'Mary Laven is a meticulous researcher and a scrupulously honest historian...in the way she writes with such profound empathy about their lives, Laven has released the voices of the nuns of Renaissance Venice. it is a tremendous achievement, and makes compelling reading.' Artemis Cooper, Daily Telegraph

'Mary Laven's fascinating book will delight anyone who loves women, history and Venice. That probably means most of us.' Michele Roberts, Independent on Sunday

'In this unputdownable, beautifully written book, Mary Laven takes us behind the closed doors of the convents of late Renaissance Venice. She exposes the predicament of women who were incarcerated to satisfy the social and religious pressures of the time, and yet managed to create emotional and even sexual lives for themselves. Laven brilliantly evokes the atmosphere and drama of the period, while making a major contribution to the understanding of the place of women in early modern Europe.' John Cornwell

'Laven relates dramatic tales of secret trysts, while prostitutes and puppet shows, prelates and pimps, could all be encountered in the parlours of these well-endowed convents. Her scholarly and judicious account shows how these enclosed women could be both demurely virgin and extravagantly Venetian.' Margaret Reynolds, The Times

'Scholarly, diligent, with frequent moments of fun...it is essentially a work of analytic pathos and compassion, and of all its characters the one who will live longest in my memory is "a man named Santo who was found passing a rose to a nun through the grate."' Jan Morris, Independent

'Mary Laven has provided a fascinating glimpse into the life which once existed behind those empty walls.' Sarah Bradford, The Spectator

'Laven's splendid short account is to be read with thanks for living in the modern world.' Edwina Currie, New Statesman --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Synopsis
A portrait of 16th and 17th century Italian convent life, set in the vibrant culture of late Renaissance Venice. Early 16th century Venice had 50 convents and about 3,000 nuns. In this book Mary Laven provides an insight into the nuns hidden world. Far from being places of religious devotion, the convents were often little more than dumping-grounds for unmarried women from the upper ranks of Venetian society. Often entering a convent at seven years old, these young women remained emotionally and socially attached to their families and to their way of life outside the convent. Supported by their private incomes, the nuns ate, dressed and behaved as gentlewomen. In contravention of their vows, they followed the latest fashions in hairstyles and footwear, kept lap dogs and threw parties for their relations. But in the 16th and 17th centuries the Counter Reformation was to change all that. Threatened by the advance of Protestantism, the Catholic Church set about reforming its own institutions. A new state magistracy rapidly turned its attentions to policing the nuns' behaviour relentlessly pursuing transgressors on both sides of the convent wall.