Life in the Grey Nunnery at Montreal

by Sarah J. Richardson, Edward P. Hood

"I was born at St. John's, New Brunswick, in the year 1835. My father was from the city of Dublin, Ireland, where he spent his youth, and received an education in accordance with the strictest rules of Roman Catholic faith and practice. Early manhood, however, found him dissatisfied with his native country, longing for other scenes and distant climes. He therefore left Ireland, and came to Quebec. "

Genres: History

276 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1858

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating this book was hard...I didn't "like it" exactly, but it was absolutely fascinating as an example of the extreme anti-Catholic sentiment and sensationalism of a certain period.

[Doris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Little Sarah is brought to a Catholic nunnery by her well-meaning father. Unfortunately, he does not know that he will never see her again. For Sarah, it is the beginning of a hard education that tries to press her into obedience by any means, even with torture. Other girls and nuns are also tortured for no reason with the worst imaginable methods; some of them die. Sarah escapes several times, but only the third time does she succeed.
This gruesome story is followed by several reports/stories from the Inquisition and about the crimes of the Catholic Church.
I do not quite know what to make of this book. It is clear that it was written for anti-Catholic purposes (the author at one point suggests to abolish all nunneries and monasteries in the USA and Canada), but if Richardson's narrative has any truth to it remains unclear. It might just as well be written to stimulate disgust and fright by the description of horrid torture; in this case, the book would be an example for early 19th century splatter literature.

[Eric Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This anti-religious historical artifact is red meat for atheists, feminists, and rebels everywhere.

A girl is sent to the nunnery by her father at an early age, and subjected to cruel and unusual punishment (cutting, starvation, burning, poisoning, etc. etc.) on an almost daily basis for many years as she repeatedly attempts to escape.

This story worked really well for me. Sarah is a terrific heroine, trapped and friendless in a gothic nightmare where authority is the ultimate evil.

As far as the truth of her story, well, there's a whole section of testimonials as to her character at the end of the book, but it's tough to verify them now. It really doesn't matter - I found the book very interesting anyway, and rooted for the protagonist at every turn.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never encountered anything so anti-Catholic as Life in the Grey Nunnery at Montreal. Written in the early 1850's during a wave of anti-Catholic fervor in the US, some parts of the book are plausible and some parts of the book stretch the imagination like the rack stretches the old lady in the torture room behind the secret door in the convent. As a high Gothic book of adventure and suspense, Life in the Grey Nunnery is fantastically tense read full of gruesome horrors, daring escapes, pitiable stories and unspeakable evils. As a historical document, it's highly questionable.