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marpesea's review against another edition
2.0
Parts of this were really fascinating (murder! sex! church scandals! people pretending to be saints/faking miracles!), but it became really dry reading as it progressed. I just don't have the stubbornness to push through the final chunk of court proceedings/Vatican politics.
Too many other exciting books on my shelf.
Too many other exciting books on my shelf.
kiriamarin's review against another edition
3.0
No meio de tanta linguagem burocrática e narrativa enfadonha ,há uma história interessante, sobre um convento e uma abadessa com traços sociopatas,falsa santidade, abuso sexual ,lesbianismo, jogos de manipulação assassinato tentativas de envenenamento e etc...
A igreja católica continua sua política interna de enterrar seus podres e esconder dos seus fiéis o que se passa atrás das portas da sua instituição, proteje criminosos, leniente nas punições e extremamente sexista no julgamento da famigerada "Maria Luisa",uma mulher com serios problemas psicológicos,talvez com traços sociopata e também uma figura fascinante que infelizmente pouco conhecemos aqui...
A igreja católica continua sua política interna de enterrar seus podres e esconder dos seus fiéis o que se passa atrás das portas da sua instituição, proteje criminosos, leniente nas punições e extremamente sexista no julgamento da famigerada "Maria Luisa",uma mulher com serios problemas psicológicos,talvez com traços sociopata e também uma figura fascinante que infelizmente pouco conhecemos aqui...
real_life_reading's review against another edition
2.0
It was definitely scandalous, but far too long and drawn out for my liking. I just got bored.
nyborasaur's review against another edition
5.0
I LOVED this book, the structure, the premise, the writing, the cover-up of the case, the reasons for covering up the case, I just loved it all. I know some reviewers have described it as slow, and boring, and a slog, and I can understand where these reviewers are coming from, but I have to wholeheartedly disagree. I was recently describing this book to a friend, gushing about the intricacies of the witness statements and structure of the Catholic Church’s legal system and watched as my friend’s eyes slowly started to glaze over with boredom, to which I responded defensively, "Well, it's about unearthing a secret cult and there are murder plots and poisonings too!"
I think I still lost her with the case details, but the thing is, Wolf shares all the scintillating particulars through a beautifully structured examination of case files, taking words and descriptions straight from the primary sources, the words of the nuns and witnesses of the time, while also supplying the reader with wonderful context through the political and historical events in the Catholic Church during that time. The reader feels immersed in these details, puzzling together the tale as both the investigating judge learns the truth behind Princess Katharina von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen’s claims of poisonings, and just as Wolf pieces together the story from the dust of the Vatican archives.
And it is this that I loved more than anything: the raw and rich primary sources, finally unearthed and shared with the reader, after decades of being hidden from the world, covered up until this book was published. It really makes you wonder what other fascinating cases are hidden in the depths of the Vatican City archives just waiting to be discovered.
TL;DR: Read this if you love a well-structured non-fiction book and you’re undaunted by the idea of an incredibly well-documented and detailed examination of the Roman Inquisition’s investigation of some crimes some nuns committed in 1858, along with a fair bit of contextualizing information regarding the political and theological upheaval of the time. Crimes committed include sexual deviances, murder plots, bribing, and of course, the veneration of a false saint.
Don't read this if you’re looking for a non-fiction tale chock full of lurid details about a lesbian sex cult, because this book doesn’t have ‘em. Any of these descriptions are taken straight from witness statements from the 19th century, and within the context of the events, they are anything but titillating.
I think I still lost her with the case details, but the thing is, Wolf shares all the scintillating particulars through a beautifully structured examination of case files, taking words and descriptions straight from the primary sources, the words of the nuns and witnesses of the time, while also supplying the reader with wonderful context through the political and historical events in the Catholic Church during that time. The reader feels immersed in these details, puzzling together the tale as both the investigating judge learns the truth behind Princess Katharina von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen’s claims of poisonings, and just as Wolf pieces together the story from the dust of the Vatican archives.
And it is this that I loved more than anything: the raw and rich primary sources, finally unearthed and shared with the reader, after decades of being hidden from the world, covered up until this book was published. It really makes you wonder what other fascinating cases are hidden in the depths of the Vatican City archives just waiting to be discovered.
TL;DR: Read this if you love a well-structured non-fiction book and you’re undaunted by the idea of an incredibly well-documented and detailed examination of the Roman Inquisition’s investigation of some crimes some nuns committed in 1858, along with a fair bit of contextualizing information regarding the political and theological upheaval of the time. Crimes committed include sexual deviances, murder plots, bribing, and of course, the veneration of a false saint.
Don't read this if you’re looking for a non-fiction tale chock full of lurid details about a lesbian sex cult, because this book doesn’t have ‘em. Any of these descriptions are taken straight from witness statements from the 19th century, and within the context of the events, they are anything but titillating.
siria's review against another edition
4.0
The title and marketing of The Nuns of Sant'Ambrogio (at least in this, its English translation) I think set many readers up to expect something much more seamy and titillating than the book actually contains. To be sure, there is a lot of eye-raising information here—beautiful young women poisoning German princesses, bisexual nuns alternately engaging in frottage with other women and French kissing their Jesuit confessors. Surely enough to make any pious matron clutch at her pearls.
But what Wolf is interested in is not so much the sexual shenanigans—which at any rate we know about only from court documents and letters written with the benefit of hindsight—but about the contexts which gave rise to them and the consequences which they had. Pius IX, the then pope who introduced the dogmata of the Immaculate Conception and of papal infallibility, and his circle were heavily involved with the case and its cover-up. For a medieval historian such as myself, Wolf's account of the ways in which female mystics and male theologians played off one another was thoroughly familiar; so too, as someone raised an Irish Catholic, was seeing the ways in which the Catholic Church worked to hide sexual abuse without ever dealing with its causes. Wolf's archival research is meticulous and truly impressive, and has no doubt caused some squirming in the Vatican. Who knows what else lies hidden in the church's archives, waiting to be discovered?
Wolf's writing is dense and the cast of characters huge. I don't think that the general reader who has only a passing interest in religious history will find this easy going, but taken as a whole I found this an engrossing and thought-provoking read.
But what Wolf is interested in is not so much the sexual shenanigans—which at any rate we know about only from court documents and letters written with the benefit of hindsight—but about the contexts which gave rise to them and the consequences which they had. Pius IX, the then pope who introduced the dogmata of the Immaculate Conception and of papal infallibility, and his circle were heavily involved with the case and its cover-up. For a medieval historian such as myself, Wolf's account of the ways in which female mystics and male theologians played off one another was thoroughly familiar; so too, as someone raised an Irish Catholic, was seeing the ways in which the Catholic Church worked to hide sexual abuse without ever dealing with its causes. Wolf's archival research is meticulous and truly impressive, and has no doubt caused some squirming in the Vatican. Who knows what else lies hidden in the church's archives, waiting to be discovered?
Wolf's writing is dense and the cast of characters huge. I don't think that the general reader who has only a passing interest in religious history will find this easy going, but taken as a whole I found this an engrossing and thought-provoking read.
reading_rainrho's review against another edition
2.0
This book was supposed to have it all. Sex, scandal, attempted murder, and nuns! But, sadly it reads like a history textbook, a really boring one. Save some time and just google about the nuns. Unless textbooks are your thing.
momtosea's review against another edition
3.0
Could have easily been two separate books. One on the nuns and the other on Kleutgen/Peters. Very interesting and full of details. Scandal in the Catholic Church is obviously not new.
p0tat0's review against another edition
2.0
This book started out so well but the latter half that dealt with the trial was DEADLY boring and seemed like an unnecessary rehashing of events.
reading_rainrho's review against another edition
2.0
This book was supposed to have it all. Sex, scandal, attempted murder, and nuns! But, sadly it reads like a history textbook, a really boring one. Save some time and just google about the nuns. Unless textbooks are your thing.