Scan barcode
beth_zovko's review against another edition
2.0
I picked this up because the premise sounded so freaking intriguing: a French nun turns her fellow sisters over to Nazi occupiers as collaborators. I listened to this on CDB and I think that was the problem. The narrator did nothing to change her voice between characters, making it hard to tell who was speaking.
The story arc dances between past and present, and from character to character, so you have to do some piecing together, which I thought made the story more engaging. The detached tone of the book could be a little irritating, but in the end, I felt this was meant to illustrate the mental state of the main character and the willful distancing of the other characters from the past.
The story arc dances between past and present, and from character to character, so you have to do some piecing together, which I thought made the story more engaging. The detached tone of the book could be a little irritating, but in the end, I felt this was meant to illustrate the mental state of the main character and the willful distancing of the other characters from the past.
bookishwendy's review against another edition
2.0
I like me a nice hot cup of scandal, guilt & obsession in the morning, so surely a novel that begins with German soldiers drawing straws over who will seduce the homely and naive Sister Bernard should push all my buttons, right? Well, yes...and no.
Yes, there's scandal, guilt, etc., but these aren't quite enough, it turns out, to float this story. The characters all remain cold, distant, and not a bit likable. The central Sister Bernard remains an enigma throughout the story. Gradually, snippets of her "shameful" past are revealed through bits of flashback, but never are her motives. She abandons her vows without much thought, pines for her lover despite the fact that he treats her like dirt, and barely registers the tragedy she causes when she tattles on an acquaintance. She behaved in ways that made me suspect she was, in fact, mentally deficient, a hunch backed by Mother Catherine who pronounces Bernard "miraculously stupid". Poor woman. I despised and pitied her, but she felt more like a cartoon nun than a real person.
The back-and-forth time structure of the novel reminded me a lot of [b:Five Quarters of the Orange|15096|Five Quarters of the Orange|Joanne Harris|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1254173643s/15096.jpg|10730819] by [a:Joanne Harris|9432|Joanne Harris|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1251452384p2/9432.jpg], bouncing back and forth between the war years and the protagonist as bitter old woman trying to make sense of her past. Both are ultimately haunting and morally convoluted, but I think I prefer Oranges better. It spends more time in the war-time story, while Obedience mopes about in the contemporary nursing home and abandoned convent for longer than seemed necessary.
But there are still things to like here. I appreciated the realistic and very UNsexy portrayal of wartime trysts. I also liked the moral complexity and the asking of unanswerable questions. And I did enjoy the beautiful descriptions of the churches, countryside and village life, of the particulars of convent chores and drudgery and odd, archaic rules. Nuns have always intrigued me (as have Nazis, heh) and the premise of this story seemed too interesting to pass up.
Yes, there's scandal, guilt, etc., but these aren't quite enough, it turns out, to float this story. The characters all remain cold, distant, and not a bit likable. The central Sister Bernard remains an enigma throughout the story. Gradually, snippets of her "shameful" past are revealed through bits of flashback, but never are her motives. She abandons her vows without much thought, pines for her lover despite the fact that he treats her like dirt, and barely registers the tragedy she causes when she tattles on an acquaintance. She behaved in ways that made me suspect she was, in fact, mentally deficient, a hunch backed by Mother Catherine who pronounces Bernard "miraculously stupid". Poor woman. I despised and pitied her, but she felt more like a cartoon nun than a real person.
The back-and-forth time structure of the novel reminded me a lot of [b:Five Quarters of the Orange|15096|Five Quarters of the Orange|Joanne Harris|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1254173643s/15096.jpg|10730819] by [a:Joanne Harris|9432|Joanne Harris|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1251452384p2/9432.jpg], bouncing back and forth between the war years and the protagonist as bitter old woman trying to make sense of her past. Both are ultimately haunting and morally convoluted, but I think I prefer Oranges better. It spends more time in the war-time story, while Obedience mopes about in the contemporary nursing home and abandoned convent for longer than seemed necessary.
But there are still things to like here. I appreciated the realistic and very UNsexy portrayal of wartime trysts. I also liked the moral complexity and the asking of unanswerable questions. And I did enjoy the beautiful descriptions of the churches, countryside and village life, of the particulars of convent chores and drudgery and odd, archaic rules. Nuns have always intrigued me (as have Nazis, heh) and the premise of this story seemed too interesting to pass up.
reneesuz's review against another edition
3.0
I'm torn by this book; it was a story of love that shouldn't have been - a sinful relationship but at the same time Sister Bernard didn't end up all roses and happy in the end so I think it showed that our sins have consequences. I can see how a young naive nun in WWII could be seduced by a Nazi soldier to have a relationship.... I was shocked and my heart ached for Sister Bernard after her encounter with the Commandant.
I'd like to thank the publisher for making a review copy of Obedience available via NetGalley.
I'd like to thank the publisher for making a review copy of Obedience available via NetGalley.
allthingscozy's review against another edition
4.0
Fortunately I am the type of reader who doesn't have to like a main character in order to enjoy the story. It's a quiet story with strong visuals and although uncomfortable and even questionable sometimes whether I was actually enjoying the story I found myself unable to put it down.
ladyhighwayman's review against another edition
3.0
Obedience was short book, but still contained an intense, gripping story.
The story switches back and forth between Nazi occupied France during WWII and France in the present day. The story is also told from a few different perspectives, but the story is mostly about Sister Bernard. The book is about Bernard's short affair with a Nazi solider during the war, and the consequences it caused.
The present day story is of a 93 year old Bernard who, along with two other nuns, are being evacuated from an old rundown convent. We see she still struggles with what happened over sixty years ago.
Even with all the flashbacks to the war, I still felt like we didn't see everything, and this was on purpose, I suspect. After I finished the book, I didn't feel like I had a good grip on that part of the story. And with the present day story, some of the story lines almost felt unfinished, but not in a frustrating way. We are left to fill in the blanks.
A lot of the religious stuff flew over my head, but one of the things I got is that Sister Bernard felt god had been speaking to her, and then he stopped. She spent many a year trying to figure out why he stopped, what she had done, etc. I felt bad for her, but I'm not sure why I felt bad for her – because she thought god had been speaking to her or because she felt abandoned by him. Most of the people she came across in the story seemed to be doing the former.
A well told story, definitely. It was a fast read, but did not lack in quality.
The story switches back and forth between Nazi occupied France during WWII and France in the present day. The story is also told from a few different perspectives, but the story is mostly about Sister Bernard. The book is about Bernard's short affair with a Nazi solider during the war, and the consequences it caused.
The present day story is of a 93 year old Bernard who, along with two other nuns, are being evacuated from an old rundown convent. We see she still struggles with what happened over sixty years ago.
Even with all the flashbacks to the war, I still felt like we didn't see everything, and this was on purpose, I suspect. After I finished the book, I didn't feel like I had a good grip on that part of the story. And with the present day story, some of the story lines almost felt unfinished, but not in a frustrating way. We are left to fill in the blanks.
A lot of the religious stuff flew over my head, but one of the things I got is that Sister Bernard felt god had been speaking to her, and then he stopped. She spent many a year trying to figure out why he stopped, what she had done, etc. I felt bad for her, but I'm not sure why I felt bad for her – because she thought god had been speaking to her or because she felt abandoned by him. Most of the people she came across in the story seemed to be doing the former.
A well told story, definitely. It was a fast read, but did not lack in quality.
bethzovko47's review against another edition
2.0
I picked this up because the premise sounded so freaking intriguing: a French nun turns her fellow sisters over to Nazi occupiers as collaborators. I listened to this on CDB and I think that was the problem. The narrator did nothing to change her voice between characters, making it hard to tell who was speaking.
The story arc dances between past and present, and from character to character, so you have to do some piecing together, which I thought made the story more engaging. The detached tone of the book could be a little irritating, but in the end, I felt this was meant to illustrate the mental state of the main character and the willful distancing of the other characters from the past.
The story arc dances between past and present, and from character to character, so you have to do some piecing together, which I thought made the story more engaging. The detached tone of the book could be a little irritating, but in the end, I felt this was meant to illustrate the mental state of the main character and the willful distancing of the other characters from the past.
norma_cenva's review against another edition
4.0
Surprising write up. Interesting insights into history, mental health, culture and power struggles. Going inside a nunnery to look into a persons conflicts in quite unusual. Sometimes its hard to read, but mostly, enjoyable.
mholles's review against another edition
3.0
Sister Bernard was a very complex character and I still haven't decided if I liked her or not. Was she obedient or dumb? Who was she being obedient to, God, the sisters, herself? I am struggeling with her lack of momentum in any part of her life. Set in a French convent in contemporary times with flashbacks to WWII. Sister Bernard is moving from the closed convent to a home for the elderly. She thinks about her German soldier lover during the war. I do think this would be excellent for book clubs to dicuss.