Life in the Grey Nunnery at Montreal
Read by Brendan Stallard
Life in the Grey Nunnery was first published in Boston, in 1857 by Edward P. Hood, who was credited as the book's editor. It is likely that this account is by Sarah J. Richardson "as told to" Edward Hood, though it may in fact be completely fictional. It is clearly an anti-Catholic book, an example of the genre of fiction referred to as "the convent horror story."
As this summary shows, it is not known if this book is fictional or a true account.(Summary by project Gutenberg and Elaine Webb) (6 hr 58 min)
Chapters
01 PARENTAGE—FATHER'S MARRIAGE | 13:54 | Read by Brendan Stallard |
02 THE WHITE NUNNERY | 18:56 | Read by Brendan Stallard |
03 THE NURSERY | 16:38 | Read by Brendan Stallard |
04 A SLAVE FOR LIFE | 17:11 | Read by Brendan Stallard |
05 CEREMONY OF CONFIRMATION | 19:37 | Read by Brendan Stallard |
06 THE GREY NUNNERY | 17:01 | Read by Brendan Stallard |
07 ORPHAN'S HOME | 16:35 | Read by Brendan Stallard |
08 CONFESSION AND SORROW OF NO AVAIL | 19:44 | Read by Brendan Stallard |
09 ALONE WITH THE DEAD | 19:26 | Read by Brendan Stallard |
10 THE SICK NUN | 24:45 | Read by Brendan Stallard |
11 THE JOY OF FREEDOM | 16:11 | Read by Brendan Stallard |
12 STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND | 13:13 | Read by Brendan Stallard |
13 LANDLADY'S STORY CONTINUED | 19:45 | Read by Brendan Stallard |
14 THE TWO SISTERS | 13:25 | Read by Brendan Stallard |
15 CHOICE OF PUNISHMENTS | 12:54 | Read by Brendan Stallard |
16 HORRORS OF STARVATION | 14:30 | Read by Brendan Stallard |
17 THE TORTURE ROOM | 17:04 | Read by Brendan Stallard |
18 RETURN TO THE NUNNERY | 18:27 | Read by Brendan Stallard |
19 SICKNESS AND DEATH OF A SUPERIOR | 9:52 | Read by Brendan Stallard |
20 STUDENTS AT THE ACADEMY | 7:40 | Read by Brendan Stallard |
21 SECOND ESCAPE FROM THE NUNNERY | 8:54 | Read by Brendan Stallard |
22 LONELY MIDNIGHT WALK | 19:58 | Read by Brendan Stallard |
23 FLIGHT AND RECAPTURE | 16:01 | Read by Brendan Stallard |
24 RESOLVES TO ESCAPE | 16:20 | Read by Brendan Stallard |
25 EVENTFUL JOURNEY | 23:50 | Read by Brendan Stallard |
26 CONCLUSION | 6:56 | Read by Brendan Stallard |
Reviews
Upsetting and Engaging
gaboora
The horrors related in this narrative are so numerous as to be nearly numberless. For what a priest interprets as a cross look, a crown of thorns is pressed upon the girl’s head. She must wear it for six hours, during which time she is made to work on while the blood drips down. That’s just one horror story picked out of my notes at random. During her second escape, seeking refuge from house to house (seven to nine miles apart), she is, one can easily believe, ‘cold, hungry, almost sick, and entirely friendless.’ The storm raining down upon her head sounds like ‘the last convulsive sound of a broken heart.’ The prospect of freedom nerves her onward, however, and she, ‘a friendless wanderer,’ makes it to Vermont where she finally finds kindness and affection in a Brainard home before she is caught the second time. The punishments for that escape, including over a week of starvation, nearly kill her. She is promised, in addition, a whole year of daily punishments for this last revolt. Life in the Grey Nunnery at Montreal is agonizing to hear but riveting all the way. And so it will be gotten through in short order by those who begin to listen to it, I think. The voice of Brendan Stallard, moreover, is suitably somber and soft-spoken. This woman’s horrors are so vividly told that the book left me wiped out at the end, though I was hoping for more information about the Subject’s post-Convent life. I have read many of Poe’s horror stories, like The Pit and the Pendulum and The Premature Burial. Even stories like those are less horrific than ‘the fearful outrage…upon humanity’ related by this woman. This may beg the question to some, ‘Is the story true?’ This is a disputed question that I can find no decisive answer to. In consideration of what we already know about the Roman Church for sure, it is believable enough. Because of the research into Roman Catholicism that I have already done, my belief in this story exceeds my doubt.
Life in the gray nunnery at Montreal
Sunny
Wow! What an amazing and endearing encounter! I couldn't put it down. How much truth is there in this book? Also the reader was excellent. I highly recommend this read. Stop what you're doing and read it right now!
A LibriVox Listener
Great, sad, victory from the crude church. What a very strong woman in the Lord. yes, believe these things happen. The truth always need to come out. It can be a freeing experience. Praise the Lord! for her being set free.
Pinch of Salt required
kendo75
Doubt this is actually true. Like The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis meets Man In The Iron Mask. A Good story though it has everything. Good reading.