitted.
Thank goodness, the censorship laws have laxed for this is a charming book. The author has created characters who she loves for their flaws as well as their strengths. This is one of the best books for characterisations that I have come across for some time. Their involvement with one another and the different scenarios ring true and invoke true empathy in the reader. I read the introducti...more
Thank goodness, the censorship laws have laxed for this is a charming book. The author has created characters who she loves for their flaws as well as their strengths. This is one of the best books for characterisations that I have come across for some time. Their involvement with one another and the different scenarios ring true and invoke true empathy in the reader. I read the introducti...more
This book is more of a character exploration of a Mother Superior at a girls' school in Ireland on the cusp of WWI, and of one of its long-time students. It is gentle, contemplative, and calming. The two main plot twists - the dark and startling discovery that drove Mother Mary Helen Archer into the religious life and the tragedy that severs Anna's ties to her past and home - are not at all surprising. I guessed them well before they occurred. However, the point of the book isn't exactly to be a...more
This is a book that I doubt I would have selected to read on my own, and definitely would not have finished without the pressure of an impending midterm to motivate me. It doesn't have a lot of plot, and it is – to be completely honest – a little bit boring.
That having been said, it has some of the most extraordinary characters I've ever read. Both the major and minor characters are extremely well written. I fell in love with them (especially the Mother Reverend and Molly Redmond) in a way that...more
That having been said, it has some of the most extraordinary characters I've ever read. Both the major and minor characters are extremely well written. I fell in love with them (especially the Mother Reverend and Molly Redmond) in a way that...more
I loved this book. This is a lush, rich book that stays with you long after you've turned the last page. I was assigned this book to read as part of an Irish Literature class, and I am so glad I was introduced to Kate O'Brien. Her pages are filled with words and phrases that quite literally took my breath away. If you love to sink, to melt, into a story; if you love subtle nuances and details, you will love The Land of Spices.
Kate O Brien was an almost forgotten Irish writer (banned in Ireland and then in Spain) until the 1980s when she was rediscovered. She was recommended to me by my MA professor, Dr Pat Coughlan, and I've read almost everything she wrote. This is the best one to start with. That Lady is great (it's the one which was banned in Spain) and The Ante-Room is profound.
I'm starting to get Kate O'Brien whiplash. I loved As Music and Splendour, bounced off The Ante-Room and didn't finish it, and then loved this one (though I sort of expected to like it, since for some reason I generally do like books about convents). It's an intertwined story of small Anna Murphy, the youngest boarder at an Irish convent school, and Helen, the Mother Superior. As Anna grows up and struggles to find her path in life, her experiences cause Helen to reflect on the experiences which...more
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Once banned in Ireland because it contained the phrase 'the embrace of love', The Land of Spices is a compassionate yet unsentimental account of convent life in early twentieth century Ireland told from the point of view of the middle aged Reverend Mother and her 'pet', the clever but socially inept Anna. Like the Ante-Room, the story moves at a slow pace, which is a appropriate for a novel which is above all about introspection and memory.
A banned book which won its court case in Ireland in 1942.
Generationally interesting; catholically interesting. Complicated and difficult to write about in short blurb form. Setting: convent school. Two main characters both have violent reactions to personal shocks, which then inform their characters for the rest of their lives. In one case this is spelled and in the other implied.
It is bizarre to read a book that takes catholicism so seriously. Religion is actual here. If the same story were wr...more
Generationally interesting; catholically interesting. Complicated and difficult to write about in short blurb form. Setting: convent school. Two main characters both have violent reactions to personal shocks, which then inform their characters for the rest of their lives. In one case this is spelled and in the other implied.
It is bizarre to read a book that takes catholicism so seriously. Religion is actual here. If the same story were wr...more
Colm Toibin recommended this book in the November Goodreads Newsletter. I admire him as a writer and speaker and book critic.
The responses to this book were very stimulating...so
GIVE IT A GO !!!!
Rather similar to Frost in May by Antonia White, but with a slight edge because it gets into the mind and the past of the Mother Superior, which reminded me a little of Black Narcissus.
A book once censored because of one phrase, pivotal to the story, I found The Land of Spices to be a compassionate though an unsentimental account of convent life in early twentieth century Ireland as told from the point of view of the middle aged Reverend Mother and her 'pet', the clever but socially inept Anna. I found that this novel moved at a slow pace, which lent much to the introspection and memory of the characters and narrators of the story. I very much enjoyed that the author created c...more
Nov 08, 2012
Molly
added it
Very nicely observed and written, reminded me of Rose Macaulay's Towers of Trebizond. But I just couldn't quite accept the central event, i.e. Helen's reaction to her chance observation. Much as I like reading about people, times, and situations that are nothing like my own life, this didn't quite work for me. it just wasn't the kind of world I wanted to spend time in.
What a strange, uneventful, but incredibly insightful feminist work!
What an odd, beautiful book -- oblique and subtle, and then moments that are just heartbreaking.
This is a story of convent life around the turn of the 20th century and is partly autobiographical. It was banned in Ireland when it was first published in the 1940's because of one apparently dubious sentence. I was nt that anxious to read this, but I was wrong.
This is a fabulous story with great depth of characterisation. It accidently became a perfect antidote for the uncomfortable Book of Human Skin I've just finished. But maybe you have to be a convent girl to fully appreciate this.
This is a fabulous story with great depth of characterisation. It accidently became a perfect antidote for the uncomfortable Book of Human Skin I've just finished. But maybe you have to be a convent girl to fully appreciate this.
So far, this is effin' awesome.
This is such a beautiful book! I read it in grad school in a course on modern Irish literature. It's about a young girl who more or less grows up in a convent school, and the relationships that swirl around that. There is a breathtaking passage on love -- just beautiful. Just a little tidbit -- the book was censored in Ireland for the presense of one sentence -- a veiled allusion to a mans sexual orientation.
A many-layered work of fiction. It is a story about the struggles facing women in religious and educational institutions, as well as a tale that goes deep into the hearts of a few main characters. I could relate to these characters a great deal, even though they are from a very different time and place.
Kate O'Brien completely draws you into this novel about nuns, convent schools and one pupil in particular, Anna. The book deals with several subjects in a way that isn't obvious. I really loved reading this and will read more K. O'Brien in the future (I have another on my desk actually).
This is a very special book. Set in an Irish convent prior to the first world war - the two main characters, the Reverend Mother and Anna, one of the students at the school establish a wonderful relationship over a 10-year period.
I was interested in this book as I have many of the clergy
in my Irish family. It was well written and thought provoking.
I will read something else by this author.
in my Irish family. It was well written and thought provoking.
I will read something else by this author.
Oct 15, 2008
Rob & Liz
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommended to Rob & Liz by:
Found it at a 2nd hand bookstore
Life in a convent-school and the relationship between Reverend Mother and Anna Murphy.
Liz
Liz
May 23, 2013
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From Wikipedia: Kate O'Brien (3 December 1897 - 13 August 1974), was an Irish novelist and playwright. After the success of her play, Distinguished Villa in 1926, she took to full-time writing and was awarded the 1931 James Tait Black Prize for her novel Without My Cloak. She is best known for her 1934 novel The Ante-Room, her 1941 novel The Land of Spices and the 1946 novel That Lady. Many of her...more
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