Sammi's Reviews > Sisters of Arden: on the Pilgrimage of Grace

I liked reading this book! Haha what a great way to start a review 😂😂.

I enjoyed this book for numerous reasons. The first one obviously being the story itself: a historical fiction set during the reign of Henry VIII and the dissolution of the monasteries. It follows Margery, a young, orphaned girl who was raised at Arden, one of the monasteries unfortunately seized by the King's men. It's a story of realistic hardship, of travelling, of relationships, politics but also happiness. The plot was incredibly realistic, WHICH I ENJOY, as opposed to everything feeling either too depressing or too happy, the plot was balanced and felt REAL. I felt also that the level of writing invoked a mixture of Bernard Cornwall, for it's realistic, historical grittiness, but also Phillipa Gregory for its female (yey) characters. I loved that the plot was actually about women during such a politically unstable time, especially low born women and not some Princess or Lady simply commenting on the times.

The characters in this are also such a mix. You have Margery, the young orphan girl; the Nuns of Arden, a largely older group of women; Grace, a once high born girl cast out to have her bastard child, Andrew, and take the Veil, but also Francis, a mentally disabled yet gentle character. It's honestly so refreshing to read outside the usual historical fiction female troupe. Girls, u know the one I mean. The secretly 'i never thought about it' naturally beautiful rich lady who is a natural at court politics and INTELLIGENT, more so than ANYONE ELSE EVER. No, this bunch was a well written, diverse group of imperfect, realistic people, and honestly it was refreshing. I feel the plot was about right as well. While I'd love it to have gone on longer (Judith Arnopp has such a blunt style that perfectly fits historical fiction) I do feel it was the appropriate length for the plot it has, after all there is only so much travelling you can read before u cbb any more (looking @ u Lord of the Rings). The plot is also a really good mix of politics and events without over encumbering the reader with useless facts which make you feel like you're reading an article or journal rather than a fictional novel.

The only thing I have to say NEGATIVELY is not much. I received my copy of this book, a kindle, via Netgalley and there were mistakes in the texts. At some points of the story sentences or portions of the text, I really can't tell as sometimes sentences end in the middle or start somewhere really random, just stop making sense and I feel a lot has been missed out. Unfortunately I can't tell if this is a fault with the Kindle copy or not as I feel it surely wouldn't have been missed out from a published book, therefore I will give this book the benefit of the doubt and say IT WOULD BE FINE IF YOU BOUGHT THE BOOK ITSELF.

Overall, I think this book is a nice quick read set in an interesting time period from an interesting point of view and with a whole host of interesting characters. I would recommend a read if you're looking for a different bit of historical fiction.