In This House of Brede (Troubadour Books)

Philippa Talbot leaves her Civil Service career for a new calling - to join an enclosed order of Benedictine nuns. In this small community, each crisis is guided by the Abbess and the Sisters' shared bond of faith. It is here that Philippa must learn to forgive and forget the past. The story, with its personality clashes, power struggles and overwhelming humanity in both the pettiness and the depth of the characters, is absorbing, and yet this book is more than just a story - one woman's personal growth as she enters a monastic order and slowly comes to terms with leading a religious life.