I was hooked on her other novel In the Company of The Courtesan set in the 14th century Italy with its plot unfolding mainly in Venezia, a place close to my heart having lived in the Veneto.
However, I am sad to report that Sacred Heart was so slow and was missing a denouement, ending abruptly in the last three pages where the young lovers meet again and there wasn’t any suspense to push along what happens, you’re kind of left hanging.
A pity as as it was interesting, yet the plot was repetitive as if to deliberately drag it on for more pages.
I have little idea of what convent life entails and how punishing it is to live without mortal sins, perhaps the narrative was told in that way to make one drowsy waiting for the plot to unfold. Again, I liked how it was peppered with historical details in time context.
I’ll give it another go and try to get hold of Sarah Dunant’s first best seller “The Birth of Venus”. All the books have very unattractive covers unless Renaissance type art is your thing, which isn’t mine. :)
