"Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy" is a story begun in wartime Paris, where an accidental wrong-turn leads (eventually) to a new life. Throughout, we experience the careful unraveling of Lise's story and the ties which still bind her from her old life as we follow her path towards physical, mental and spiritual freedom. There is no condemnation here, and the description of the daily lives of the Soeurs, their gentle worries, and their faith and trust, are a balm for those feeling set upon. The careful pacing matches the meditative nature of their order, as their individual stories unfold. Theirs was, indeed, a unique ministry. (If you want to know more about the real ministry, accurately represented by Rumer Godden, see this article: https://www.globalsistersreport.org/ministry/founded-prison-serving-children-around-world-dominican-sisters-bethany-called-me .)

I first read this book when I was in my teens; at the time I was reading everything by Rumer Godden I could get my hands on. Coming back to it after many years I still enjoyed it, although I wonder if it might seem a little emotionally over-wrought to modern readers.

Godden's writing is idiosyncratic - she uses flashback frequently and effectively to explain, in very few words, why a character is behaving or thinking in a particular way. It's an excellent way to give the reader insight into the past without long explanations of motive.

The story is set in a Dominican convent - the Sisters of Bethany are an order who take in women who wish to redeem themselves after a life of sin. I'm describing it in the novel's terms here, but the main character, Lise, would be seen by most people as having lived her life on the wrong side of the law. Convent life is shown in loving detail, as too is the Christian notion of redemption. Godden, who also wrote a superb long novel of conventual life, In This House of Brede, has a deep understanding of the balance between contemplation and action in religion, and this is a moving and memorable read.

Rumer Godden does nuns and the religious life so well that she manages to make this rather sensationalist and melodramatic story entirely convincing and compelling. There’s no doubt that the plot is rather too dramatic and that one or two of the characters are indeed overly evil, but the themes which she tackles here and the convincing portrayal of the sisters themselves far outweigh the novel’s flaws. It’s the story of Lise, a young English woman, who finds herself as an Army driver in Paris on the night of liberation in 1944. Separated from her companion she is picked up by a French brothel owner and rather implausibly goes off with him (rather than find the British Embassy) and eventually becomes the Madam of the brothel. When she is later imprisoned for murder (another rather unlikely act) she meets some prison visitors, nuns from the Dominican Sisters of Bethany, a real-life order, who work with prostitutes and prisoners. This sets the rest of her life on a quite unexpected path. The conflict between good and evil, redemption, forgiveness, compassion, faith – all these are explored with Godden’s usual light touch, and if this isn’t perhaps her best novel about the religious life, it’s certainly engaging and absorbing, and well worth reading.

I've loved this author's writing - the perfect stillness she seems to generate throughout the book in its atmosphere of the cloister, but with all the noise, danger and petty slights and jealousies of the human race thrown in as well.

This story introduces one to the order of the Bethanie (a new one for me as well) and wasn't it educative. An order of nuns in a secluded house doing prison counselling and upliftment of women amongst the most hardened prisoners of the day. We have Sister Lise herself with a colorful background and one which she would like to keep hidden and then a host of other Sisters all equally powerful in their own right and all very necessary for the smooth and efficient functioning of the house as well.

The individual stories of the characters in this story meld beautifully. Each one is intricate, complicated and with a dark history but in the confines of the convent, each person reaches a state of peace, contentment and happiness which is enviable. I doubt that any of the individuals should they be living a more public life would be able to live so serenely the way they did, if it was not for the religion and beliefs which powered them.

As usual Ms. Godden's work is stellar. This is a book I will read again and again.


Goodreads and Amazon reviews up on 1/1/2017. Review on my blog 1/1/2017