Description
Within the quiet walls of an Irish convent run by a French order, Sister Marie-Hélène oversees the lives of young girls while a new boarder, Anna Murphy, arrives carrying both innocence and a carefully guarded past. As Anna grows from childhood into adolescence, the novel traces how faith, memory, and human longing collide—shaping friendships, testing loyalties, and forcing difficult choices. Kate O’Brien’s sharp, observant style brings the convent’s routines to vivid life, balancing introspection with moments of wit and tenderness. At its heart, this is a story about what we bury, what we inherit, and how—despite the pressures of duty and expectation—people learn to face themselves and one another.
Available Editions
paperback
Virago Press Ltd
Published Jan 1, 1995
304 pages
ISBN: 9780860688266
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Details
First Published
1970
Language
eng
Content Warnings
No content warnings identified.