TOUR/EVENTS
USA
There are no events scheduled in The United States at this time.
Australia/New Zealand
CBWI Interview : Author & Book Reviewer Louise Swinn Interviews Sarah Dunant
Tuesday, March 09th
6:30 PM
Centre for Books Writing & Ideas | State Library of Victoria | Londsdale Street Entrance
Sarah will be interviewed by acclaimed writer Louise Swinn
Louise Swinn is a fiction writer and freelance book reviewer whose work has appeared in The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, Overland, The TLS, and Best Australian Stories. She is one of the two founding partners of Sleepers, coordinators of the Sleepers Salons, and creators of the Sleepers Almanacs.
Evening In-Conversation: Sarah Dunant & Andrea Levy
Thursday, March 11th
6:00 PM
Better Bookshops & Brisbane Writers’ Festival | The Irish Club, 175 Elizabeth St, Brisbane QLD 4000
Sarah Dunant & Andrea Levy Discuss Aspects of Writing
The Irish Club, 175 Elizabeth St, Brisbane QLD 4000
Writers at Stanton w/ Constant Reader : Sarah Dunant Reads & Discusses Sacred Hearts
Thursday, April 08th
1:00 PM
Stanton Library | 234 Miller Street | North Sydney | 2060
Writers @ Stanton is the library's visiting author talks program which includes noted national and international authors, best-sellers, and lesser-known authors selected by publishers as authors of the future. The author talk is followed by question time, light refreshment, and the opportunity for book signing. The program is free and no booking is required.
Writers @ Stanton is presented by the Stanton Library and > Constant Reader Bookshop.
Books are (usually) available for purchase at the talk or visit Constant Reader Bookshop.
Visit the Stanton Library Blog - for feedback and discussions.
Eltham Bookshop : Sarah Dinant Presents Sacred Hearts | Music | Q&A | Book Signing
Saturday, April 10th
7:00 PM
Eltham Library, Panther Place, 3095 Melbourne, Australia
Join us for an evening with the celebrated novelist of Renaissance Italy, Sarah Dunant, who will speak on the craft of writing historical fiction. Developments in the practice of academic history writing over the past forty years have made for a new kind of historical fiction, one that draws on the rich findings of “ground-up history” to create more complex and accurate visions of the past, while offering readers the imaginative vibrancy of fiction. Dunant is the author of eight critically acclaimed novels, including The Birth of Venus, In the Company of the Courtesan, and most recently, Sacred Hearts. In Sacred Hearts, she tells the story of a young noblewoman, Serafina, forced into a convent. Serafina's rebellion against her compelled “vocation” sets the stage for a tale of trust and betrayal with a cast of characters who reveal the rich complexities of post-Tridentine convent life. A very special aspect of the evening will be Rodney Waterman, Eltham based performer, teacher and composer who will play recorder music from the Renaissance.
7.00pm Audience gathers-refreshments
7.20pm:Welcome and introductions-Meera
7.25pm:Rodney to play recorder music
7.35pm: Sarah to present
8.00pm: Q & A
8.10pm:Thanks
Book signing
8.30pm: Finis
UK
There are no events scheduled in The United States at this time.
News:
Sinner and saint
The dark, wild tale of Radegunda, a captured queen who becomes the founding abbess of a convent in the dark ages, helped Sarah Dunant while she was researching her own novel about nuns in 16th-century Italy - READ MORE
Sarah reads excerpts from Sacred Hearts with the Doric String Quartet and Musica Secreta on BBC Radio 3 - LISTEN HERE
Listen to the dramatization of Sacred Hearts on BBC Radio 4 with Geraldine James as Zuana, Eileen Atkins as the Abbess & Nathalie Dormer as Serafina - LISTEN HERE
NPR appearance - LISTEN HERE
PDF Downloads
Celestial sirens in the cloister
Denman Island Writers' Festival builds on success
Sarah Dunant on being inspired by Julia O'Faolain's Women in the Wall | Books | The Guardian
The Independent_ Ditch the doublet_ A fresher form of historical fiction is reclaiming lost stories
Why less-visited Ferrara is as fabulous as Florence | Travel | The Observer
Reviews:
Sacred Hearts, Secret Music
divine art 25077, 2009
Our first CD for two years, Sacred Hearts, Secret Music offers our vision of music as it could have been heard in the fictional convent of Santa Caterina, the setting for Sarah Dunant's new novel, Sacred Hearts. - READ MORE
Denman Island Writers' Festival builds on success
The Denman Island Readers and Writers Festival, this year on July 16 to July 19, has the growing reputation as one of the West Coast's premiere literary events. What's not to like? - READ MORE
Fyrefly’s Book Blog - READ REVIEW
Vancouver Sun
Celestial sirens in the cloister
Nuns in Renaissance Italy could express themselves, and turn rebellion positive, through music - READ MORE
Telegraph.co.uk
Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant: review
Amanda Craig is impressed by Sarah Dunnant's powerful new historical novel, Sacred Hearts - READ MORE
NewBooks
Current Issue: July/August 2009 - Sarah Dunant on the cover - CLICK HERE TO VIEW
On Saturday 6 June the Birkbeck Institute of Humanities organised an event on the historical novel, with the novelists Sarah Dunant and Hilary Mantel, reading from their new publications, as well as a round-table discussion and questions from the audience. A podcast of the event can be listened to here
Quotes:
UK Daily Telegraph; Saturday July 4th
"...the power of Dunant's imagination, the vigour of her scholarship and the lucidity of her style make this a novel that, in addressing unfashionable questions about the price of religious faith, is as intelligent as it is enjoyable".
UK Metro, London, Wednesday July 1st
"...the plot exerts a compulsive hold, and Dunant's insights into history and the possible effects of a religious lifestyle make this fascinating."
UK Financial Times, 20th June
"...vivid and entertaining..."
Publisher's Weekly review (Starred)
Dunant (The Birth of Venus) revisits 16th-century Italy, where the convents are filled with the daughters of noblemen who are unable or unwilling to pay a dowry to marry them off. The Santa Caterina convent's newest novice, Serafina, is miserable, having been shunted off by her father to separate her from a forbidden romance. She also has a singing voice that will be the glory of the convent and-more importantly to some-a substantial bonus for the convent's coffers. The convent's apothecary, Suora Zuana, strikes up a friendship with Serafina, enlisting her as an assistant in the convent dispensary and herb garden, but despite Zuana's attempts to help the girl adjust, Serafina remains focused on escaping. Serafina's constant struggle and her faith (of a type different from that common to convents) challenge Zuana's worldview and the political structure of Santa Caterina. A cast of complex characters breathe new life into the classic star-crossed lovers trope while affording readers a look at a facet of Renaissance life beyond the far more common viscounts and courtesans. Dunant's an accomplished storyteller, and this is a rich and rewarding novel.
"A cast of complex characters breathe new life into the classic star-crossed lovers trope while affording readers a look at a facet of Renaissance life beyond the far more common viscounts and courtesans. Dunant's an accomplished storyteller, and this is a rich and rewarding novel."
Kim McArthur , Globe & Mail (Canada)
'...she skillfully interweaves multiple suspenseful tales with ease. Her sumptuous writing style and her talent at making history relevant and characters vivid mean that Sacred Hearts is like the feisty character in a highbrow costume drama: gorgeously dressed, highly accomplished, but still with plenty going on between the ears'.
