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Warner worked on the novel from 1942 to 1947. The
British edition was published by Chatto & Windus and the American edition was published by Viking Press, both in 1948. Warner appended a historical note to the Viking Press American edition which failed to appear in British editions. The novel was
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elections. A nun is only able to move to a different office when the current holder of a position dies. The novel includes the nuns rarely showing kindness while also being ignorant. The perspective shifts among multiple characters with them worrying about issues such as rent and thieves. In one part
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The nunnery was started by Brian de
Retteville in memory of his dead wife Alianor. De Retteville murdered Alianor's lover, with her later dying after having children. De Retteville places their two daughters in the newly opened nunnery. The nuns drink beer, deal with small issues, witness murder, and
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published the unfinished sequel in two parts. The novel explores if a community ran by women is able to exist under patriarchy through portrayals of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Professor of Modern
Literature Adam Piette surmised that Warner chose the Black Death as the novel's topic due to the
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involving characters who are not aware of how events are affecting society, such as a nun who "had enjoyed the Black Death". Warner typed 58 pages for an unfinished sequel that was spread between four gatherings. The
Journal of the Sylvia Townsend Warner Society by
192:, "the book has no ending; it just ends. An equally conclusive ending could be found by closing your eyes, riffling back any number of pages, and designating a spot with your finger. Just as death so often does, the end comes abruptly, without fanfare."
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said that the novel has a plot, but that Warner's "point holds truth" due to "the way
Townsend Warner’s real interest is in how the nuns of Oby are caught up in their own obsessions while the world moves on without them." Hermione Hoby wrote in
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in 1349, the admission of a fake priest into the ranks and the ambitions of successive prioresses. Various characters commit fraud, corruption, murder, adultery and blasphemy. According to an article by
127:. Warner said that the novel has no plot and that it is her favourite novel of those she wrote. Despite Warner not considering it to be a "historical novel" due to it not having a
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42:, first published in 1948. It details the life of and lives inside a convent, from its establishment in the 12th century through to 1382. The plot involves the
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said in 1948 that the novel "is an effective re-creation of a phase of medieval
England", but that it lacks in the "deep emotional quality" compared to
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89:, "Characters ebb and flow from the foreground in a curiously swift historical rhythm, often killed off as soon as their stories have begun."
62:, and obedience. Warner typed 58 pages for an unfinished sequel that was spread between four gatherings. The novel was reviewed favourably by
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54:. It is Warner's favorite novel that she wrote. The novel explores whether a community run by women is able to exist under
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488:"All across Europe it had come': The Black Death and Fascism in Sylvia Townsend Warner's The Corner That Held Them"
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said that "Warner breathes a world into being through witty prose and vivid imagination". It has been described by
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as 'one of the most remarkable examples of a novelist rethinking what she can do with the novel as a form'.
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for Nazi ideology and invisibility that is caused by government propaganda in order to help boost morale.
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played by the hospital's chaplain. In another part, the priest Sir Ralph searches for a hawk to show his
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wrote that "Warner’s style is delicate and arch", while also comparing the style to the authors
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and multiple narratives that do not combine into a plot. The novel was originally published by
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The novel covers the events occurring inside the convent of Oby, including the impact of
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republished in 2019 by New York Review Books
Classics with an introduction by
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298:"The Unfinished Sequel to The Corner That Held Them (Part 1 of 2)"
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402:"Book club: The Corner That Held Them, by Sylvia Townsend Warner"
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hospital due to an errand given by the nuns and he listens to
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to him. The multiple narratives do not combine into a plot.
131:, some critics have thought of the novel as historical and
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quote "Look out for parachutists" by spokesmen during the
135:. The dates in the novel were written to parody medieval
267:"Bad Bishops, Bloodletting and a Plague of Caterpillars"
98:of the novel, Henry Yellowlees spends a night at a
492:The Journal of the Sylvia Townsend Warner Society
343:The Journal of the Sylvia Townsend Warner Society
302:The Journal of the Sylvia Townsend Warner Society
595:. Great Britain: Virago. pp. Introduction.
110:and later has the Dame of Brocton read the epic
432:. McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 69.
153:. The Black Death was said by Piette to be an
241:"Fiction: A Napoleonic Game of Cat and Mouse"
50:with the American edition being published by
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429:Around 1945: Literature, Citizenship, Rights
296:Warner, Sylvia Townsend (9 November 2020).
265:Livingstone, Josephine (19 November 2019).
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370:"Sylvia Townsend Warner: A Biography"
339:"A Note on the Historical Background"
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537:"Nuns, Fairies, and Revolutionaries"
460:Carroll, Tobias (22 November 2019).
16:1948 novel by Sylvia Townsend Warner
669:Novels about diseases and disorders
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486:Piette, Adam (10 November 2021).
591:Townsend Warner, Sylvia (2000).
58:through portrayals of poverty,
374:Claire Harman official website
239:Sacks, Sam (18 October 2019).
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38:is a novel by English writer
315:10.14324/111.444.stw.2020.20
617:"The Corner That Held Them"
562:"The Corner That Held Them"
504:10.14324/111.444.stw.2021.3
462:"The Misadventures of Nuns"
212:'s novel Peter Abelard and
179:. Rachel Mann, writing for
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654:Chatto & Windus books
593:The Corner That Held Them
165:Josephine Livingstone of
146:University College London
35:The Corner that Held Them
247:– via www.wsj.com.
426:Hepburn, Allan (2016).
580:– via Ebscohost.
337:Stobbs, Tanya (2015).
40:Sylvia Townsend Warner
30:
664:Novels about religion
572:(1): 57. January 2020
219:Kristin Lavransdatter
25:First edition (publ.
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649:1948 British novels
245:Wall Street Journal
48:Chatto & Windus
27:Chatto & Windus
271:The New York Times
168:The New York Times
86:The New York Times
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602:978-1-84408-804-1
541:Harper's Magazine
439:978-0-7735-9903-1
189:Harper's Magazine
93:discuss the next
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623:. 1 October 1948
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498:(1): 13–30.
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308:(1): 8–38.
173:Barbara Pym
133:allegorical
118:Publication
80:Black Death
64:Rachel Mann
44:Black Death
643:Categories
566:Commonweal
226:References
195:Commonweal
141:subversion
56:patriarchy
627:12 August
576:12 August
546:12 August
517:12 August
512:244027459
471:12 August
445:12 August
411:12 August
379:12 August
324:238131048
276:12 August
222:trilogy.
161:Reception
108:gentility
659:Convents
353:23 March
104:Ars nova
95:prioress
60:chastity
155:analogy
100:leprosy
74:Summary
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349:: 9–13
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129:thesis
508:S2CID
320:S2CID
139:with
629:2022
597:ISBN
578:2022
548:2022
519:2022
473:2022
466:Bomb
447:2022
434:ISBN
413:2022
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347:2015
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175:and
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