SOLVED. a cloistered nun who progressively becomes more devout and more punishing of herself until she finally has her self walled up into the walls of the convent [s]

[[deleted user]]

this was one of those strange not popular books
but almost a self published deal
cheap cover (paperback) you could almost see the cut marks on the pages
hard stock i think

published in the 70's maybe
possibly a british writer/publisher?

i thought the name was woman in the wall but can't find it

the storyline was of a cloistered nun who progressively becomes more devout and more punishing of herself until she finally has her self walled up into the walls of the convent

it was bizarre, not that well written from the stand point of commercial or palatable to a modern consumer reader but powerful and oddly challenging

[Holly]

I have no idea but it sounds distinctly horrifying and ripe for a movie! I hope someone figures it out.

[Jessica]

Susann Cokal's book Mirabilis has a similar character in it, but it's definitely not the same book. However, I highly recommend it.

[[deleted user]]

it was a strange one
i'd love to find out what it was but i have a feeling it's so obscure and definitely out of print
but if anyone has read it
it's one of you goodreads nuts :)
it would make a good movie holly
and i will look for mirabilis sometime jessica
i think the setting was europe, and could have been almost any christian timeperiod
i don't think that was highlighted or possibly not even mentioned
the whole perspective was from the nun's point of view

[Coralie]

Could it possibly be "Song of Bernadette"? I seem to remember that this nun ended up sleeping on a board in a confined room.

[[deleted user]]

hmmm
i don't know
let me take a look online and see
i seem to remember poetry
mostly i remember something about the sun coming in her room and her praying and god speaking to her and her being more and more confused and more and more devout
i can't even remember if it was well written but i finished it so it kept my attention
and definitely made an impact

[[deleted user]]

no i don't think that was it but thanks i've added song of bernadette to my to read list
was it good?
it's possible that the book i read is based on this story
i really think it had the words woman in the walls or something like it in the title

[Coralie]

Song of Bernadette was also made into a movie, probably around the 1960's. The story is about three children who contend they have experienced an apparition of the Mother of God. Bernadette is one of the children who enters a convent and becomes a nun. Many believe this to be a true story.

[Cynthia]

I think it is possibly Women in the wall by Julia O'Faolain

Copied from Novelist
Kirkus Reviews Beware, lest in scouring off the rust, you break the vessel itself," the abbess had said, and the central focus of this handsome and moving first novel by the daughter of Sean O'Faolain is the tragic and futile pursuit of a reality beyond humanness--by which the seeker is destroyed. The founder of a 6th-century convent in Poitiers is the Thuringian princess, Radegunda, captive wife of a conquering king. A passionate woman who rolls naked in the snow to overcome the hateful pleasures of a sex-sated body, Radegunda believes she has given up the world for God and becomes intoxicated with the thrust of her own salvation. Her protegee Agnes is wary of spiritual excess, yet as the first abbess, she does not face the consequences of her own self-indulgence. Agnes conceals a liaison that results in the birth of a daughter, Ingunda. When Ingunda, as a young nun, discovers her mother's sin, she does penance as an anchoress, bricked off in her cell, and racked by nightmares. Ingunda is killed in a marauder's raid brought about by convent dissensions, and grieving Agnes takes her daughter's place in the cell. The idyllic community, like other utopias built on the negation of the totality of human life, is doomed to fatal incursions and decay. With dialogue of vigorous content and wit, full-bodied characters and timeless inferences--an impressive initial effort.
(Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 1975)

http://www.amazon.com/Women-Wall-Juli...

[[deleted user]]

cynthia
you are priceless
this is it!!
thank you
and it's 50 cents on amazon-ha

i never thought anyone would find this one

[Rainbowheart]

Women in the Wall for the GR link.