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Title details for The Butcher's Daughter by Victoria Glendinning - Available

The Butcher's Daughter

A Novel

by Victoria Glendinning
ebook
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A woman in Tudor England fends for herself after Henry VIII closes her abbey in this historical novel perfect for fans of Wolf Hall and Philippa Gregory.
In 1535, England is hardly a wellspring of gender equality; it is a grim and oppressive age where women―even the privileged few who can read and write―have little independence.
In The Butcher’s Daughter, it is this milieu that mandates Agnes Peppin, daughter of a simple country butcher, to leave her family home in disgrace and live out her days cloistered behind the walls of the Shaftesbury Abbey. But with her great intellect, she becomes the assistant to the Abbess and as a result integrates herself into the unstable royal landscape of King Henry VIII.
As Agnes grapples with the complex rules and hierarchies of her new life, King Henry VIII has proclaimed himself the new head of the Church. Religious houses are being formally subjugated, monasteries dissolved, and the great Abbey is no exception to the purge. The cosseted world in which Agnes has carved out for herself a sliver of liberty is shattered. Now, free at last to be the master of her own fate, she descends into a world she knows little about, using her wits and testing her moral convictions against her need to survive by any means necessary . . .
The Butcher’s Daughter is the riveting story of a young woman facing head-on the obstacles carefully constructed against her sex. This dark and affecting novel by award-winning author Victoria Glendinning intricately depicts the lives of women in the sixteenth century in a world dominated by men.
“A fresh perspective [of the Tudor Era]. . . . Glendinning’s research convincingly depicts the bustling and frequently ruthless world of Henry VIII’s England.” —Library Journal
“Psychologically astute . . . and evincing deep knowledge of Tudor-era society. Glendinning thoughtfully explores womanhood’s many facets.” —Booklist
“Unabashedly feminist . . . elegant, intelligent, compulsively entertaining. . . . [The Butcher’s Daughter] demonstrates the power of individuals with inner strength and determination to work for change when able to choose a life of their own design.” —Foreword Reviews (starred review)

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    August 16, 2022

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781468316346
      • File size: 1013 KB

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781468316346
      • File size: 1189 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      May 15, 2018

      When Agnes Peppin enters the cloister at Shaftesbury Abbey in 1535, she expects to live out the rest of her days as part of a quiet community of nuns. It isn't long, however, before whispers of coming cataclysmic change reach her ears. Following his break with the Catholic Church, Henry VIII dissolves the kingdom's religious houses, and Agnes must try to find a new place for herself in the tumultuous world outside the abbey's walls. Shrewdly intelligent and curious, Agnes takes to the road and explores several potential paths, always constrained by the Tudor period's rigid expectations for even the brightest women. Though this era is a popular one for historical fiction, novelist and biographer Glendinning (Electricity; Flight) finds a fresh perspective by setting her book entirely away from the royal court. Agnes's tale unfolds more as a meandering series of vignettes than as a story with a compelling central conflict, but Glendinning's research convincingly depicts the bustling and frequently ruthless world of Henry VIII's England. Readers will enjoy Agnes's wry and frequently irreverent commentary on her encounters. VERDICT Recommended for fans of literary historical fiction in the vein of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall or Rose Tremain's Restoration.--Mara Bandy Fass, Champaign P.L., IL

      Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Booklist

      May 15, 2018
      Most people in sixteenth-century England weren't royalty or famous, yet a focus on the well known predominates in historical novels. Evincing deep knowledge of Tudor-era society, award-winning biographer and writer Glendinning helps remedy this skewed perspective by centering on a young woman left homeless after Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries and forced back into a world that slots women into tidy, repressive categories. In 1535, the witty, curious Agnes Peppin is sent to Shaftesbury Abbey after bearing an illegitimate child and finds a home among the nuns. Agnes is literate, and as the abbess' assistant she is in a prime place to see Thomas Cromwell's destructive plans for England's religious houses coming to fruition. Glendinning's psychologically astute novel shows how significant an upheaval this was. Monasteries and abbeys served as social safety nets and economic engines, and their residents' heartbreak and confusion are palpable as the sanctuaries are dismantled. Agnes' sudden freedom, both a burden and an opportunity, sets her on an entertaining, picaresque journey toward self-fulfillment across England's West Country. Through the experiences of Agnes and others, Glendinning thoughtfully explores womanhood's many facets.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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