Overview

From National Book Award-winning writer James Carroll comes a novel of the timeless love story of Peter Abelard and Heloise, and its impact on a modern priest and a Holocaust survivor seeking sanctuary in Manhattan. Father Michael Kavanagh is shocked to see a friend from his seminary days named Runner Malloy at the altar of his humble Inwood community parish. Wondering about their past, he wanders into the medieval haven of The Cloisters, and begins a conversation with a lovely and intriguing museum guide, Rachel Vedette. Rachel, a scholar of medieval history, has retreated to the quiet of The Cloisters after her harrowing experience as a Jewish woman in France during the Holocaust. She ponders her late father's greatest intellectual work- a study demonstrating the relationship between the famously discredited monk Peter Abelard and Jewish scholars. Something about Father Kavanagh makes Rachel think he might appreciate her continued studies, and she shares with him the work that cost her father his life. At the center of these interrelated stories is the classic romance between the great scholar Peter Abelard and his intellectual equal Heloise. For Rachel, Abelard is the key to understanding her people's place in intellectual history. For Kavanagh, he is a doorway to understanding the life he might have had outside of the Church. The Cloister is James Carroll at his best.

Full Product Details

9780385541275

Table of Contents

Reviews

James Carroll has written an enlightening, vitally important book, a necessity for our time. -- Maxine Hong Kingston, author of I Love a Broad Margin to My Life I didn't know I needed this novel until I read it. As unflinching about the Holocaust as it is about the Crusades, The Cloister is a fearless exploration of the violent foundations on which our own historical inheritance rests. And like all the best fiction, it commandeers the reader's heart. Reading the riveting struggles of Carroll's vibrant Heloise and Abelard, I couldn't stifle an illogical hope that their compassion would rule their day. And setting the book down, I found myself asking what it would take to allow it to rule ours. --Rachel Kadish, author of The Weight of Ink Fascinating in its evocation of the twelfth-century Catholic Church in France, this lavishly detailed historical novel serves as an education in historical philosophy, a poignant tale of devoted love, and a portrait of a postwar human crisis influenced heavily by both . . . This is definitely a thought-provoking book. --Booklist James Carroll is an elegiac artist, a writer of great inclusiveness and tender sensibility. He invariably endows his subjects with deep humanity and understanding. And here, in this new look at the tragic story of Abelard and Heloise, he inadvertently reveals his own almost saintly qualities. --Robert Brustein, author of Winter Passages This is a wonderful novel, and it's wonder-filled. James Carroll brings the XIIth century lovers, Abelard and Heloise, blazingly back to life, and he does so through the medium of a New York priest and a Parisian Jew. The present and the past illuminate each other, and the startling mysteries of prejudice, brutality, and love are made doubly vivid here. Like All the Light You Cannot See, The Cloister is a book of gravity and consequence that makes you need to turn and turn the page. --Nicholas Delbanco, author of Curiouser and Curiouser: Essays

James Carroll has written an enlightening, vitally important book, a necessity for our time. -- Maxine Hong Kingston, author of I Love a Broad Margin to My Life James Carroll is an elegiac artist, a writer of great inclusiveness and tender sensibility. He invariably endows his subjects with deep humanity and understanding. And here, in this new look at the tragic story of Abelard and Heloise, he inadvertently reveals his own almost saintly qualities. --Robert Brustein, author of Winter Passages This is a wonderful novel, and it's wonder-filled. James Carroll brings the XIIth century lovers, Abelard and Heloise, blazingly back to life, and he does so through the medium of a New York priest and a Parisian Jew. The present and the past illuminate each other, and the startling mysteries of prejudice, brutality, and love are made doubly vivid here. Like All the Light You Cannot See, The Cloister is a book of gravity and consequence that makes you need to turn and turn the page. --Nicholas Delbanco, author of Curiouser and Curiouser: Essays

In The Cloister, Carroll has produced a sweeping, beautifully crafted book--perhaps his best yet. --Wall Street Journal A literary detective game . . . In pushing his readers--in both his fiction and nonfiction--to ponder tough religious topics . . . Carroll is continuing the important discussions made famous by Peter Abelard. --New York Journal of Books With his familiar deftness and depth, James Carroll weaves a profound and compelling novel from diverse but overlapping narrative strands. From the conversations between a Catholic priest and a French Jewish woman in mid-twentieth century New York to the brutality of Nazi-occupied Paris to the great medieval love story of Abelard and Helo�se, The Cloister illuminates life's most vital questions and proposes inspiring, radical, and timely answers. --Claire Messud, New York Times bestselling author of The Burning Girl and The Emperor's Children James Carroll has written an enlightening, vitally important book, a necessity for our time. -- Maxine Hong Kingston, author of I Love a Broad Margin to My Life I didn't know I needed this novel until I read it. As unflinching about the Holocaust as it is about the Crusades, The Cloister is a fearless exploration of the violent foundations on which our own historical inheritance rests. And like all the best fiction, it commandeers the reader's heart. --Rachel Kadish, author of The Weight of Ink A sweeping, heartbreaking blend of history and fiction. . . [its] entwined stories move at an engrossing rhythm, making this a very magnetic, satisfying novel. --Publishers Weekly Fascinating in its evocation of the twelfth-century Catholic Church in France, this lavishly detailed historical novel serves as an education in historical philosophy, a poignant tale of devoted love, and a portrait of a postwar human crisis influenced heavily by both . . . This is definitely a thought-provoking book. --Booklist Carroll blends his well-aired interests in history, theology, and literary fiction in this deftly told story that partakes richly of all . . . A rich, literate tale well told. --Kirkus Reviews A novel that shifts seamlessly between epic love story, the anatomy of a crisis of faith, family tragedy and trauma survival saga . . . Both moving and enlightening, The Cloister will engross readers. --Shelf Awareness This is a wonderful novel, and it's wonder-filled. James Carroll brings the twelfth-century lovers, Abelard and Helo�se, blazingly back to life, and he does so through the medium of a New York priest and a Parisian Jew. The present and the past illuminate each other, and the startling mysteries of prejudice, brutality, and love are made doubly vivid here. Like All the Light You Cannot See, The Cloister is a book of gravity and consequence that makes you need to turn and turn the page. --Nicholas Delbanco, author of Curiouser and Curiouser: Essays With his familiar deftness and depth, James Carroll weaves a profound and compelling novel from diverse but overlapping narrative strands. From the conversations between a Catholic priest and a French Jewish woman in mid-twentieth century New York to the brutality of Nazi-occupied Paris to the great medieval love story of Abelard and Heloise, The Cloister illuminates life's most vital questions and proposes inspiring, radical, and timely answers. --Claire Messud, New York Times bestselling author of The Burning Girl and The Emperor's Children James Carroll has written an enlightening, vitally important book, a necessity for our time. -- Maxine Hong Kingston, author of I Love a Broad Margin to My Life I didn't know I needed this novel until I read it. As unflinching about the Holocaust as it is about the Crusades, The Cloister is a fearless exploration of the violent foundations on which our own historical inheritance rests. And like all the best fiction, it commandeers the reader's heart. --Rachel Kadish, author of The Weight of Ink A sweeping, heartbreaking blend of history and fiction. . . [its] entwined stories move at an engrossing rhythm, making this a very magnetic, satisfying novel. --Publishers Weekly Fascinating in its evocation of the twelfth-century Catholic Church in France, this lavishly detailed historical novel serves as an education in historical philosophy, a poignant tale of devoted love, and a portrait of a postwar human crisis influenced heavily by both . . . This is definitely a thought-provoking book. --Booklist Carroll blends his well-aired interests in history, theology, and literary fiction in this deftly told story that partakes richly of all . . . A rich, literate tale well told. --Kirkus Reviews A novel that shifts seamlessly between epic love story, the anatomy of a crisis of faith, family tragedy and trauma survival saga . . . Both moving and enlightening, The Cloister will engross readers. --Shelf Awareness This is a wonderful novel, and it's wonder-filled. James Carroll brings the twelfth-century lovers, Abelard and Heloise, blazingly back to life, and he does so through the medium of a New York priest and a Parisian Jew. The present and the past illuminate each other, and the startling mysteries of prejudice, brutality, and love are made doubly vivid here. Like All the Light You Cannot See, The Cloister is a book of gravity and consequence that makes you need to turn and turn the page. --Nicholas Delbanco, author of Curiouser and Curiouser: Essays James Carroll has written an enlightening, vitally important book, a necessity for our time. -- Maxine Hong Kingston, author of I Love a Broad Margin to My Life I didn't know I needed this novel until I read it. As unflinching about the Holocaust as it is about the Crusades, The Cloister is a fearless exploration of the violent foundations on which our own historical inheritance rests. And like all the best fiction, it commandeers the reader's heart. Reading the riveting struggles of Carroll's vibrant Heloise and Abelard, I couldn't stifle an illogical hope that their compassion would rule their day. And setting the book down, I found myself asking what it would take to allow it to rule ours. --Rachel Kadish, author of The Weight of Ink Fascinating in its evocation of the twelfth-century Catholic Church in France, this lavishly detailed historical novel serves as an education in historical philosophy, a poignant tale of devoted love, and a portrait of a postwar human crisis influenced heavily by both . . . This is definitely a thought-provoking book. --Booklist James Carroll is an elegiac artist, a writer of great inclusiveness and tender sensibility. He invariably endows his subjects with deep humanity and understanding. And here, in this new look at the tragic story of Abelard and Heloise, he inadvertently reveals his own almost saintly qualities. --Robert Brustein, author of Winter Passages This is a wonderful novel, and it's wonder-filled. James Carroll brings the XIIth century lovers, Abelard and Heloise, blazingly back to life, and he does so through the medium of a New York priest and a Parisian Jew. The present and the past illuminate each other, and the startling mysteries of prejudice, brutality, and love are made doubly vivid here. Like All the Light You Cannot See, The Cloister is a book of gravity and consequence that makes you need to turn and turn the page. --Nicholas Delbanco, author of Curiouser and Curiouser: Essays

With his familiar deftness and depth, James Carroll weaves a profound and compelling novel from diverse but overlapping narrative strands. From the conversations between a Catholic priest and a French Jewish woman in mid-twentieth century New York to the brutality of Nazi-occupied Paris, to the great medieval love story of Abelard and Heloise, The Cloister illuminates life's most vital questions, and proposes inspiring, radical, and timely answers. --Claire Messud, New York Times bestselling author of The Burning Girl and The Emperor's Children James Carroll has written an enlightening, vitally important book, a necessity for our time. -- Maxine Hong Kingston, author of I Love a Broad Margin to My Life I didn't know I needed this novel until I read it. As unflinching about the Holocaust as it is about the Crusades, The Cloister is a fearless exploration of the violent foundations on which our own historical inheritance rests. And like all the best fiction, it commandeers the reader's heart. --Rachel Kadish, author of The Weight of Ink Fascinating in its evocation of the twelfth-century Catholic Church in France, this lavishly detailed historical novel serves as an education in historical philosophy, a poignant tale of devoted love, and a portrait of a postwar human crisis influenced heavily by both . . . This is definitely a thought-provoking book. --Booklist Carroll blends his well-aired interests in history, theology, and literary fiction in this deftly told story that partakes richly of all . . . A rich, literate tale well told. --Kirkus Reviews This is a wonderful novel, and it's wonder-filled. James Carroll brings the XIIth century lovers, Abelard and Heloise, blazingly back to life, and he does so through the medium of a New York priest and a Parisian Jew. The present and the past illuminate each other, and the startling mysteries of prejudice, brutality, and love are made doubly vivid here. Like All the Light You Cannot See, The Cloister is a book of gravity and consequence that makes you need to turn and turn the page. --Nicholas Delbanco, author of Curiouser and Curiouser: Essays James Carroll has written an enlightening, vitally important book, a necessity for our time. -- Maxine Hong Kingston, author of I Love a Broad Margin to My Life I didn't know I needed this novel until I read it. As unflinching about the Holocaust as it is about the Crusades, The Cloister is a fearless exploration of the violent foundations on which our own historical inheritance rests. And like all the best fiction, it commandeers the reader's heart. Reading the riveting struggles of Carroll's vibrant Heloise and Abelard, I couldn't stifle an illogical hope that their compassion would rule their day. And setting the book down, I found myself asking what it would take to allow it to rule ours. --Rachel Kadish, author of The Weight of Ink Fascinating in its evocation of the twelfth-century Catholic Church in France, this lavishly detailed historical novel serves as an education in historical philosophy, a poignant tale of devoted love, and a portrait of a postwar human crisis influenced heavily by both . . . This is definitely a thought-provoking book. --Booklist James Carroll is an elegiac artist, a writer of great inclusiveness and tender sensibility. He invariably endows his subjects with deep humanity and understanding. And here, in this new look at the tragic story of Abelard and Heloise, he inadvertently reveals his own almost saintly qualities. --Robert Brustein, author of Winter Passages This is a wonderful novel, and it's wonder-filled. James Carroll brings the XIIth century lovers, Abelard and Heloise, blazingly back to life, and he does so through the medium of a New York priest and a Parisian Jew. The present and the past illuminate each other, and the startling mysteries of prejudice, brutality, and love are made doubly vivid here. Like All the Light You Cannot See, The Cloister is a book of gravity and consequence that makes you need to turn and turn the page. --Nicholas Delbanco, author of Curiouser and Curiouser: Essays

Author Information

JAMES CARROLL is a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Suffolk University and a columnist for The Boston Globe. He is a frequent contributor to The New Yorker, and is the author of eleven previous novels and eight works of nonfiction. He lives in Boston.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available