The Nun

Written in the 1760s and first published in 1796, this novel takes the form of a long memoir-letter by Suzanne Simonin, forced by her family into a convent because she is illegitimate and without a dowry. She describes professions she does not want, a kind superior who dies, a cruel mother superior, and another whose affections become sexual. Lawyers, escape, and the question of whether a forced vow is binding structure the narrative. The book is an anticlerical novel of conscience and confinement, not a saint's legend.

Quarter-bound in black cloth with paper covers printed with a black and gold design. Uncommon variant binding in full smooth pale brown cloth. Black endpapers. Page tops stained black. Pale green slipcase.