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Impossible Saints
Set in England in 1907, Impossible Saints is a novel that burns as brightly as the suffrage movement it depicts, with the emotional resonance of Tracy Chevalier and Jennifer Robson.
Escaping the constraints of life as a village schoolmistress, Lilia Brooke bursts into London and into Paul Harris’s orderly life, shattering his belief that women are gentle creatures who need protection. Lilia wants to change women’s lives by advocating for the vote, free unions, and contraception. Paul, an Anglican priest, has a big ambition of his own: to become the youngest dean of St. John’s Cathedral. Lilia doesn’t believe in God, but she’s attracted to Paul’s intellect, ethics, and dazzling smile.
As Lilia finds her calling in the militant Women’s Social and Political Union, Paul is increasingly driven to rise in the church. They can’t deny their attraction, but they know they don’t belong in each other’s worlds. Lilia would rather serve time in prison than see her spirit destroyed and imprisoned by marriage to a clergyman, while Paul wants nothing more than to settle down and keep Lilia out of harm’s way. Paul and Lilia must reach their breaking points before they can decide whether their love is worth fighting for.
Escaping the constraints of life as a village schoolmistress, Lilia Brooke bursts into London and into Paul Harris’s orderly life, shattering his belief that women are gentle creatures who need protection. Lilia wants to change women’s lives by advocating for the vote, free unions, and contraception. Paul, an Anglican priest, has a big ambition of his own: to become the youngest dean of St. John’s Cathedral. Lilia doesn’t believe in God, but she’s attracted to Paul’s intellect, ethics, and dazzling smile.
As Lilia finds her calling in the militant Women’s Social and Political Union, Paul is increasingly driven to rise in the church. They can’t deny their attraction, but they know they don’t belong in each other’s worlds. Lilia would rather serve time in prison than see her spirit destroyed and imprisoned by marriage to a clergyman, while Paul wants nothing more than to settle down and keep Lilia out of harm’s way. Paul and Lilia must reach their breaking points before they can decide whether their love is worth fighting for.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 2, 2018
About the author
Clarissa Harwood
4 books167 followersClarissa Harwood is the author of three historical novels. Publishers Weekly called her first novel, Impossible Saints, "a rich debut. . . . With insight and sensitivity, Harwood explores century-old social mores and challenges that still echo loudly today." Her second novel, Bear No Malice, won the Editor's Choice award from the Historical Novel Society and was called "a smart and highly civilized tale about love, temptation, and second chances" by Kirkus Reviews.
Clarissa holds a PhD in English Literature with a specialization in nineteenth-century British Literature and has taught university literature and writing courses for more than twenty years.
Her own writing pays homage to her favourite Victorian authors: the Brontë sisters, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, and Frances Hodgson Burnett. Her favourite living authors include Diane Setterfield, Kate Morton, A.S. Byatt, and Susanna Kearsley.
In addition to being a novelist, university professor, and proud member of the Historical Novel Society, Clarissa is a grammar nerd who loves to explain the difference between restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses. Born and raised on the Canadian prairies, she currently lives in Ontario with her husband and three neurotic cats.
Clarissa is represented by Laura Crockett of TriadaUS Literary Agency.
Clarissa holds a PhD in English Literature with a specialization in nineteenth-century British Literature and has taught university literature and writing courses for more than twenty years.
Her own writing pays homage to her favourite Victorian authors: the Brontë sisters, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, and Frances Hodgson Burnett. Her favourite living authors include Diane Setterfield, Kate Morton, A.S. Byatt, and Susanna Kearsley.
In addition to being a novelist, university professor, and proud member of the Historical Novel Society, Clarissa is a grammar nerd who loves to explain the difference between restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses. Born and raised on the Canadian prairies, she currently lives in Ontario with her husband and three neurotic cats.
Clarissa is represented by Laura Crockett of TriadaUS Literary Agency.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 154 reviews
January 29, 2018
from my blog
(pardon the loquacious fervour!)
"Why is it that men's courage is called bravery but women's courage is called recklessness- or, even worse, foolishness?"
"That's just it, Harriet. Doesn't It bother you that we're still making the same arguments she (Wollstonecraft) made more than a hundred years ago, and so little has changed?"
Imagine a work of fiction that helps you reconcile years of insecurity and forces you to finally confront some of the rifts between the religious traditions that informed your childhood and the views you established as a thinking, reading, hyper-sensitive, feminist-inclined adult....
Imagine this piece of fiction wrapped in a perfect historically romantic (like, honest to Pete romantic with the gushing and the kissing and the pining!) package and bow....
Impossible Saints by Clarissa Harwood was the best reading experience ( because, indeed, it was an experience), I have had in an age. I was at turns giddy and shaking and smiling so wide my cheeks hurt and then crying --- because it is emotional to read a transparent transcription of all of the challenges you have encountered as a woman eager to reconcile the traditions and conservative beliefs of her childhood with the progressive views of adulthood. Part of me wishes that this novel had been around when I was 17 --trying to find myself in Catherine Marshall and Lynn Austin and Dorothy L Sayers amidst a tradition that found women largely in potluck kitchen service or on nursery duty. A worthy calling--- not my calling. Part of me wishes that when I spent the weekends at Crux bookstore at my alma matter U of T running my finger over the spines of titles on Christian Feminism and doling out a chunk of my student loan on a burgeoning new library that this had intercepted me. But part of me is so happy that it found me now--- now as a woman who has written a series that tries to exercise some of the contradictory tenets of my faith within the structure of two lady detectives wearing trousers and exploring women's roles in confining Edwardian times. And part of me is happy I found it now when I am a little more sure of who I am, what I believe beyond the expectations of others and beyond the traditions of my upbringing.
"I wouldn't mind being an outcast if I were free to live and work as I choose"
I am a huge believer in the kismet that happens when the right books find the right reader. Often at odds with my strong opinionated feminist views pitted against my upbringing as a pentecostal minister's kid, I have an insatiable thirst for the dialogue and debate that pings throughout this brilliant and evocative historical treatise on faith and conviction.
And while I still muse on and try to decipher how the square peg of feminism can fit in the circular hole of the Church's long traditions books like this--- wonderfully packaged in a beautiful, excessively readable love story, there is the brilliant elasticity that allows for interaction with characters who play out all of the questions and thoughts and muddled confusions of tradition and faith and feminism on a well-worded page.
And yet if you're like: what? NO! I want to read for enjoyment! Well, Saints be Praised! You get that, too! this is a rare package of perfectly lovely prose enveloping deeper truths.
In 1907, teacher Lillia Brook re-establishes her friendship with Canon Paul Harris, a rising figure at St. John's Cathedral who helped her navigate Greek and Latin studies in her formative years-- by letter- when such subjects were deemed useless to females best honed to play angel of the hearth. Lillia and Paul's re-acquaintance in adulthood sparks from their first meeting as they encounter themselves as pendants for Women's Suffrage and the Tradition of the Church ---the quintessential male sphere-- respectively.
While Lillia becomes more deeply involved in the growing danger of the Women's Movement in a circle that includes Emmeline Pankhurst, Paul is forced to confront his comfort in the sacred symbol and tradition of the church ---communion, prayer, the solemn process of a worshipful Sunday with the worship in action met head on when he accompanies Lillia to the brutal cloisters of a penitentiary for fallen women. It is in these early chapters--- so lovingly expressed and evoking the feeling of a hot cup of tea with a dose of Masterpiece theatre on a sun-slanted weekend--- that Harwood begins to develop her deeper thesis. A startling contradiction of tradition meted against two shifting worlds that startlingly parallel ongoing conversations in the modern church.
"Miss Wells, I'm not in the least concerned about my reputation."
A complicated love story set amidst the turmoil and transition of the shifting roles of tradition in anglo catholicism and the pressure to move worship into action beyond the pulpit paralleled with the changing course of women finally meeting their snatches and life outside the home with violence and misery! WAS THIS WRITTEN FOR ME???! A love story that intellectually and spiritually challenges the reader to confront the loop holes in their own beliefs as they sit across from Paul and Lillia who, on equal mental footing, discover themselves and their roles in each other's lives through constant debate? IS IT MY BIRTHDAY???! And romance? OH ROMANCE! clutch your heart and catch your breath romance---- sparring here is hotter than kissing and the romance Paul and Lillia find is symbolic of a marriage between a shifting church meeting head-on the demands and views of its expectant believers. So, this is not your run of the mill " Oh! he has a dazzling smile and my heart grows faint" type cliche-- though, yes, he does have a dazzling smile--yet the evocation of true attraction between two mismatched puzzle pieces that need to figure out how to tweak themselves to fit into each other's lives.
Both are forced to put faith in action: Paul beyond the sacraments of worship by Lillia who changes how he views worship and Lillia who opens her mind to meet him halfway. And you know that delicious moment in books when a character realizes their true love for someone when they unwittingly step up to defend them? (Hello Bella Wilfer for John Harmon against Mr. Boffin in Our Mutual Friend) we get TONS OF THAT HERE! WHAT BETTER TYPE OF LOVE STORY IS THAT THAN BETWEEN PEOPLE WHO ALLOW THEIR HEARTS TO BE CHANGED and are willing to reconsider convictions that, to this point in their lives, were etched in stone?
( I know, I know, so many caps ---but I cannot contain my enthusiasm here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If I were sitting across from you my hands would be excessively flailing)
Their compromise and eventually synchronicity encourages growth as two people willing to shift their stubborn views to let some leeway. A treatise on the changes modernizing an era where everyone's roles were falling away and a new type of woman ( and man ) strode to find equal footing. And Harwood does this ingeniously-- -quietly--- thoughtfully--- with little crumbs in the narrative: the pipes of the masculine sphere in Lillia's boarding house, the importance of Paul's given name in contrast to the historical part that spoke for women's silence--- all of these little notes strung throughout ... ugh! so goooood! I die, Horatio...
anyways...
What we sometimes forget about the power of fiction is how it can be used as a mirror or lens to our experiences and preconceptions. More still, how it can be the bind that helps us reconcile our past. When you view the world through the lens of fictional emblems it becomes a safe space to be mentally engaged, spiritually moved, and challenged to change. There is a balm in the constraints of fiction that allow your mind and heart to roam free in a way you might not confront what the fiction offers in real life or conversation. Is fiction a mode of conversation, of course---- but it is something silent and ruminative and in Impossible Saints I watched the war between my Christian upbringing and beliefs and my feminist views rile on the page in Paul and Lillia.
"I can see you've placed me in the category of the fast, modern woman, and there I'll stay until I can prove to you I'm a real person."
It takes a lot for a book to resound echoes long after the constructs of its time period, but Impossible Saints is relevant. Relevant to anyone who is shaped by expectation, latches to tradition while still at odds with the convictions that force us to grapple with the malleability of theological tenets and basic human principles. It is really brilliant to have this sewn up within the pattern of a novel and makes it accessible for readers who struggle and yearn to be challenged with their entertainment. For as much as I would love to posture about the higher tenets of this book's grappling with spiritual, philosophical and humane truths, so I am always reminded of how friggin' ENJOYABLE the whole darned thing is. Because, seriously, beyond the awesome discovery that it would hit me like the best kind of anvil, its time period and subject are TOTAL RACHEL CATNIP! I walked out of the film Suffragette a few years ago feeling flat--- like it was an open pop left out and devoid of fizz--- but all that I wanted it to be is resplendent here in a flesh and blood and contradictory heroine. I finish an episode of Grantchester wishing that the dominant male sphere would be countered more by feminine influence beyond the wishy-washy turn ups of fashionable Amanda--- and I find it here as Paul's mind broadens and stretches with Lillia's influence.
I often cite Catherine Marshall's Christy as a true love story: thinking of how agnostic doctor Neil MacNeill challenges Christy to believe for herself beyond the expectations or platitudes of the Mission. It is in this that he shows true love and devotion: interested in hearing her as more than a mouthpiece, wanting a peek inside. Here ,we have two people who through danger, loss and strife are willing to sacrifice and meet in the middle after many (exceptionally well-written) snapshots into their debates. As they verbally spar, so you might very well meet new thoughts and ideas that will encourage you to put the book aside and work things out for a little bit. At one point in the novel, an unhappily married woman repeatedly calls " all men cowards" -- cowards who must rise or work and strive to raise themselves up in church or society --- And yet Harwood's book proves the opposite of that again and again in two characters who are shaped in the truest form of courage there is --willing to stumble and fall and admit fallacy, willing to sacrifice moments of dignity and pride in order to find a surer footing with each other and with the higher plains they subscribe to. Write me this romance again and again, world, for it is not only the romance between two people finding a lasting and heart-clenching love but the romance in finding a surer belief in ones instincts when acting on conviction beyond human or church expectations.
I have an equal readership of faith based readers and non and while I am speaking to this book as it pertains to my faith experience, rest assured that it is not a prerequisite. This can be read as a whizbang- good- snap -crackle -and- pop story of historical romance which just happens to pair two people at odds with each other and one of these odds is Paul's life as a clergyman. You don't need a lexicon or even to believe to enjoy. Moreover, it offers a succinct and troubling look at the brutality and intolerance facing the women who sacrificed their livelihood and comfort for a greater cause.
There are the books you want to hand out to people so that they can understand your heart and mind and the vulnerable pieces of yourself and your strengths and weaknesses. .... hand them out at Christmas with a little bow and a card that says "here, steal inside my heart for a moment." And this is that book. This is one of those thumb-printed on my heart and mind and resolve and more especially interwoven into the fabric of my reading life forevermore.
So I will forever be grateful to a casual facebook chain where a friend tagged me in a post about this book (the post by another author I fangirl over--- Jennifer Delamere) because this is just.... ack! I cannot even form complete and cohesive sentences anymore... just make sure you preorder this book and read it and think about it and mull on it and then revisit it. ....I know I will --- interred again and again into my perennial collection....
QUOTES:
Lillia had never given much thought to his physical appearance. Indeed, there was nothing remarkable about it--- except when he smiled. And she realized, now, when he preached. It was as if the cathedral was his natural setting, the only place where a rare, powerful illumination could blaze out from inside him. The man and his setting were equally beautiful.
They lived in two different worlds that were more often than not hostile toward each other.
I don't know if you realize how lucky you are.You're free. No man has a claim on you. No man has conquered and enslaved you mentally, physically, or spiritually. You're not free from all struggle and suffering--of course, you must feel lonely, you must have desires-- but you haven't bound yourself to a man you'll come to despise.
Men don't want to be married to stupid or vacuous women
I'm starting to become suspicious of your motives for becoming a priest. Your position is too convenient an excuse for breaking rules that ordinary people must abide by.
He sent me copies of his lessons and corrected my mistakes. I may be the only woman in Britain with an education from one of the best public boys' schools.
pre-order 10 copies for your book club here (DO IT!-- need discussion questions? heck! I'll write them for free)
[pre-order another 5 copies for all of your friends and family afterward]
Add it to your Goodreads "to read" shelf so you don't forget ( as if I would let you forget--- I won't--- I will be back in December reminding you )
and thanks thanks thanks to Pegasus and Netgalley for this ARC
(pardon the loquacious fervour!)
"Why is it that men's courage is called bravery but women's courage is called recklessness- or, even worse, foolishness?"
"That's just it, Harriet. Doesn't It bother you that we're still making the same arguments she (Wollstonecraft) made more than a hundred years ago, and so little has changed?"
Imagine a work of fiction that helps you reconcile years of insecurity and forces you to finally confront some of the rifts between the religious traditions that informed your childhood and the views you established as a thinking, reading, hyper-sensitive, feminist-inclined adult....
Imagine this piece of fiction wrapped in a perfect historically romantic (like, honest to Pete romantic with the gushing and the kissing and the pining!) package and bow....
Impossible Saints by Clarissa Harwood was the best reading experience ( because, indeed, it was an experience), I have had in an age. I was at turns giddy and shaking and smiling so wide my cheeks hurt and then crying --- because it is emotional to read a transparent transcription of all of the challenges you have encountered as a woman eager to reconcile the traditions and conservative beliefs of her childhood with the progressive views of adulthood. Part of me wishes that this novel had been around when I was 17 --trying to find myself in Catherine Marshall and Lynn Austin and Dorothy L Sayers amidst a tradition that found women largely in potluck kitchen service or on nursery duty. A worthy calling--- not my calling. Part of me wishes that when I spent the weekends at Crux bookstore at my alma matter U of T running my finger over the spines of titles on Christian Feminism and doling out a chunk of my student loan on a burgeoning new library that this had intercepted me. But part of me is so happy that it found me now--- now as a woman who has written a series that tries to exercise some of the contradictory tenets of my faith within the structure of two lady detectives wearing trousers and exploring women's roles in confining Edwardian times. And part of me is happy I found it now when I am a little more sure of who I am, what I believe beyond the expectations of others and beyond the traditions of my upbringing.
"I wouldn't mind being an outcast if I were free to live and work as I choose"
I am a huge believer in the kismet that happens when the right books find the right reader. Often at odds with my strong opinionated feminist views pitted against my upbringing as a pentecostal minister's kid, I have an insatiable thirst for the dialogue and debate that pings throughout this brilliant and evocative historical treatise on faith and conviction.
And while I still muse on and try to decipher how the square peg of feminism can fit in the circular hole of the Church's long traditions books like this--- wonderfully packaged in a beautiful, excessively readable love story, there is the brilliant elasticity that allows for interaction with characters who play out all of the questions and thoughts and muddled confusions of tradition and faith and feminism on a well-worded page.
And yet if you're like: what? NO! I want to read for enjoyment! Well, Saints be Praised! You get that, too! this is a rare package of perfectly lovely prose enveloping deeper truths.
In 1907, teacher Lillia Brook re-establishes her friendship with Canon Paul Harris, a rising figure at St. John's Cathedral who helped her navigate Greek and Latin studies in her formative years-- by letter- when such subjects were deemed useless to females best honed to play angel of the hearth. Lillia and Paul's re-acquaintance in adulthood sparks from their first meeting as they encounter themselves as pendants for Women's Suffrage and the Tradition of the Church ---the quintessential male sphere-- respectively.
While Lillia becomes more deeply involved in the growing danger of the Women's Movement in a circle that includes Emmeline Pankhurst, Paul is forced to confront his comfort in the sacred symbol and tradition of the church ---communion, prayer, the solemn process of a worshipful Sunday with the worship in action met head on when he accompanies Lillia to the brutal cloisters of a penitentiary for fallen women. It is in these early chapters--- so lovingly expressed and evoking the feeling of a hot cup of tea with a dose of Masterpiece theatre on a sun-slanted weekend--- that Harwood begins to develop her deeper thesis. A startling contradiction of tradition meted against two shifting worlds that startlingly parallel ongoing conversations in the modern church.
"Miss Wells, I'm not in the least concerned about my reputation."
A complicated love story set amidst the turmoil and transition of the shifting roles of tradition in anglo catholicism and the pressure to move worship into action beyond the pulpit paralleled with the changing course of women finally meeting their snatches and life outside the home with violence and misery! WAS THIS WRITTEN FOR ME???! A love story that intellectually and spiritually challenges the reader to confront the loop holes in their own beliefs as they sit across from Paul and Lillia who, on equal mental footing, discover themselves and their roles in each other's lives through constant debate? IS IT MY BIRTHDAY???! And romance? OH ROMANCE! clutch your heart and catch your breath romance---- sparring here is hotter than kissing and the romance Paul and Lillia find is symbolic of a marriage between a shifting church meeting head-on the demands and views of its expectant believers. So, this is not your run of the mill " Oh! he has a dazzling smile and my heart grows faint" type cliche-- though, yes, he does have a dazzling smile--yet the evocation of true attraction between two mismatched puzzle pieces that need to figure out how to tweak themselves to fit into each other's lives.
Both are forced to put faith in action: Paul beyond the sacraments of worship by Lillia who changes how he views worship and Lillia who opens her mind to meet him halfway. And you know that delicious moment in books when a character realizes their true love for someone when they unwittingly step up to defend them? (Hello Bella Wilfer for John Harmon against Mr. Boffin in Our Mutual Friend) we get TONS OF THAT HERE! WHAT BETTER TYPE OF LOVE STORY IS THAT THAN BETWEEN PEOPLE WHO ALLOW THEIR HEARTS TO BE CHANGED and are willing to reconsider convictions that, to this point in their lives, were etched in stone?
( I know, I know, so many caps ---but I cannot contain my enthusiasm here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If I were sitting across from you my hands would be excessively flailing)
Their compromise and eventually synchronicity encourages growth as two people willing to shift their stubborn views to let some leeway. A treatise on the changes modernizing an era where everyone's roles were falling away and a new type of woman ( and man ) strode to find equal footing. And Harwood does this ingeniously-- -quietly--- thoughtfully--- with little crumbs in the narrative: the pipes of the masculine sphere in Lillia's boarding house, the importance of Paul's given name in contrast to the historical part that spoke for women's silence--- all of these little notes strung throughout ... ugh! so goooood! I die, Horatio...
anyways...
What we sometimes forget about the power of fiction is how it can be used as a mirror or lens to our experiences and preconceptions. More still, how it can be the bind that helps us reconcile our past. When you view the world through the lens of fictional emblems it becomes a safe space to be mentally engaged, spiritually moved, and challenged to change. There is a balm in the constraints of fiction that allow your mind and heart to roam free in a way you might not confront what the fiction offers in real life or conversation. Is fiction a mode of conversation, of course---- but it is something silent and ruminative and in Impossible Saints I watched the war between my Christian upbringing and beliefs and my feminist views rile on the page in Paul and Lillia.
"I can see you've placed me in the category of the fast, modern woman, and there I'll stay until I can prove to you I'm a real person."
It takes a lot for a book to resound echoes long after the constructs of its time period, but Impossible Saints is relevant. Relevant to anyone who is shaped by expectation, latches to tradition while still at odds with the convictions that force us to grapple with the malleability of theological tenets and basic human principles. It is really brilliant to have this sewn up within the pattern of a novel and makes it accessible for readers who struggle and yearn to be challenged with their entertainment. For as much as I would love to posture about the higher tenets of this book's grappling with spiritual, philosophical and humane truths, so I am always reminded of how friggin' ENJOYABLE the whole darned thing is. Because, seriously, beyond the awesome discovery that it would hit me like the best kind of anvil, its time period and subject are TOTAL RACHEL CATNIP! I walked out of the film Suffragette a few years ago feeling flat--- like it was an open pop left out and devoid of fizz--- but all that I wanted it to be is resplendent here in a flesh and blood and contradictory heroine. I finish an episode of Grantchester wishing that the dominant male sphere would be countered more by feminine influence beyond the wishy-washy turn ups of fashionable Amanda--- and I find it here as Paul's mind broadens and stretches with Lillia's influence.
I often cite Catherine Marshall's Christy as a true love story: thinking of how agnostic doctor Neil MacNeill challenges Christy to believe for herself beyond the expectations or platitudes of the Mission. It is in this that he shows true love and devotion: interested in hearing her as more than a mouthpiece, wanting a peek inside. Here ,we have two people who through danger, loss and strife are willing to sacrifice and meet in the middle after many (exceptionally well-written) snapshots into their debates. As they verbally spar, so you might very well meet new thoughts and ideas that will encourage you to put the book aside and work things out for a little bit. At one point in the novel, an unhappily married woman repeatedly calls " all men cowards" -- cowards who must rise or work and strive to raise themselves up in church or society --- And yet Harwood's book proves the opposite of that again and again in two characters who are shaped in the truest form of courage there is --willing to stumble and fall and admit fallacy, willing to sacrifice moments of dignity and pride in order to find a surer footing with each other and with the higher plains they subscribe to. Write me this romance again and again, world, for it is not only the romance between two people finding a lasting and heart-clenching love but the romance in finding a surer belief in ones instincts when acting on conviction beyond human or church expectations.
I have an equal readership of faith based readers and non and while I am speaking to this book as it pertains to my faith experience, rest assured that it is not a prerequisite. This can be read as a whizbang- good- snap -crackle -and- pop story of historical romance which just happens to pair two people at odds with each other and one of these odds is Paul's life as a clergyman. You don't need a lexicon or even to believe to enjoy. Moreover, it offers a succinct and troubling look at the brutality and intolerance facing the women who sacrificed their livelihood and comfort for a greater cause.
There are the books you want to hand out to people so that they can understand your heart and mind and the vulnerable pieces of yourself and your strengths and weaknesses. .... hand them out at Christmas with a little bow and a card that says "here, steal inside my heart for a moment." And this is that book. This is one of those thumb-printed on my heart and mind and resolve and more especially interwoven into the fabric of my reading life forevermore.
So I will forever be grateful to a casual facebook chain where a friend tagged me in a post about this book (the post by another author I fangirl over--- Jennifer Delamere) because this is just.... ack! I cannot even form complete and cohesive sentences anymore... just make sure you preorder this book and read it and think about it and mull on it and then revisit it. ....I know I will --- interred again and again into my perennial collection....
QUOTES:
Lillia had never given much thought to his physical appearance. Indeed, there was nothing remarkable about it--- except when he smiled. And she realized, now, when he preached. It was as if the cathedral was his natural setting, the only place where a rare, powerful illumination could blaze out from inside him. The man and his setting were equally beautiful.
They lived in two different worlds that were more often than not hostile toward each other.
I don't know if you realize how lucky you are.You're free. No man has a claim on you. No man has conquered and enslaved you mentally, physically, or spiritually. You're not free from all struggle and suffering--of course, you must feel lonely, you must have desires-- but you haven't bound yourself to a man you'll come to despise.
Men don't want to be married to stupid or vacuous women
I'm starting to become suspicious of your motives for becoming a priest. Your position is too convenient an excuse for breaking rules that ordinary people must abide by.
He sent me copies of his lessons and corrected my mistakes. I may be the only woman in Britain with an education from one of the best public boys' schools.
pre-order 10 copies for your book club here (DO IT!-- need discussion questions? heck! I'll write them for free)
[pre-order another 5 copies for all of your friends and family afterward]
Add it to your Goodreads "to read" shelf so you don't forget ( as if I would let you forget--- I won't--- I will be back in December reminding you )
and thanks thanks thanks to Pegasus and Netgalley for this ARC
October 26, 2017
I received a free e-copy of Impossible Saints by Clarissa Harwood via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Impossible Saints by Clarissa Harwood is a one of a kind book. It will stay with me and become one of the books I read over and over again. It’s not because of the romance aspect but because of Lilia, the portrayal of the suffrage movement and Paul.
There were many times I found myself laughing, smiling and pressing a hand to my chest with sadness. Both Lilia and Paul struggle throughout. It wasn’t only the struggle for the right to vote but it was in them finding themselves.
Often times when reading fiction set during the suffrage movement, you see it
romanticized. You don’t get to see how hard and how far women would go for this right. I feel like Harwood did her research and made sure the readers could feel the passion of the women, how far they would go and how the people in their lives dealt with how society saw that.
Paul, as a Canon in the church, struggles with accepting Lilia’s involvement in such militant group. But once he realizes Lilia was never meant for the restrictions society put on her and he recognized what his feelings toward her truly were, he’s supportive even if it isn’t considered respectable.
Lilia and Paul’s relationship at times made me crazy, but in the best way. They began as friends in their youth and reconnect. The development from friends, to the possibility of more and then to admitting their feelings, it was worth all the heartache and the journey they had to take.
Would I recommend this to others? Oh yes. I’m going to buy a physical copy to keep on my shelves as well.
Impossible Saints by Clarissa Harwood is a one of a kind book. It will stay with me and become one of the books I read over and over again. It’s not because of the romance aspect but because of Lilia, the portrayal of the suffrage movement and Paul.
There were many times I found myself laughing, smiling and pressing a hand to my chest with sadness. Both Lilia and Paul struggle throughout. It wasn’t only the struggle for the right to vote but it was in them finding themselves.
Often times when reading fiction set during the suffrage movement, you see it
romanticized. You don’t get to see how hard and how far women would go for this right. I feel like Harwood did her research and made sure the readers could feel the passion of the women, how far they would go and how the people in their lives dealt with how society saw that.
Paul, as a Canon in the church, struggles with accepting Lilia’s involvement in such militant group. But once he realizes Lilia was never meant for the restrictions society put on her and he recognized what his feelings toward her truly were, he’s supportive even if it isn’t considered respectable.
Lilia and Paul’s relationship at times made me crazy, but in the best way. They began as friends in their youth and reconnect. The development from friends, to the possibility of more and then to admitting their feelings, it was worth all the heartache and the journey they had to take.
Would I recommend this to others? Oh yes. I’m going to buy a physical copy to keep on my shelves as well.
December 2, 2017
*** ARC provided by the author for an honest review ***
Learn how a true suffragette balances life and love in Impossible Saints by Clarissa Harwood. Meet and fall in love with the kindness and strength of Ms. Lilia Brooke.
Lilia Brooke is the only child to the local headmaster. Her dreams and ambition have never been curtailed by her father. She was able to attend one of the best colleges that allow women, and graduated at the top of her class. As schoolmistress, she has the belief that all young girls should have the same level of education as their male counterparts, and will stop at nothing in order to make this so. After one particularly brutal confrontation with a parent, her father sends her off to England, where her journey really begins.
In England, 1907, women are not seen as equals to the men of the world. The Suffragette Movement is alive and well. This is the perfect place for Lilia. She becomes a leader in the movement, and will stop at nothing to make her thoughts and beliefs heard. There’s just one things. She has fallen in love with a local priest, who will stop at nothing to keep her safe and sound. But will love deter Lilia from her ultimate goal? Can she have love and the movement? Will Paul be happy with having Lilia in his life? Or will he give up? Will the fight ultimately come to their door?
I really liked this book. As a woman, the Suffragette movement is an important time in history for me. It allowed for women to be able to gain the ability to be free. Free of the confines of the social order that took over for so long in the world. Free to vote and to make decisions for themselves. Free to decide who they will marry, or if they will marry. Lilia is a strong and powerful person. More powerful for a woman reading this book. This was a great read. Five stars.
Learn how a true suffragette balances life and love in Impossible Saints by Clarissa Harwood. Meet and fall in love with the kindness and strength of Ms. Lilia Brooke.
Lilia Brooke is the only child to the local headmaster. Her dreams and ambition have never been curtailed by her father. She was able to attend one of the best colleges that allow women, and graduated at the top of her class. As schoolmistress, she has the belief that all young girls should have the same level of education as their male counterparts, and will stop at nothing in order to make this so. After one particularly brutal confrontation with a parent, her father sends her off to England, where her journey really begins.
In England, 1907, women are not seen as equals to the men of the world. The Suffragette Movement is alive and well. This is the perfect place for Lilia. She becomes a leader in the movement, and will stop at nothing to make her thoughts and beliefs heard. There’s just one things. She has fallen in love with a local priest, who will stop at nothing to keep her safe and sound. But will love deter Lilia from her ultimate goal? Can she have love and the movement? Will Paul be happy with having Lilia in his life? Or will he give up? Will the fight ultimately come to their door?
I really liked this book. As a woman, the Suffragette movement is an important time in history for me. It allowed for women to be able to gain the ability to be free. Free of the confines of the social order that took over for so long in the world. Free to vote and to make decisions for themselves. Free to decide who they will marry, or if they will marry. Lilia is a strong and powerful person. More powerful for a woman reading this book. This was a great read. Five stars.
June 23, 2017
Of course I love this novel - I'm her agent! If you love fierce and fiery suffragettes, complicated romances, and Grantchester on PBS/BBC, this book is for you!
November 28, 2017
There are two things I love to get from historical fiction, especially when I am thinking about whether it's a good book club book. First, does it teach me something I didn't know and make me want to learn even more? Second, does it lend itself to spirited discussion and debate? IMPOSSIBLE SAINTS nailed it for both of these considerations.
Clarissa Harwood clearly loves London of the early 20th Century, as well as the history of the suffrage movement. She weaves these historical elements through a story of a headstrong and intelligent woman bent on changing the world while falling into a relationship (with an Anglican priest) that seems contrary to all of her other life goals. After reading IMPOSSIBLE SAINTS, I feel armed with a foundational knowledge of British suffrage, and would love to dig through Harwood's sources to learn more.
As for the second consideration (good book club discussion), the headstrong Lilia and the decisions she makes are perfect for book clubs. I can't get into the specifics without spoiling things, but let's just say I expected a different outcome and would argue to the death about why (and probably get just as much in return from my book club mates). Further, the topic itself, women's fundamental rights, is ripe for discussion any time, but especially in today's political environment. I think any women's book club would have a great meeting based on this book.
Clarissa Harwood clearly loves London of the early 20th Century, as well as the history of the suffrage movement. She weaves these historical elements through a story of a headstrong and intelligent woman bent on changing the world while falling into a relationship (with an Anglican priest) that seems contrary to all of her other life goals. After reading IMPOSSIBLE SAINTS, I feel armed with a foundational knowledge of British suffrage, and would love to dig through Harwood's sources to learn more.
As for the second consideration (good book club discussion), the headstrong Lilia and the decisions she makes are perfect for book clubs. I can't get into the specifics without spoiling things, but let's just say I expected a different outcome and would argue to the death about why (and probably get just as much in return from my book club mates). Further, the topic itself, women's fundamental rights, is ripe for discussion any time, but especially in today's political environment. I think any women's book club would have a great meeting based on this book.
November 4, 2017
A wonderful debut, a solid plot, and intriguing characters. A book i would advise to people who are looking for historical fiction with something more. A bit too sedate and emphatic at times but really good on a generale level.
It surely deserves five stars.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Pegasus Books for giving me the chance to review this book.
It surely deserves five stars.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Pegasus Books for giving me the chance to review this book.
November 2, 2017
It is hard to wrap your mind around the fact that barely over a 100 years ago, women were giving up their lives for the right to vote. Women were imprisoned for fighting for the right to vote. Women were ostracized for wanting the right to vote.
Impossible Saints reminds us of all these facts and more. I definitely recommend adding it to your to read lists.
Lilia Brooke is a protagonist you root for as she leaves a small town in England to fight for the right to vote. You see a relationship where she must choose doing what feels right for HER or fighting for ALL. You see her other relationships/friendships and how some want her to fit into what THEY think a woman should do. We all need to give thanks to the real women who fought for us!
This is one of those books you think please make a limited run series (hint HBO) because too much to cover in a 2 hour movie but soo much to learn and realize.
Thanks Netgalley for the chance to read this book!!
Impossible Saints reminds us of all these facts and more. I definitely recommend adding it to your to read lists.
Lilia Brooke is a protagonist you root for as she leaves a small town in England to fight for the right to vote. You see a relationship where she must choose doing what feels right for HER or fighting for ALL. You see her other relationships/friendships and how some want her to fit into what THEY think a woman should do. We all need to give thanks to the real women who fought for us!
This is one of those books you think please make a limited run series (hint HBO) because too much to cover in a 2 hour movie but soo much to learn and realize.
Thanks Netgalley for the chance to read this book!!
December 18, 2017
Temptation takes many forms and IMPOSSIBLE SAINTS by Clarissa Harwood explores the theme of temptation in different ways. Paul, an ambitious clergyman, has fallen in love with Lilia, a temptation that causes him to question the things he thought were important. Lilia aspires to be like her hero, Joan of Arc: strong, passionate and independent. Though she is undeniably attracted to Paul, she believes she cannot give into the temptation of love and also be who she wants to be. Harwood’s feminist slant on the trope gives readers much to consider.
If Paul loves Lilia, he can hardly begin by trying to make her other than who she is. Lilia’s struggle will resonate with women today because yearning for love, family and belonging is still seen as weakness. That yearning, that temptation, was then and is even now in opposition to ambition and success for women in a way that it is not for men. IMPOSSIBLE SAINTS is an intriguing journey into the history of the feminist movement examining not only how far we’ve come, but also the things that have NOT changed over the course of a century. This important story connects the present feminist movement with the foundations on which it began.
If Paul loves Lilia, he can hardly begin by trying to make her other than who she is. Lilia’s struggle will resonate with women today because yearning for love, family and belonging is still seen as weakness. That yearning, that temptation, was then and is even now in opposition to ambition and success for women in a way that it is not for men. IMPOSSIBLE SAINTS is an intriguing journey into the history of the feminist movement examining not only how far we’ve come, but also the things that have NOT changed over the course of a century. This important story connects the present feminist movement with the foundations on which it began.
October 22, 2022
Интуитивно избрах тази книга, и се оказа много сполучливо попадение. Страхотен роман!
Сюжетът се развива в Англия в самото начало на 20в, когато на правата на жените като цяло, камо ли пък на тяхното право на глас, правото на образование, правото да разполагат с тялото си, както сметнат за добре, и да се развиват извън пределите на кухнята, се е гледало с насмешка.
От едната страна на историята стои дръзка учителка, която се бори за мястото на жените в един мъжки свят, а от другата страна е един млад свещеник, който вярва, че жената е крехко създание, което има нужда от закрила и трябва да бъде обгрижвано. За него ролята на жената е да бъде пазителка на дома, вдъхновение за мъжа и възпитателка на децата, а за нея- жената трябва да има право и възможност сама да гради бъдещето си.
За него- религията е стабилна основа, която дава смисъла на живота, за нея- нещо, което ограничава човешкото съзнание.
Пътищата на двамата се преплитат, естествено. Съдбата много обича да си прави шегички и да изправя най- ревностните поддръжници на дадена идея пред изпитания. И така двамата се оказват във вихрушка от емоции, която може да разруши техните предубеждения и да им даде различна перспектива.
Че има романтична нотка в книгата- има, но тя няма нищо общо със сладникавите любовни чиклити. Чувствеността тук е толкова балансирана и сдържана, че изобщо няма и помен от натрапчивост. Като сложим в допълнение богатата атмосфера, автентичната историческата обстановка, и колоритните персонажи, книгата се превръща в едно истински очарователно четиво.
Авторката има още две публикувани книги, които ще прочета обезателно след тази.
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“Why is it that men’s courage is called bravery but women’s courage is called recklessness—or, even worse, foolishness? “
Сюжетът се развива в Англия в самото начало на 20в, когато на правата на жените като цяло, камо ли пък на тяхното право на глас, правото на образование, правото да разполагат с тялото си, както сметнат за добре, и да се развиват извън пределите на кухнята, се е гледало с насмешка.
От едната страна на историята стои дръзка учителка, която се бори за мястото на жените в един мъжки свят, а от другата страна е един млад свещеник, който вярва, че жената е крехко създание, което има нужда от закрила и трябва да бъде обгрижвано. За него ролята на жената е да бъде пазителка на дома, вдъхновение за мъжа и възпитателка на децата, а за нея- жената трябва да има право и възможност сама да гради бъдещето си.
За него- религията е стабилна основа, която дава смисъла на живота, за нея- нещо, което ограничава човешкото съзнание.
Пътищата на двамата се преплитат, естествено. Съдбата много обича да си прави шегички и да изправя най- ревностните поддръжници на дадена идея пред изпитания. И така двамата се оказват във вихрушка от емоции, която може да разруши техните предубеждения и да им даде различна перспектива.
Че има романтична нотка в книгата- има, но тя няма нищо общо със сладникавите любовни чиклити. Чувствеността тук е толкова балансирана и сдържана, че изобщо няма и помен от натрапчивост. Като сложим в допълнение богатата атмосфера, автентичната историческата обстановка, и колоритните персонажи, книгата се превръща в едно истински очарователно четиво.
Авторката има още две публикувани книги, които ще прочета обезателно след тази.
====
“Why is it that men’s courage is called bravery but women’s courage is called recklessness—or, even worse, foolishness? “
January 31, 2018
I made it through a whole two chapters before giving up. The writing is so bad that I wanted to stop after the first chapter, but I was entertained enough to keep going. I kept reading lines out loud to my son and we laughed hysterically. I felt like I was reading a first manuscript. It's just bad writing that should have made an editor cringe. I also didn't believe the descriptions belonged to 1907. The whole tone of the book (well, the first two chapters, anyway) was also inconsistent, which made me think the writer doesn't really understand how people spoke and interacted a hundred years ago.
Women's suffrage is an important topic but if I want to know more about it, I'll read historical accounts instead of trying to slog through a badly-written novel.
Women's suffrage is an important topic but if I want to know more about it, I'll read historical accounts instead of trying to slog through a badly-written novel.
November 30, 2017
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Okay, jeez, finally reviewing this.
Bored and unsatisfied with her life as a schoolmistress, Lilia exchanges the tedious doldrums of her rural village existence for one of drama and danger with the suffrage movement in London. Advocating not only for the women's vote, but for the highly controversial issue of contraception, Lilia is thrust into the center of a charged, often violent, circle. A priest in the Anglican church, Paul aspires to a position as dean with the St. John's Cathedral. Opposites in their religious beliefs and political involvement, childhood friends Lilia and Paul are nonetheless drawn to each other's intellect and passion. But reconnecting brings an unexpected disarray to both of their lives, particularly when a public association with a militant suffragette could mar Paul's reputation and ruin his chances of rising within the church. But his interest in keeping Lilia from harm's way, and Lilia's own irresistible draw to her close friend, despite her vehemence in resisting traditional marriage, will force the pair to confront their own stubborn beliefs and convictions while making impossible choices about their love for each other.
Impossible Saints is a unique read elaborating on a period of British history that is not typically seen in historical fiction. Harwood uses an unexpected romance to lighten the sober subject matter of this narrative, but in no way did I find it to detract from the significance of a story steeped in dark history. However, readers looking for an exclusively informative historical novel may find the flirting and courting to be distracting. While a majority of the novel flows seamlessly, the midpoint of Impossible Saints lags, with a surplus of romantic back and forth that grows tedious. But while my interest flagged during this portion of the story, my dedication to these characters and their unique stories kept me invested. Alternately verdant and harrowing, Harwood establishes a balance between narrating the heroism of fearless female trailblazers and the uncertainties of a developing love. Lilia is a stalwart and inspired character and a noble tribute to the women in history she represents. Impossible Saints is a testament to the power of fiction in its ability to transport, transform, and inspire a reader. A must read for those interested in women's suffrage and the provocative relationship between faith and feminism.
_______________________________________
This is a unique book and was a really special read for me. Working on a review.
Okay, jeez, finally reviewing this.
Bored and unsatisfied with her life as a schoolmistress, Lilia exchanges the tedious doldrums of her rural village existence for one of drama and danger with the suffrage movement in London. Advocating not only for the women's vote, but for the highly controversial issue of contraception, Lilia is thrust into the center of a charged, often violent, circle. A priest in the Anglican church, Paul aspires to a position as dean with the St. John's Cathedral. Opposites in their religious beliefs and political involvement, childhood friends Lilia and Paul are nonetheless drawn to each other's intellect and passion. But reconnecting brings an unexpected disarray to both of their lives, particularly when a public association with a militant suffragette could mar Paul's reputation and ruin his chances of rising within the church. But his interest in keeping Lilia from harm's way, and Lilia's own irresistible draw to her close friend, despite her vehemence in resisting traditional marriage, will force the pair to confront their own stubborn beliefs and convictions while making impossible choices about their love for each other.
Impossible Saints is a unique read elaborating on a period of British history that is not typically seen in historical fiction. Harwood uses an unexpected romance to lighten the sober subject matter of this narrative, but in no way did I find it to detract from the significance of a story steeped in dark history. However, readers looking for an exclusively informative historical novel may find the flirting and courting to be distracting. While a majority of the novel flows seamlessly, the midpoint of Impossible Saints lags, with a surplus of romantic back and forth that grows tedious. But while my interest flagged during this portion of the story, my dedication to these characters and their unique stories kept me invested. Alternately verdant and harrowing, Harwood establishes a balance between narrating the heroism of fearless female trailblazers and the uncertainties of a developing love. Lilia is a stalwart and inspired character and a noble tribute to the women in history she represents. Impossible Saints is a testament to the power of fiction in its ability to transport, transform, and inspire a reader. A must read for those interested in women's suffrage and the provocative relationship between faith and feminism.
_______________________________________
This is a unique book and was a really special read for me. Working on a review.
May 25, 2018
It is hard to believe that this novel is a debut. The author, Clarissa Harwood, certainly writes like someone who has not only done years of homework, but one who writes for a living. I did see on the back cover that she holds a PhD in English Lit with a focus on Brit Lit, and so it would only stand to reason that the novel would be thick with interesting facts. The good thing is that she knows how to take those facts and wrap them up within a wonderful tale, instead of hitting us over the head with them, as many historical authors do. Every time I picked up the book to read a few chapters, I felt as though I'd stepped into a time machine and been deposited next to the characters on the English streets where they reside.
Impossible Saints, which takes place during the early 1900s, is only a fraction of time in an era of suffragettes and their advocacy for women's rights. And yet Harwood somehow manages to saturate such a short amount of time with every nuance of the era. She engages the reader with her insights of religion (not everyone is a believer of god), sex (yes, our great grandmothers enjoyed it, too), and the everyday conversations between early 20th century men and women.
In this book, the fight for freedom goes way beyond what our high school and college history classes taught us. Without spoiling the story, Lilia, the novel's independent and intelligent protagonist, paves the way for all kinds of freedoms, not just voting rights. She ends up in predicaments that we worry she may not overcome, and she falls in love with a man who at first glance is her opposite, but may turn out to be just what she needs.
If you are looking for a story with cliffhangers at the end of every chapter, and page-turning tension, this is not for you. Impossible Saints is a slow and methodical story, with characters doing their best to deal with a world that does not support their feelings, and most times, their decisions. Allow the characters to move you through their world, day by day, piece by piece. Sometimes books are meant to be tasted slowly, instead of gulped down without care. This is one of those books.
My only note is that there is an intense scene which comes later in the book regarding what prison was like for those women who were arrested for their loyalty to independence, and I wish I'd seen more of it sooner, and perhaps with even more detail. But that's just me. Other than that, this is a near-perfect book both in description of the era and ideals of another time. A time in which women had to fight for everything they had, and for everything they wanted for their futures and the futures of other women.
What amazed me most as I read Impossible Saints is the fact that so much of this story is relevant today. In a way, it is a testament to how little people's ideas have really changed, even after so many years.
Impossible Saints, which takes place during the early 1900s, is only a fraction of time in an era of suffragettes and their advocacy for women's rights. And yet Harwood somehow manages to saturate such a short amount of time with every nuance of the era. She engages the reader with her insights of religion (not everyone is a believer of god), sex (yes, our great grandmothers enjoyed it, too), and the everyday conversations between early 20th century men and women.
In this book, the fight for freedom goes way beyond what our high school and college history classes taught us. Without spoiling the story, Lilia, the novel's independent and intelligent protagonist, paves the way for all kinds of freedoms, not just voting rights. She ends up in predicaments that we worry she may not overcome, and she falls in love with a man who at first glance is her opposite, but may turn out to be just what she needs.
If you are looking for a story with cliffhangers at the end of every chapter, and page-turning tension, this is not for you. Impossible Saints is a slow and methodical story, with characters doing their best to deal with a world that does not support their feelings, and most times, their decisions. Allow the characters to move you through their world, day by day, piece by piece. Sometimes books are meant to be tasted slowly, instead of gulped down without care. This is one of those books.
My only note is that there is an intense scene which comes later in the book regarding what prison was like for those women who were arrested for their loyalty to independence, and I wish I'd seen more of it sooner, and perhaps with even more detail. But that's just me. Other than that, this is a near-perfect book both in description of the era and ideals of another time. A time in which women had to fight for everything they had, and for everything they wanted for their futures and the futures of other women.
What amazed me most as I read Impossible Saints is the fact that so much of this story is relevant today. In a way, it is a testament to how little people's ideas have really changed, even after so many years.
March 3, 2019
The wonderful Rachel McMillan recommended this book to me and I'm so glad she did. Set in the Edwardian era, it features a fearless suffragette--Lilia--and a caring Anglican priest--Paul. The romance is thoughtful and lovely, with Lilia and Paul struggling to reconcile their feelings, faith, and political pursuits. The history is also quite fascinating, though sometimes harrowing. Reading what some of the women suffered in pursuit of the vote makes me all the more appreciative of the rights women have today. I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys women's history and poignant, thoughtful romance.
February 12, 2018
Rated 4.5 - IMPOSSIBLE SAINTS by Clarissa Harwood fascinated me with its unusual subject matter for a historical romance. It’s uncharacteristic, as well as depicts strong women who fought for their rights in the early 1900s. This “new” woman was sexually aware, smoked, and went to jail for what she believed in. These were the women who fought for our equality in a time when no one believed they could win. But they did.
Lilia Brooke taught at her father’s school until her attitude unbecoming to a village teacher forced her to move to London to teach at her friend’s girls’ school. She reconnects with her childhood friend and intellectual peer, Paul Harris, a clergyman at St. John’s Cathedral. Their on-again, off-again friendship is exasperating for both. Lilia isn’t religious and has no patience for the rules of the church, whereas Paul is a canon and striving to become dean. His faith is everything to him.
Lilia and Paul are interesting characters. Lilia’s involvement with the women’s suffrage movement fascinates Paul who is tied to his church. They rarely see eye-to-eye, but that’s what makes their relationship interesting. I couldn’t help but wonder if they’d become romantically involved, then I’d have my doubts, then I’d wonder again. Will their convictions suffer for it? Paul eventually realizes he has deeper feelings than he imagined for Lilia. She shuts him out after a tragedy. Will they ever come to terms with their feelings?
I didn’t like Lilia at first. She is so committed to her cause that she comes off as lacking emotion. But Lilia’s empathy grows as the story progresses. She becomes less militant and more understanding. Lilia is selfish, and her redemption follows tragedy. Paul was broken and confused. He floundered, and I wondered how he’d pull it together. Then we’re introduced to Will, who is quite a character. I couldn’t stop picturing Will as Johnny Depp when he played Sam in Benny and Joon. He’s eccentric and adds a thorn in Paul’s side while confusing Lilia.
Quite an adventure, IMPOSSIBLE SAINTS can be graphic. The forced feedings in jail were horrifying, but it was necessary to show how committed these women were to their cause. And what horrific things men did to hold them back during the British suffrage movement. I was surprised at how violent the women got to draw attention, but it worked.
The author’s note at the end explains how she addressed the timeline to suit the story. I was super curious about the Church of England and Paul’s role in it, but my questions weren’t answered. Some things are assumed, so if you’re not familiar with religion during this historical time, you’ll be like me and off on a research tangent. It’s hard to believe that the privilege earned was women’s right to vote, and it wasn’t that long ago. Women’s suffrage says it all.
Thought provoking and deeply moving, IMPOSSIBLE SAINTS is an exquisite addition to the historical romance genre. I loved the setting, the suspense, and the satisfying ending. And that cover! It’s what drew me to this new-to-me author in the first place. Great debut!
Review by Dorine, courtesy of The Zest Quest. Advanced digital copy provided by the publisher for an honest review.
Lilia Brooke taught at her father’s school until her attitude unbecoming to a village teacher forced her to move to London to teach at her friend’s girls’ school. She reconnects with her childhood friend and intellectual peer, Paul Harris, a clergyman at St. John’s Cathedral. Their on-again, off-again friendship is exasperating for both. Lilia isn’t religious and has no patience for the rules of the church, whereas Paul is a canon and striving to become dean. His faith is everything to him.
Lilia and Paul are interesting characters. Lilia’s involvement with the women’s suffrage movement fascinates Paul who is tied to his church. They rarely see eye-to-eye, but that’s what makes their relationship interesting. I couldn’t help but wonder if they’d become romantically involved, then I’d have my doubts, then I’d wonder again. Will their convictions suffer for it? Paul eventually realizes he has deeper feelings than he imagined for Lilia. She shuts him out after a tragedy. Will they ever come to terms with their feelings?
I didn’t like Lilia at first. She is so committed to her cause that she comes off as lacking emotion. But Lilia’s empathy grows as the story progresses. She becomes less militant and more understanding. Lilia is selfish, and her redemption follows tragedy. Paul was broken and confused. He floundered, and I wondered how he’d pull it together. Then we’re introduced to Will, who is quite a character. I couldn’t stop picturing Will as Johnny Depp when he played Sam in Benny and Joon. He’s eccentric and adds a thorn in Paul’s side while confusing Lilia.
Quite an adventure, IMPOSSIBLE SAINTS can be graphic. The forced feedings in jail were horrifying, but it was necessary to show how committed these women were to their cause. And what horrific things men did to hold them back during the British suffrage movement. I was surprised at how violent the women got to draw attention, but it worked.
The author’s note at the end explains how she addressed the timeline to suit the story. I was super curious about the Church of England and Paul’s role in it, but my questions weren’t answered. Some things are assumed, so if you’re not familiar with religion during this historical time, you’ll be like me and off on a research tangent. It’s hard to believe that the privilege earned was women’s right to vote, and it wasn’t that long ago. Women’s suffrage says it all.
Thought provoking and deeply moving, IMPOSSIBLE SAINTS is an exquisite addition to the historical romance genre. I loved the setting, the suspense, and the satisfying ending. And that cover! It’s what drew me to this new-to-me author in the first place. Great debut!
Review by Dorine, courtesy of The Zest Quest. Advanced digital copy provided by the publisher for an honest review.
January 26, 2018
I. COULD. NOT. PUT. THIS. BOOK. DOWN.
I’m a big fan of historical fiction, and only a moderate fan of romance, but Harwood’s story pulled me on both fronts, and fast. I was actually surprised at myself because I became so invested in the two main characters—Lilia and Paul—admitting that they were madly in love with each other and finally getting together. However, what I REALLY loved was that Lilia and Paul’s “happily-ever-after” did not play out in any sort of traditional way. Harwood managed to make me all swoony over their love story, while still keeping intact the realities of building a partnership with another person.
Me falling in love with the love story was the first big surprise. The second was the incredible amount I learned about the women’s suffrage movement in Great Britain in the years leading up to World War I. My God, these women went to hell and back to get the vote. I was enthralled as I read about the characters carrying out (sometimes extreme) militant activities, going to jail, going on hunger strikes, being beaten and abused, and then diving right back into the fray to fight for women’s rights. It was extremely sobering to learn what women in the past have gone through so that future generations could have the freedoms we take for granted today.
Impossible Saints is going on my “love stories for feminists” list, as well as my “outstanding five-star historical fiction list.” I will also definitely be giving this book as a gift to the strong women who have made a difference in my life this year.
I’m a big fan of historical fiction, and only a moderate fan of romance, but Harwood’s story pulled me on both fronts, and fast. I was actually surprised at myself because I became so invested in the two main characters—Lilia and Paul—admitting that they were madly in love with each other and finally getting together. However, what I REALLY loved was that Lilia and Paul’s “happily-ever-after” did not play out in any sort of traditional way. Harwood managed to make me all swoony over their love story, while still keeping intact the realities of building a partnership with another person.
Me falling in love with the love story was the first big surprise. The second was the incredible amount I learned about the women’s suffrage movement in Great Britain in the years leading up to World War I. My God, these women went to hell and back to get the vote. I was enthralled as I read about the characters carrying out (sometimes extreme) militant activities, going to jail, going on hunger strikes, being beaten and abused, and then diving right back into the fray to fight for women’s rights. It was extremely sobering to learn what women in the past have gone through so that future generations could have the freedoms we take for granted today.
Impossible Saints is going on my “love stories for feminists” list, as well as my “outstanding five-star historical fiction list.” I will also definitely be giving this book as a gift to the strong women who have made a difference in my life this year.
April 16, 2018
Nowadays the issue of women's rights has become again important, which makes us look in the past in the history of the movements that allowed women today to have more choices and more rights. One of the best results of this trend is the amazing British film Suffragette, which portrays in a very nice way the movement for women's right to vote in early 19th century Britain. Part of this trend is also this book, from the newcomer Clarissa Harwood.
In the book we are following Lilia, a dynamic young woman whose independence of mind creates her troubles. Fatefuly her character drives her away from the small town she was born in to the bustling London where she is involved in the movement that was fighting for the right of womento vote. She is quickly evolving into the movement and ends up holding a high position in Emmeline Pankhurst's more militant organization. The political struggle, however, is not the only thing that concerns her, somewhere in the background there is love that, as we know, always tends to complicate things. The object of her desire is Paul, an ambitious young man who seeks to ascend the hierarchy of the Anglican church. As you can understand, there could be more dissimilar love at that time. Our heroes, however, are in love and are ready to make compromises, a thing that of course it is not easy at all. This is a matter of concern for them but also for the reader, of course. How many concessions from your principles can you do for the sake of love? Can you surrender everything? If you do, will you still be the man that was loved so?
These are, of course, part of the value of the book, the main axis is the struggle of women. Through its pages we see their struggle evolving, we understand the causes that led to more radical actions and above all understand how strong was the edifice of male dominance and how much for granted were the views on the subordinate position of women. All these, the writer puts them it in a way that reveals the truth without, however, resorting to easy complacency or excessive sentiment. This of course does not mean that her writing is dry, without any kind of literary beauty, beauty exists - especially in the descriptions of the most humane moments but also in the love part of history where the writing is particularly tender - simply there is in a moderate way that reminiscent of the classical moments of classical English literature that the author declares she loves.
For all that I said I've got to the conclusion that this is an excellent book that one hand fulfils the main purpose of a historical novel which is to make us live closely one historical period and urge us to learn more about this, on the other hand narrates a moving story that puts the reader in thoughts. Perhaps it could have more tension, especially where it describes the attempt to suppress the movement, but that personally did not bother me especially, at least not so much as to influence my excellent impressions. That's why I put this rate and I hope more will read this book and the continuation of the author's career will be just as good.
Στις μέρες μας το θέμα των δικαιωμάτων των γυναικών έχει επιστρέψει στην επικαιρότητα, κάτι που μας κάνει να κοιτάμε και στο παρελθόν, στην ιστορία των κινημάτων που επέτρεψαν στις γυναίκες σήμερα να έχουν περισσότερες επιλογές και περισσότερα δικαιούμαι. Ένα από τα καλύτερα αποτελέσματα αυτής της τάσης είναι και η καταπληκτική Βρετανική ταινία Suffragette που απεικονίζει με πολύ ωραίο τρόπο την πορεία του κινήματος για το δικαίωμα των γυναικών στην ψήφο στη Βρετανία των αρχών του 19ου αιώνα. Μέρος αυτής της τάσης είναι και αυτό εδώ το βιβλίο, από την πρωτοεμφανιζόμενη Clarissa Harwood.
Στο βιβλίο παρακολουθούμε την Lilia, μία δυναμική νεαρή γυναίκα που η ανεξαρτησία του πνεύματος της της δημιουργεί μπελάδες. Μοιραία ο χαρακτήρας της την οδηγεί μακριά από τη μικρή πόλη που γεννήθηκε, στο πολύβουο Λονδίνο, όπου εμπλέκεται στο κίνημα που διεκδικεί το δικαίωμα ψήφου για τις γυναίκες. Πολύ γρήγορα εξελίσσεται μέσα στο κίνημα και καταλήγει να κατέχει υψηλή θέση στη μαχητική οργάνωση της ίδιας της Emmeline Pankhurst. Ο πολιτικός αγώνας, όμως, δεν είναι το μόνο πράγμα που την απασχολεί, κάπου στο βάθος υπάρχει και ο έρωτας που ως γνωστόν πάντα έχει την τάση να περιπλέκει τα πράγματα. Το αντικείμενο του πόθου της είναι ο Paul, ένας φιλόδοξος νεαρός που επιδιώκει να ανέβει στην ιεραρχία της αγγλικανικής εκκλησίας. Όπως καταλαβαίνετε δύσκολα θα μπορούσε να υπάρξει πιο αταίριαστος έρωτας εκείνη την εποχή. Οι ήρωες μας, όμως, αγαπιούνται και είναι έτοι��οι να κάνουν υποχωρήσεις, κάτι μου φυσικά δεν είναι καθόλου εύκολο. Αυτό τους προβληματίζει και προβληματίζει φυσικά και εμάς τους αναγνώστες. Πόσες υποχωρήσεις από τις αρχές σου μπορείς να κάνεις άραγε για χάρη του έρωτα; Μπορείς να τα παρατήσεις όλα; Αν το κάνεις θα εξακολουθείς να είσαι ο άνθρωπος που αγαπήθηκε τόσο;
Αυτά βέβαια είναι ένα μέρος της αξίας του βιβλίου, ο βασικός άξονας, όμως, είναι ο αγώνας των γυναικών. Μέσα από τις σελίδες του βλέπουμε τον αγώνα να εξελίσσεται, καταλαβαίνουμε τις αιτίες που οδήγησαν σε πιο ριζοσπαστικές δράσεις και πάνω από όλα κατανοούμε το πόσο γερό ήταν το οικοδόμημα της ανδρικής κυριαρχίας και πόσο δεδομένες ήταν οι απόψεις για την κατώτερη θέση των γυναικών. Όλα αυτά η συγγραφέας τα βάζει με έναν τρόπο που αποκαλύπτει την αλήθεια, χωρίς, όμως, να καταφεύγει στον εύκολο καταγγελτικό λόγο ή στον υπερβολικό συναισθηματισμό. Αυτό φυσικά δεν σημαίνει ότι η γραφή της είναι ξερή, χωρίς κάποιου είδους λογοτεχνική ομορφιά, η ομορφιά υπάρχει - ειδικά στις περιγραφές των πιο ανθρώπινων στιγμών αλλά και στο ερωτικό κομμάτι της ιστορίας όπου η γραφή γίνεται ιδιαίτερα τρυφερή -, απλά υπάρχει με έναν τρόπο συγκρατημένο που θυμίζει τις κλασικές στιγμές της κλασικής Αγγλικής λογοτεχνίας που η συγγραφέας δηλώνει ότι λατρεύει.
Για όλα αυτά που σας προανέφερα έφτασα στο συμπέρασμα ότι πρόκειται για ένα εξαιρετικό βιβλίο που από τη μία εκπληρώνει τον βασικό σκοπό ενός ιστορικού μυθιστορήματος πού είναι να μας κάνεις να ζήσουμε από κοντά μία ιστορική περίοδο και να μας προτρέψει να μάθουμε περισσότερα για αυτήν, από την άλλη αφηγείται μία συγκινητική ιστορία που βάζει τον αναγνώστη σε συλλογισμούς. Ίσως θα μπορούσε να έχει περισσότερη ένταση, ειδικά εκεί που περιγράφει την προσπάθεια καταστολής του κινήματος, αυτό, όμως, προσωπικά δεν με ενόχλησε και ιδιαίτερα, τουλάχιστον όχι τόσο που να επηρεάσει τις άριστες εντυπώσεις μου. Για αυτό βάζω αυτή τη βαθμολογία και ελπίζω να διαβάσουν περισσότεροι αυτό το βιβλίο και η συνέχεια της πορείας της συγγραφέως να είναι εξίσου καλή.
In the book we are following Lilia, a dynamic young woman whose independence of mind creates her troubles. Fatefuly her character drives her away from the small town she was born in to the bustling London where she is involved in the movement that was fighting for the right of womento vote. She is quickly evolving into the movement and ends up holding a high position in Emmeline Pankhurst's more militant organization. The political struggle, however, is not the only thing that concerns her, somewhere in the background there is love that, as we know, always tends to complicate things. The object of her desire is Paul, an ambitious young man who seeks to ascend the hierarchy of the Anglican church. As you can understand, there could be more dissimilar love at that time. Our heroes, however, are in love and are ready to make compromises, a thing that of course it is not easy at all. This is a matter of concern for them but also for the reader, of course. How many concessions from your principles can you do for the sake of love? Can you surrender everything? If you do, will you still be the man that was loved so?
These are, of course, part of the value of the book, the main axis is the struggle of women. Through its pages we see their struggle evolving, we understand the causes that led to more radical actions and above all understand how strong was the edifice of male dominance and how much for granted were the views on the subordinate position of women. All these, the writer puts them it in a way that reveals the truth without, however, resorting to easy complacency or excessive sentiment. This of course does not mean that her writing is dry, without any kind of literary beauty, beauty exists - especially in the descriptions of the most humane moments but also in the love part of history where the writing is particularly tender - simply there is in a moderate way that reminiscent of the classical moments of classical English literature that the author declares she loves.
For all that I said I've got to the conclusion that this is an excellent book that one hand fulfils the main purpose of a historical novel which is to make us live closely one historical period and urge us to learn more about this, on the other hand narrates a moving story that puts the reader in thoughts. Perhaps it could have more tension, especially where it describes the attempt to suppress the movement, but that personally did not bother me especially, at least not so much as to influence my excellent impressions. That's why I put this rate and I hope more will read this book and the continuation of the author's career will be just as good.
Στις μέρες μας το θέμα των δικαιωμάτων των γυναικών έχει επιστρέψει στην επικαιρότητα, κάτι που μας κάνει να κοιτάμε και στο παρελθόν, στην ιστορία των κινημάτων που επέτρεψαν στις γυναίκες σήμερα να έχουν περισσότερες επιλογές και περισσότερα δικαιούμαι. Ένα από τα καλύτερα αποτελέσματα αυτής της τάσης είναι και η καταπληκτική Βρετανική ταινία Suffragette που απεικονίζει με πολύ ωραίο τρόπο την πορεία του κινήματος για το δικαίωμα των γυναικών στην ψήφο στη Βρετανία των αρχών του 19ου αιώνα. Μέρος αυτής της τάσης είναι και αυτό εδώ το βιβλίο, από την πρωτοεμφανιζόμενη Clarissa Harwood.
Στο βιβλίο παρακολουθούμε την Lilia, μία δυναμική νεαρή γυναίκα που η ανεξαρτησία του πνεύματος της της δημιουργεί μπελάδες. Μοιραία ο χαρακτήρας της την οδηγεί μακριά από τη μικρή πόλη που γεννήθηκε, στο πολύβουο Λονδίνο, όπου εμπλέκεται στο κίνημα που διεκδικεί το δικαίωμα ψήφου για τις γυναίκες. Πολύ γρήγορα εξελίσσεται μέσα στο κίνημα και καταλήγει να κατέχει υψηλή θέση στη μαχητική οργάνωση της ίδιας της Emmeline Pankhurst. Ο πολιτικός αγώνας, όμως, δεν είναι το μόνο πράγμα που την απασχολεί, κάπου στο βάθος υπάρχει και ο έρωτας που ως γνωστόν πάντα έχει την τάση να περιπλέκει τα πράγματα. Το αντικείμενο του πόθου της είναι ο Paul, ένας φιλόδοξος νεαρός που επιδιώκει να ανέβει στην ιεραρχία της αγγλικανικής εκκλησίας. Όπως καταλαβαίνετε δύσκολα θα μπορούσε να υπάρξει πιο αταίριαστος έρωτας εκείνη την εποχή. Οι ήρωες μας, όμως, αγαπιούνται και είναι έτοι��οι να κάνουν υποχωρήσεις, κάτι μου φυσικά δεν είναι καθόλου εύκολο. Αυτό τους προβληματίζει και προβληματίζει φυσικά και εμάς τους αναγνώστες. Πόσες υποχωρήσεις από τις αρχές σου μπορείς να κάνεις άραγε για χάρη του έρωτα; Μπορείς να τα παρατήσεις όλα; Αν το κάνεις θα εξακολουθείς να είσαι ο άνθρωπος που αγαπήθηκε τόσο;
Αυτά βέβαια είναι ένα μέρος της αξίας του βιβλίου, ο βασικός άξονας, όμως, είναι ο αγώνας των γυναικών. Μέσα από τις σελίδες του βλέπουμε τον αγώνα να εξελίσσεται, καταλαβαίνουμε τις αιτίες που οδήγησαν σε πιο ριζοσπαστικές δράσεις και πάνω από όλα κατανοούμε το πόσο γερό ήταν το οικοδόμημα της ανδρικής κυριαρχίας και πόσο δεδομένες ήταν οι απόψεις για την κατώτερη θέση των γυναικών. Όλα αυτά η συγγραφέας τα βάζει με έναν τρόπο που αποκαλύπτει την αλήθεια, χωρίς, όμως, να καταφεύγει στον εύκολο καταγγελτικό λόγο ή στον υπερβολικό συναισθηματισμό. Αυτό φυσικά δεν σημαίνει ότι η γραφή της είναι ξερή, χωρίς κάποιου είδους λογοτεχνική ομορφιά, η ομορφιά υπάρχει - ειδικά στις περιγραφές των πιο ανθρώπινων στιγμών αλλά και στο ερωτικό κομμάτι της ιστορίας όπου η γραφή γίνεται ιδιαίτερα τρυφερή -, απλά υπάρχει με έναν τρόπο συγκρατημένο που θυμίζει τις κλασικές στιγμές της κλασικής Αγγλικής λογοτεχνίας που η συγγραφέας δηλώνει ότι λατρεύει.
Για όλα αυτά που σας προανέφερα έφτασα στο συμπέρασμα ότι πρόκειται για ένα εξαιρετικό βιβλίο που από τη μία εκπληρώνει τον βασικό σκοπό ενός ιστορικού μυθιστορήματος πού είναι να μας κάνεις να ζήσουμε από κοντά μία ιστορική περίοδο και να μας προτρέψει να μάθουμε περισσότερα για αυτήν, από την άλλη αφηγείται μία συγκινητική ιστορία που βάζει τον αναγνώστη σε συλλογισμούς. Ίσως θα μπορούσε να έχει περισσότερη ένταση, ειδικά εκεί που περιγράφει την προσπάθεια καταστολής του κινήματος, αυτό, όμως, προσωπικά δεν με ενόχλησε και ιδιαίτερα, τουλάχιστον όχι τόσο που να επηρεάσει τις άριστες εντυπώσεις μου. Για αυτό βάζω αυτή τη βαθμολογία και ελπίζω να διαβάσουν περισσότεροι αυτό το βιβλίο και η συνέχεια της πορείας της συγγραφέως να είναι εξίσου καλή.
January 26, 2018
When authors I love endorse or excessively talk about stories they love, I try to pay attention — even if a story is outside my “normal” reading scope (i.e. new authors, small publishers, different genres). When author Rachel McMillan gushed over Impossible Saints by Clarissa Harwood, a general market historical romance, I knew I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. And, I really liked it!
Impossible Saints is a flowing, layered general fiction title with subtle Christian overtones, exploring themes of conviction, purpose, and challenges to preconceptions or societal norms. Its two characteristics that stand out the most are its depiction of an era both tumultuous and expectation-laden, a relevant parallel with today in some ways; and its endearing characters, with even the secondary characters taking on vibrant tones. Rachel McMillan was right in referencing both Grantchester (ITV) and the film Suffragette(2015) in her review. This book has similarities with both “visual” depictions, but its storyline is distinctly its own. I would say it is like Grantchester without the moral ambiguity or mystery meets Suffragette with all the wit and verbal banter of the classic Hollywood era.
Oh, the romance! What starts as believable camaraderie between reunited childhood friends grows into an authentic friendship with sparks of attraction. Before long, Paul and Lilia must face what their relationship must look like in the face of the women’s movement, church and societal expectations, and personal motives as it morphs into a romantic dynamic. The push-pull of their relationship really represents the importance of broadening perspective — that being inclusive and choosing to care for someone doesn’t mean you must compromise your identity or convictions.
For my blog readers who typically stick to clean inspirational fiction titles, I do want to mention a few things about this novel’s content. It is a *little* more candid and sensual when it comes to the romance verbiage, it depicts tobacco use, and has a few very mild expletives.
Impossible Saints is equally candid, and refreshingly so, when tackling issues such as women’s roles or the contrasts between ritual in the church vs. faith in action. I would have liked Lilia’s growth in receptiveness to Paul’s faith to have been a little more by story’s end, though I think the door is left open to her for deeper faith after “the end”. But maybe that’s my personal convictions shining through in my perception of her character. Overall, I thought it an authentic portrayal of the era and a beautiful story of romance.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ebook review copy. This is my honest review.
Impossible Saints is a flowing, layered general fiction title with subtle Christian overtones, exploring themes of conviction, purpose, and challenges to preconceptions or societal norms. Its two characteristics that stand out the most are its depiction of an era both tumultuous and expectation-laden, a relevant parallel with today in some ways; and its endearing characters, with even the secondary characters taking on vibrant tones. Rachel McMillan was right in referencing both Grantchester (ITV) and the film Suffragette(2015) in her review. This book has similarities with both “visual” depictions, but its storyline is distinctly its own. I would say it is like Grantchester without the moral ambiguity or mystery meets Suffragette with all the wit and verbal banter of the classic Hollywood era.
Oh, the romance! What starts as believable camaraderie between reunited childhood friends grows into an authentic friendship with sparks of attraction. Before long, Paul and Lilia must face what their relationship must look like in the face of the women’s movement, church and societal expectations, and personal motives as it morphs into a romantic dynamic. The push-pull of their relationship really represents the importance of broadening perspective — that being inclusive and choosing to care for someone doesn’t mean you must compromise your identity or convictions.
For my blog readers who typically stick to clean inspirational fiction titles, I do want to mention a few things about this novel’s content. It is a *little* more candid and sensual when it comes to the romance verbiage, it depicts tobacco use, and has a few very mild expletives.
Impossible Saints is equally candid, and refreshingly so, when tackling issues such as women’s roles or the contrasts between ritual in the church vs. faith in action. I would have liked Lilia’s growth in receptiveness to Paul’s faith to have been a little more by story’s end, though I think the door is left open to her for deeper faith after “the end”. But maybe that’s my personal convictions shining through in my perception of her character. Overall, I thought it an authentic portrayal of the era and a beautiful story of romance.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ebook review copy. This is my honest review.
March 26, 2018
This book is not the best. I almost didn't finish it. I liked different elements of it. The suffragette story is interesting; I enjoy historical fiction. The love story between Paul and Lilia is also interesting, although as a counterpoint to the suffragette story, it seemed annoying and silly at times. It's like the book is trying to be two different stories. I disliked the trope of arranged/forced marriage. I really disliked that there were so many little plotlines that were never resolved. Mr. Reed just disappears. Thomas Cross just disappears. Lilia's teaching jobs (that mattered SOOOO much to her) just disappear without another thought. For as much time as the book spends on all these elements, just to have them eliminated without a word is weak.
December 8, 2017
I was drawn to this novel mainly due to the subject matter. The suffragette movement strikes a chord with me and I'm sure many women and seemed especially relevant to today's recent events. I did not know much about the movement in England, so from a historical point of view I found it very interesting. The story of the women involved and especially their treatment from society and in jail was especially compelling. However, I felt at times the story was lacking. It's hard to put into words what was lacking but there were moments where I tended to lose interest. The romance between Paul and Lilia started off well. However, towards the end of the novel, I felt like the author was just trying to wrap things up quickly and give the characters their happy ending.
I struggled with giving this 3 stars instead of 4. Clarissa Harwood is a gifted writer and the story is definitely interesting and worth the read. Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC for review.
I struggled with giving this 3 stars instead of 4. Clarissa Harwood is a gifted writer and the story is definitely interesting and worth the read. Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC for review.
December 20, 2017
There's something magical about reading a book where the main characters are so well-drawn they transcend the page and pull you into their story. Paul and Lilia are two such characters. Their relationship does seem impossible (Paul is an Anglican priest and Lilia a suffragette) and their goals and ambitions do seem at odds with one another, but throughout the book, I kept hoping two such exceptional people would find a way to bridge their differences.
Impossible Saints is a history lesson, wrapped in a love story, wrapped in a fascinating tale. I received an advance copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, but I'll buy this book and read it again and again.
Impossible Saints is a history lesson, wrapped in a love story, wrapped in a fascinating tale. I received an advance copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, but I'll buy this book and read it again and again.
March 13, 2022
At first I wasn't sure I would enjoy the book. I wasn't getting into it at the start. But let me tell you.... worth it.
January 6, 2018
Clarissa Harwood's debut novel, Impossible Saints, tells the story of Lilia Brooke, an English school teacher and staunch supporter of the suffragette movement, and Paul Harris, an Anglican canon looking to further advance his career in the church. After moving to London, Lilia and Paul, old family friends, reunite. While the two have an intense attraction to each another, the worlds they inhabit are completely different. This becomes especially pronounced as Lilia becomes increasingly involved in the militant wing of the suffragette movement. Do Lilia and Paul have a chance?
Overall, I enjoyed this novel. The setting and time period are of interest to me, and I found both Lilia and Paul to be interesting characters who I couldn't help but root for. The writing is solid, and Harwood has done a good job giving the reader a strong sense of both time and place. While the narrative primarily focuses on Lilia and Paul's relationship, the suffragette movement makes for a compelling backdrop for the story. My only criticism of the novel is that the suffragette movement didn't always get the attention I felt it deserved given its importance to Lilia, as too often key events of the movement, including those in which Lilia was involved, took place off-page. In fact, it was Lilia's support of women's rights that drew me to the novel in the first place, and I suspect many other readers will also be intrigued by this aspect of the story. For this reason I wish there had been just a little a bit more to this component of the novel. Still, if you enjoy this time period and a good love story, Impossible Saints is definitely worth a read.
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book for review via NetGalley.
Overall, I enjoyed this novel. The setting and time period are of interest to me, and I found both Lilia and Paul to be interesting characters who I couldn't help but root for. The writing is solid, and Harwood has done a good job giving the reader a strong sense of both time and place. While the narrative primarily focuses on Lilia and Paul's relationship, the suffragette movement makes for a compelling backdrop for the story. My only criticism of the novel is that the suffragette movement didn't always get the attention I felt it deserved given its importance to Lilia, as too often key events of the movement, including those in which Lilia was involved, took place off-page. In fact, it was Lilia's support of women's rights that drew me to the novel in the first place, and I suspect many other readers will also be intrigued by this aspect of the story. For this reason I wish there had been just a little a bit more to this component of the novel. Still, if you enjoy this time period and a good love story, Impossible Saints is definitely worth a read.
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book for review via NetGalley.
July 27, 2019
4 ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I was so intrigued when I started this and failed to understand the struggle for women in the 1900. I’d forgotten women couldn’t vote......
It shocked me how often they didn’t have a choice about marriage, education, clothing and if orphaned some were forced to became prostitutes. Then on top of all that they were forced into prisons!
I loved all the quotes before each chapter and found them most fitting. This book moved my so much.
Things I loved:
• The writing
• Lilia
• Paul
• HEA
“Why is it that men’s courage is called bravery but women’s courage is called recklessness-or, even worse,foolishness?”
I was so intrigued when I started this and failed to understand the struggle for women in the 1900. I’d forgotten women couldn’t vote......
It shocked me how often they didn’t have a choice about marriage, education, clothing and if orphaned some were forced to became prostitutes. Then on top of all that they were forced into prisons!
I loved all the quotes before each chapter and found them most fitting. This book moved my so much.
Things I loved:
• The writing
• Lilia
• Paul
• HEA
“Why is it that men’s courage is called bravery but women’s courage is called recklessness-or, even worse,foolishness?”
June 6, 2019
Perfect book for the hopeless romantic.
June 30, 2019
This book is intense. Really. But it’s the kind of intense that makes you want to read it again, which I did. I wanted to remember the dialogue between Lilia and Paul because it’s the type of conversation that should go on between a man and woman in love, but often doesn’t. Or the words that are often spoken that shouldn’t be. Then there is what they DO to fix the rift between them. It’s that realistic.
At times, I thought the character of Lilia was too one-sided to be believable. But I do understand that some women felt as strongly as Lilia did about the right to vote. I certainly give credit to those who fought for that right, something most of us take for granted. At times, I wondered if Paul’s character was too liberal for the time period. But why not believe that such a man could have existed then, one who supported equal rights for women?
The author includes quotations between chapters by male and female writers from that time period that prove there were some enlightened men. She also gives examples of real events in Victorian England, which I appreciated. But nothing is as important or impressive as the story of the two lovers. (Lovers who don’t become lovers in fact until after marriage, for those who might think this is a stereotypical torrid romance.) I hate to disappoint, but this is more cerebral and spiritual: this man and woman are both brainy, both scholars. But there is definitely chemistry between them.
To try to give an adequate summary of this novel would be impossible. All I can say is that the characters in this story feel real, even modern at times, but without sacrificing historical accuracy.
What’s the story about, beside being a romance? A brave, gutsy, passionate young woman who feels so strongly about the way women are demeaned by a patriarchal society that she spends her life to the fight for women’s rights. In this particular case, for the right to vote. It took decades—whole lifetimes, by many unsung women—to fight. Those few who did persevere should be honored and remembered, because what they accomplished took a huge toll on their lives, if not on their health, then on their reputations, their families, their livelihoods, their very souls. It was an all-consuming, Daniel-against-Goliath fight they were facing. The fight in England was harder than in the colonies and in America, too, not that those were easy. The author tells the reader by way of New Zealander Will Reed why it was easier to pass legislation there: It was still a frontier country, like the U.S. had been earlier. England? A completely different story. A very different society, with traditions and laws carved in stone, for millennia.
The fact that Paul is a cleric might put off some, but it was a definite draw for me. For the record, I am not a cleric nor am I employed by a church. I am not a model Christian, either. There have been plenty of times when I didn’t know what I believed, only that I didn’t believe the sexist parts of the Bible. (That’s a whole ‘nuther story, however, and has to do with Vatican shenanigans.) Lilia flat-out declares her antipathy to anything smacking of God and religion. But she respects that they are important to Paul, and he respects her inability or unwillingness to believe.
They do respect each other, though at times it’s hard to tell. They have to respect the other though to be capable of real love. The thing that feels so real to me is the struggles each has, the struggle to leave home, for a daughter to break free of two very traditional parents, to still love and respect them even when they don’t understand her. The struggle for Paul to work with a man who is his opposite in so many ways, a colleague who taunts him for the traditions he treasures. He struggles to overcome anger and hurt. Paul has as many flaws as anyone, feels the same emotions everyone feels at times, such as hate, jealousy, love, lust, compassion, anger, hurt and betrayal. The difference is that he actively tries, every day, to overcome his negative emotions. He prays and reflects, listens to criticism and recognizes—eventually—that others might have a point. His faith in God is all-important to him. The Church is his vocation because he loves that too. He has shown himself to be leadership material, not your average village vicar, but an officiant in a Christian cathedral in the largest city in England, if not the world at that time. But he realizes eventually that perhaps he loved the trappings too much, and the prestige; he became so wrapped up in competing for the deanship that he lost sight of what was most important—compassion, love for others, and forgiveness, even/especially for one’s enemies. He recognized that his love of church tradition—his being “High Church”—was superficial, as others had pointed out. Candles and incense, vestments and stained glass...all lovely, but empty in themselves. Paul struggled with pride and had to learn humility.
Wrestling with one’s soul is of course not limited to men. We all have to learn humility at some point or another, learn compassion—love for others—and learn to forgive. And on that journey—if one wants to become a more authentic human being—confront one’s own “baggage”, to use a modern expression.
Anyway.
I am impressed with this novel because it is a first novel by a new author who is very talented. The dialogue is masterful. The plot does lag at times, but not too much. It contains several memorable characters. Above all, it’s a love story between two people who have been damaged, but are valiant enough to try to become better people, to love the other.
This author obviously knows what a real loving relationship is like, or what it should be, and spells it out so well. You just don’t see dialogue this great in mainstream romance novels. Lilia’s bravado masking her fear of feeling real love for a man. Fear of being vulnerable again. His fear of disapproval, of what loving her could do to his career. Fear of being hurt by the second most important woman in his life.
This novel is about the love between a man and a woman, but also about their separate lives—their passions, their work, and their families. Friends and family play a role because the characters live and work in community. Each opens up to a friend at some point and learns something that explains why the other feels the way they do. Paul learns that Lilia hates the church because she was singled out as a child for condemnation by the puritanical village vicar. Why? Perhaps because he saw that this girl even at a young age had the courage of a lion; it probably scared him, and he wasn’t big enough to accept her uniqueness. He was petty and parochial, and took advantage of his position. Paul loves her for her courageous spirit, and for the innocence she tries to hide behind her worldly bravado.
Paul is brave too, brave enough to call her out when she is being disingenuous. He calls her a coward at one point, and he’s right in that she is too afraid to love, to admit loving him, and/or to *accept* his love. All he can do is keep showing that he does indeed love her. He has the perseverance to wait for her to overcome her demons, the courage to bare his heart to her, even after she cruelly rejects him. He knows his own heart. It just takes awhile for Lilia to know hers. Paul can be cruel though too, when he resorts to old behavior and freezes her out with silence.
The entire book is this back and forth struggle between the two, and within themselves, between the good and bad angels in each of them. Is that why the author used the word “impossible” in the title? Because it seems impossible that these two will overcome their differences and accept—even love—each other as they are? Why “saints” in the title? That I will leave for others to discuss.
Paul had to make more concessions than Lilia, yet he grew to understand why she felt so passionate about women’s rights, especially the right to vote. In the end, Paul supported her wholeheartedly. He didn’t care that she wasn’t a believer, either. That was radical for a man of the cloth, and for a man 100+ years ago. He didn’t care that she couldn’t cook, or that she wanted a career. He didn’t care that she had the “masculine” habit of smoking.
Victorian society expected women to be pure, self-sacrificing, supportive of their husbands, ornamental. Not willful harpies demanding freedom and independence, nor brainy bluestockings, ‘masculine’ in their passion for higher education, a career, and professional recognition. Many “New Women” saw marriage as a trap, sanctioned by Church and State. When women in Victorian England began to protest violently, men reacted brutally. Police looked the other way while thugs beat up women, or actually participated in the attacks. After all, they were only putting ‘uppity women’ in their place.
It felt brutal just to read about force-feeding female prisoners. Lilia’s disguising herself as “Joan Burns” (a wicked name choice by the author ;) was based on the real-life figure of Lady Constance Lytton, an upper-class woman in Victorian England who went to prison under an assumed name to experience what prison was like for the poorest women in society. She was beaten and force-fed like Lilia in the book. The so-called physician (“First do no harm?”) who forced the metal tube down Lilia’s throat lacerated the inside, twice a day, for weeks. She had to swallow her own blood. The tube was probably given a cursory wash at best, too, and introduced germs which led to infection. Another doctor forced a smaller tube into Lilia’s LUNG by mistake and she developed pneumonia, becoming so ill she almost died.
These women may not have been violated sexually (though we don’t know that), but they were physically assaulted nonetheless, held down by multiple “wardresses” so the man in charge could could gag a woman by Jamming a thick metal tube down her throat. Most of these woman had committed no crime, either; they were political prisoners. (Excepting those who had damaged property—but even then, that hardly warranted torture, which is precisely what force-feeding was.) The upstanding men in parliament knew what was going on in prisons, but did nothing to stop it, making the brutality state-sanctioned. Brutality in supposedly the most civilized nation on earth.
Now for a nerdy detour on my part. (So sue me! I was a lit major at university. ;)
I doubt it’s coincidence that the author named her heroine “Lilia”. It is very close to “Lilith”, the name of the insolent, demonic first wife of Adam (according to Jewish folklore) who walked out on him and the Garden of Eden. Lilia is no demon, but she is strong-willed, fiercely so. (Which probably frightened quite a few men. ;) She believes strongly in a woman’s right to be heard and to be counted. Only a change in law can accomplish that. Perhaps like the Ur-Lilith, Lilia carries a burning rage, though Lilia’s is against the Church and State, both for crimes against her and against all women. As Lilith (allegedly) left Adam and the Garden of Eden, Lilia leaves Paul and a secure marriage.
I doubt it’s coincidence that the male protagonist is named Paul, either. Not when the author cares this much about the Church, and the Church’s historical attitude toward women. New Testament Paul was a persecutor named Saul before he literally saw the light on the road to Damascus. Paul Harris’s conversion occurs when he opens up to an older parishioner who offers to pray for him, aloud. Something strange happens to Paul during the simple prayer, a sudden enlightenment, then searing psychic and emotional pain, then a peace he’d never felt before. A healing, God-inspired peace, one that lasted.
Paul Harris is a conservative Anglo-Catholic who believes in tradition and in the sacraments, especially the sacrament of marriage. One of the arguments that Paul has with his colleague Canon Thomas Cross (yes, “Cross”) regards the sacrament of the altar, i.e., which direction he should face when at the altar. You may have glossed over that minor detail, but apparently it was a Big Deal in Anglican Catholicism. Traditionalists like Paul believed that facing the altar—not the parishioners—is the only correct way because it acknowledged the presence of the living Christ at the altar. Canon Cross believed that turning one’s back on the congregation unnecessarily distanced the priest from the people.
I had no idea what Anglo-Catholicism, aka Anglican Catholicism, was really about. So I did a rapid search of the Web (I refuse to say “google”) and stopped to read the most authoritative sources. Anglo-Catholicism is neither Roman Catholic nor Protestant. “A good way to describe the ACC”, according to anglicancatholic.org, “might be as a reformed Catholic Church.”
In Victorian England, there was a movement in Anglo-Catholicism called the Oxford Movement, and John Henry Newman was one of its three leaders. Those in the Oxford Movement—and other Anglo-Catholics like Paul in the story—devoted much of their time ministering to the poor, particularly in large cities. (Like Paul Harris, in London.) On page 49, Lilia is surprised that Paul would be interested in marriage, given that he was “a devotee of the very Catholic, very celibate John Henry Newman.” At one point, Paul actually tells his father he is considering becoming a celibate. This fits what the Oxford Movement was about; they also reintroduced monasticism (for men and women). In his sermon one Sunday, Paul quotes from a book by Newman. There are several instances like this, in which the author slips in a reference to something Anglo-Catholic. Which I found enlightening. If you don’t care for historical factoids, don’t worry—they are so deftly inserted that they don’t interrupt the flow of the story.
And that’s all I can say for the time being. I make no claim to this being the best novel of all time, but it is the best one I’ve read in a long time. If you are of a serious, soulful nature, prefer brainy, atypical heroes and heroines, then this may appeal to you. Same applies if you are a feminist. I hate labels, so don’t be put off by this one; it’s just so handy! for describing anyone who supports women’s rights. The book may even appeal to an LGBT audience in that it deals with militant struggle for equality, for basic human rights. I probably haven’t expressed that very well, but it just occurred to me, and I’m too tired to rewrite. ;) I apologize for redundancies and jumps between subjects, but it’s too difficult writing a lengthy review on a 2x2-inch smartphone screen. Fini!
At times, I thought the character of Lilia was too one-sided to be believable. But I do understand that some women felt as strongly as Lilia did about the right to vote. I certainly give credit to those who fought for that right, something most of us take for granted. At times, I wondered if Paul’s character was too liberal for the time period. But why not believe that such a man could have existed then, one who supported equal rights for women?
The author includes quotations between chapters by male and female writers from that time period that prove there were some enlightened men. She also gives examples of real events in Victorian England, which I appreciated. But nothing is as important or impressive as the story of the two lovers. (Lovers who don’t become lovers in fact until after marriage, for those who might think this is a stereotypical torrid romance.) I hate to disappoint, but this is more cerebral and spiritual: this man and woman are both brainy, both scholars. But there is definitely chemistry between them.
To try to give an adequate summary of this novel would be impossible. All I can say is that the characters in this story feel real, even modern at times, but without sacrificing historical accuracy.
What’s the story about, beside being a romance? A brave, gutsy, passionate young woman who feels so strongly about the way women are demeaned by a patriarchal society that she spends her life to the fight for women’s rights. In this particular case, for the right to vote. It took decades—whole lifetimes, by many unsung women—to fight. Those few who did persevere should be honored and remembered, because what they accomplished took a huge toll on their lives, if not on their health, then on their reputations, their families, their livelihoods, their very souls. It was an all-consuming, Daniel-against-Goliath fight they were facing. The fight in England was harder than in the colonies and in America, too, not that those were easy. The author tells the reader by way of New Zealander Will Reed why it was easier to pass legislation there: It was still a frontier country, like the U.S. had been earlier. England? A completely different story. A very different society, with traditions and laws carved in stone, for millennia.
The fact that Paul is a cleric might put off some, but it was a definite draw for me. For the record, I am not a cleric nor am I employed by a church. I am not a model Christian, either. There have been plenty of times when I didn’t know what I believed, only that I didn’t believe the sexist parts of the Bible. (That’s a whole ‘nuther story, however, and has to do with Vatican shenanigans.) Lilia flat-out declares her antipathy to anything smacking of God and religion. But she respects that they are important to Paul, and he respects her inability or unwillingness to believe.
They do respect each other, though at times it’s hard to tell. They have to respect the other though to be capable of real love. The thing that feels so real to me is the struggles each has, the struggle to leave home, for a daughter to break free of two very traditional parents, to still love and respect them even when they don’t understand her. The struggle for Paul to work with a man who is his opposite in so many ways, a colleague who taunts him for the traditions he treasures. He struggles to overcome anger and hurt. Paul has as many flaws as anyone, feels the same emotions everyone feels at times, such as hate, jealousy, love, lust, compassion, anger, hurt and betrayal. The difference is that he actively tries, every day, to overcome his negative emotions. He prays and reflects, listens to criticism and recognizes—eventually—that others might have a point. His faith in God is all-important to him. The Church is his vocation because he loves that too. He has shown himself to be leadership material, not your average village vicar, but an officiant in a Christian cathedral in the largest city in England, if not the world at that time. But he realizes eventually that perhaps he loved the trappings too much, and the prestige; he became so wrapped up in competing for the deanship that he lost sight of what was most important—compassion, love for others, and forgiveness, even/especially for one’s enemies. He recognized that his love of church tradition—his being “High Church”—was superficial, as others had pointed out. Candles and incense, vestments and stained glass...all lovely, but empty in themselves. Paul struggled with pride and had to learn humility.
Wrestling with one’s soul is of course not limited to men. We all have to learn humility at some point or another, learn compassion—love for others—and learn to forgive. And on that journey—if one wants to become a more authentic human being—confront one’s own “baggage”, to use a modern expression.
Anyway.
I am impressed with this novel because it is a first novel by a new author who is very talented. The dialogue is masterful. The plot does lag at times, but not too much. It contains several memorable characters. Above all, it’s a love story between two people who have been damaged, but are valiant enough to try to become better people, to love the other.
This author obviously knows what a real loving relationship is like, or what it should be, and spells it out so well. You just don’t see dialogue this great in mainstream romance novels. Lilia’s bravado masking her fear of feeling real love for a man. Fear of being vulnerable again. His fear of disapproval, of what loving her could do to his career. Fear of being hurt by the second most important woman in his life.
This novel is about the love between a man and a woman, but also about their separate lives—their passions, their work, and their families. Friends and family play a role because the characters live and work in community. Each opens up to a friend at some point and learns something that explains why the other feels the way they do. Paul learns that Lilia hates the church because she was singled out as a child for condemnation by the puritanical village vicar. Why? Perhaps because he saw that this girl even at a young age had the courage of a lion; it probably scared him, and he wasn’t big enough to accept her uniqueness. He was petty and parochial, and took advantage of his position. Paul loves her for her courageous spirit, and for the innocence she tries to hide behind her worldly bravado.
Paul is brave too, brave enough to call her out when she is being disingenuous. He calls her a coward at one point, and he’s right in that she is too afraid to love, to admit loving him, and/or to *accept* his love. All he can do is keep showing that he does indeed love her. He has the perseverance to wait for her to overcome her demons, the courage to bare his heart to her, even after she cruelly rejects him. He knows his own heart. It just takes awhile for Lilia to know hers. Paul can be cruel though too, when he resorts to old behavior and freezes her out with silence.
The entire book is this back and forth struggle between the two, and within themselves, between the good and bad angels in each of them. Is that why the author used the word “impossible” in the title? Because it seems impossible that these two will overcome their differences and accept—even love—each other as they are? Why “saints” in the title? That I will leave for others to discuss.
Paul had to make more concessions than Lilia, yet he grew to understand why she felt so passionate about women’s rights, especially the right to vote. In the end, Paul supported her wholeheartedly. He didn’t care that she wasn’t a believer, either. That was radical for a man of the cloth, and for a man 100+ years ago. He didn’t care that she couldn’t cook, or that she wanted a career. He didn’t care that she had the “masculine” habit of smoking.
Victorian society expected women to be pure, self-sacrificing, supportive of their husbands, ornamental. Not willful harpies demanding freedom and independence, nor brainy bluestockings, ‘masculine’ in their passion for higher education, a career, and professional recognition. Many “New Women” saw marriage as a trap, sanctioned by Church and State. When women in Victorian England began to protest violently, men reacted brutally. Police looked the other way while thugs beat up women, or actually participated in the attacks. After all, they were only putting ‘uppity women’ in their place.
It felt brutal just to read about force-feeding female prisoners. Lilia’s disguising herself as “Joan Burns” (a wicked name choice by the author ;) was based on the real-life figure of Lady Constance Lytton, an upper-class woman in Victorian England who went to prison under an assumed name to experience what prison was like for the poorest women in society. She was beaten and force-fed like Lilia in the book. The so-called physician (“First do no harm?”) who forced the metal tube down Lilia’s throat lacerated the inside, twice a day, for weeks. She had to swallow her own blood. The tube was probably given a cursory wash at best, too, and introduced germs which led to infection. Another doctor forced a smaller tube into Lilia’s LUNG by mistake and she developed pneumonia, becoming so ill she almost died.
These women may not have been violated sexually (though we don’t know that), but they were physically assaulted nonetheless, held down by multiple “wardresses” so the man in charge could could gag a woman by Jamming a thick metal tube down her throat. Most of these woman had committed no crime, either; they were political prisoners. (Excepting those who had damaged property—but even then, that hardly warranted torture, which is precisely what force-feeding was.) The upstanding men in parliament knew what was going on in prisons, but did nothing to stop it, making the brutality state-sanctioned. Brutality in supposedly the most civilized nation on earth.
Now for a nerdy detour on my part. (So sue me! I was a lit major at university. ;)
I doubt it’s coincidence that the author named her heroine “Lilia”. It is very close to “Lilith”, the name of the insolent, demonic first wife of Adam (according to Jewish folklore) who walked out on him and the Garden of Eden. Lilia is no demon, but she is strong-willed, fiercely so. (Which probably frightened quite a few men. ;) She believes strongly in a woman’s right to be heard and to be counted. Only a change in law can accomplish that. Perhaps like the Ur-Lilith, Lilia carries a burning rage, though Lilia’s is against the Church and State, both for crimes against her and against all women. As Lilith (allegedly) left Adam and the Garden of Eden, Lilia leaves Paul and a secure marriage.
I doubt it’s coincidence that the male protagonist is named Paul, either. Not when the author cares this much about the Church, and the Church’s historical attitude toward women. New Testament Paul was a persecutor named Saul before he literally saw the light on the road to Damascus. Paul Harris’s conversion occurs when he opens up to an older parishioner who offers to pray for him, aloud. Something strange happens to Paul during the simple prayer, a sudden enlightenment, then searing psychic and emotional pain, then a peace he’d never felt before. A healing, God-inspired peace, one that lasted.
Paul Harris is a conservative Anglo-Catholic who believes in tradition and in the sacraments, especially the sacrament of marriage. One of the arguments that Paul has with his colleague Canon Thomas Cross (yes, “Cross”) regards the sacrament of the altar, i.e., which direction he should face when at the altar. You may have glossed over that minor detail, but apparently it was a Big Deal in Anglican Catholicism. Traditionalists like Paul believed that facing the altar—not the parishioners—is the only correct way because it acknowledged the presence of the living Christ at the altar. Canon Cross believed that turning one’s back on the congregation unnecessarily distanced the priest from the people.
I had no idea what Anglo-Catholicism, aka Anglican Catholicism, was really about. So I did a rapid search of the Web (I refuse to say “google”) and stopped to read the most authoritative sources. Anglo-Catholicism is neither Roman Catholic nor Protestant. “A good way to describe the ACC”, according to anglicancatholic.org, “might be as a reformed Catholic Church.”
In Victorian England, there was a movement in Anglo-Catholicism called the Oxford Movement, and John Henry Newman was one of its three leaders. Those in the Oxford Movement—and other Anglo-Catholics like Paul in the story—devoted much of their time ministering to the poor, particularly in large cities. (Like Paul Harris, in London.) On page 49, Lilia is surprised that Paul would be interested in marriage, given that he was “a devotee of the very Catholic, very celibate John Henry Newman.” At one point, Paul actually tells his father he is considering becoming a celibate. This fits what the Oxford Movement was about; they also reintroduced monasticism (for men and women). In his sermon one Sunday, Paul quotes from a book by Newman. There are several instances like this, in which the author slips in a reference to something Anglo-Catholic. Which I found enlightening. If you don’t care for historical factoids, don’t worry—they are so deftly inserted that they don’t interrupt the flow of the story.
And that’s all I can say for the time being. I make no claim to this being the best novel of all time, but it is the best one I’ve read in a long time. If you are of a serious, soulful nature, prefer brainy, atypical heroes and heroines, then this may appeal to you. Same applies if you are a feminist. I hate labels, so don’t be put off by this one; it’s just so handy! for describing anyone who supports women’s rights. The book may even appeal to an LGBT audience in that it deals with militant struggle for equality, for basic human rights. I probably haven’t expressed that very well, but it just occurred to me, and I’m too tired to rewrite. ;) I apologize for redundancies and jumps between subjects, but it’s too difficult writing a lengthy review on a 2x2-inch smartphone screen. Fini!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 14, 2018
Paul and Lilia couldn't be more opposite of each other, but somehow they manage to form a friendship and it, in turn, sparks an attraction that neither are expecting. In the beginning, to the middle, I found this a struggle to keep reading because I was squarely on Paul's side of things, but I was rewarded for preserving and reading to the end of this wonderful story. It's these kinds of stories that make us think and appreciate more what each other person can bring to a relationship, whether a marriage or a friendship. I'll admit I was taken aback by Lilia's strong personality in the beginning, but I think it was also in her favor as she became more of aware of her passionate love for her husband.
February 21, 2018
Set in England in 1907, this lovely story follows Lilia, a free-spirited young woman who becomes involved in the women’s suffrage movement, and Paul, a family friend of Lilia’s who is rising in the ranks of the Church. Of course the two are attracted to each other, which leads to all sorts of interesting conflict and discussion about the very different causes they are passionate about.
I thoroughly enjoyed the story! I immediately connected with outspoken Lilia—no surprise there—but also found myself drawn to Paul and his love of God and his religion. Each is a richly-drawn character so the ups and downs of their love story feel realistic and understandable. I enjoyed learning about the women’s suffrage movement in England and also about the tension between High Church and Low Church practices.
Recommended for readers who love historical fiction with a realistic love story (a very chaste relationship...no spoilers but remember that Paul is a strong believer).
I thoroughly enjoyed the story! I immediately connected with outspoken Lilia—no surprise there—but also found myself drawn to Paul and his love of God and his religion. Each is a richly-drawn character so the ups and downs of their love story feel realistic and understandable. I enjoyed learning about the women’s suffrage movement in England and also about the tension between High Church and Low Church practices.
Recommended for readers who love historical fiction with a realistic love story (a very chaste relationship...no spoilers but remember that Paul is a strong believer).
February 6, 2018
Wonderful, well developed characters and a great historical storyline.
Read
December 20, 2017Thanks to NetGalley for the free e-copy.
IMPOSSIBLE SAINTS is a delightful, thought-provoking, well-written debut novel. The novel stars Lilia and Paul, and the plot follows their complicated love story and tells it from both of their perspectives. Alternating chapters/scenes between Lilia's and Paul's perspectives shows how both of them confront and question their beliefs. Lilia is a headstrong woman who defies the Edwardian conventions to fight (literally fight) for women's suffrage in early 1900s England. Paul is an Anglican priest who is driven by his desire to advance in the church - and, at first, he is (almost) willing to get there by any means necessary. It's their growing love for each other (as well as factors) that cause Lilia and Paul to grow and change as people. Overall, this novel was a very enjoyable read. It takes Lilia's and Paul's love story and sets it solidly in a history lesson.
IMPOSSIBLE SAINTS is a delightful, thought-provoking, well-written debut novel. The novel stars Lilia and Paul, and the plot follows their complicated love story and tells it from both of their perspectives. Alternating chapters/scenes between Lilia's and Paul's perspectives shows how both of them confront and question their beliefs. Lilia is a headstrong woman who defies the Edwardian conventions to fight (literally fight) for women's suffrage in early 1900s England. Paul is an Anglican priest who is driven by his desire to advance in the church - and, at first, he is (almost) willing to get there by any means necessary. It's their growing love for each other (as well as factors) that cause Lilia and Paul to grow and change as people. Overall, this novel was a very enjoyable read. It takes Lilia's and Paul's love story and sets it solidly in a history lesson.
November 13, 2018
A little long in the tooth. However I was pleasantly surprised with how much I like this book.If you like womans rights movements and some romance you will like this.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 154 reviews