After Mary

Set in seventeenth-century England and Europe. There are not that many choices for women, marriage or entering a convent were top of a very short list. Isabella Stanhope wants a 'different' kind of life. Isabella, a young upper class catholic woman, betrothed to a second cousin, with a future which seems set. Circumstances change as she becomes involved in dangerou religious activities and political ingrigue. After the failure of the gunpowder plot, Isabella follows Mary Ward into a new religious order, and experiences an ongoing battle with the Catholic Church towards new forms of religious life for women. That being, an order that is not enclosed and follows the Jesuit principles. Rich in historical details, a strong narrative, and fully formed characters this novel is hard to put down.