Sarah Dunant, author of In the Company of the Courtesan and The Birth of Venus, continues her tradition of writing about the Italian Renaissance in her latest book, Sacred Hearts. This time, the setting is a convent, the Convent of Santa Caterina, in the Italian city of Ferrara in 1570. The story is told by Suora Zuana, the nun in charge of the dispensary. She befriends young sixteen-year old Serafina who has been left at the convent, against her will, by her family. Pulled from an illicit love affair, she screams and rages against the loss of her freedom and the power to choose her own destiny.
Although the characters in this story are fictional, the historical context they are placed in is accurate. "After 1480, female monasticism became integral to more systematized family strategies that advanced the collective fortunes of household and patriline at the expense of particular family members. Rising dowries and a complex marriage market meant that making a good match for one daughter increasingly hinged on another daughter remaining celibate." Nuns and Nunneries in Renaissance Florence, Sharon T. Strocchia
It is difficult to imagine how Serafina must feel, especially since modern women have so much more control of their lives. Although our parents continue to guide us and give us advice, many choices are ours to make. Marriage and children as well as a career are distinct possibilities for most women, if they so choose. Careers that were once dominated by men are now shared equally by women. To be forced into a situation such as Serafina is foreign to us. Nevertheless, it is frustrating to witness the powerlessness of women as portrayed in this setting.
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