I rounded off my summer reading with the historical-fiction, Katharina: Deliverance by one of my favourite modern Christian authors, Margaret Skea. This is the first book in Skea’s new series set during the turbulent time of religious reform in 16th century Germany. As I
patiently wait for more of Skea’s brilliant Scottish Munro series, I was excited to start this new one.
In the beginning of this new tale, Skea magically transports us to rural Germany in 1505, where we meet the then five-year-old Katharina von Bora, who following the tragic death of her mother and her fatherβs remarriage, finds herself carted off to the convent at Brehna. Never to be recollected andΒ never to see her father again. It is a heart-breaking start to life and one apparently lived by many children across Germany at this time.
We watch over the years as Katharina lives and grows – first at Brehna and then at a subsequently smaller, poorer convent in Nimbschen, run by her aunt – into a brave, intelligent and opinionated young woman. And while she comes to find some comfort, solace and friendship with her aunt and fellow sister nuns, deep in her heart of hearts she knows this is not the life she would have chosen for herself. That’s when revolutionary stirrings from the outside world start to filter into their quiet lives, giving Katharina and the other young nuns hope things could change for them.
These stirrings began some sixty-five miles away, at Erfurt in Thuringia, where a promising young law student, Martin Luther forsakes all that to become a monk, as he is appalled at what the Catholic Church has become. This of course leads to his famous Ninety-Five Theses in 1517. It is Luther’s passionate sermons and radical teachings, that finally give Katharina and eleven of her sister nuns the courage to runaway from their convent and, with Luther’s aid, find refuge in Wittenberg. It is there, on Easter Sunday 1523, Luther and Katharina will meet, and that meeting will reverberate down the centuries and throughout the Christian world.
Oh I simply loved being swept along by Katharina: Deliverance, which is a compelling and often sad portrayal of the young life of Katharina von Bora, all set against the turmoil of the Peasantβs War and the German Reformation … and the controversial priest at its heart. This book might have a nice sedate pace to it, but I was gripped from page one! I can’t wait to read more from this series. βββ Great read.
(Thank you to the author for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion)
Iβd love to hear your thoughts: Have you read this? Have you read other books by Margaret Skea or about Katharina von Bora?
This was book #5 for my 10 Books of Summer Reading Challenge 2020 and is book #7 for my Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2020.
Sounds great and very much something I would enjoy (and my dad too I think).
Thanks for highlighting.
Lynn π
Hi Lynn, If you do read it, do let me know how you get on. Feedback from readers is always so helpful.
You’re very welcome, Lynn – I hope you and your dad will have chance to read it. π
OOoh, off to see if the library has it. New author to me too! Cheers
Carole, I really hope your library has a copy or if not that you are able to get your hands on this book another way! π
Hi Carole, depends where you are in the UK as to whether your library has it – if not maybe they could get it for you? It is also on kindle or I post out signed copies within the UK (postage free)
I have been looking for historical fiction set in Germany that isn’t about the world wars. Thanks!
Ooo you’re very welcome, Judy – This sounds like it could be just what you’re after! π
Sounds good – she’s such a fascinating historical character, isn’t she?
Katharina was such a fascinating character to write about – she deserved to be brought out of the shadows.
She most certainly is a fascinating character, FF! I look forward to reading more about her! π
I read a different book about Katarina Luther and thoroughly enjoyed it. This one sounds good, too, and how nice that it’s the beginning of a series! I’m glad you enjoyed it so much, Jessica. π
Hi Kelly, there was just so much to write about her that it wouldn’t all fit in one book.
Thank you, Kelly – I am glad to hear we’ve both been enjoying books about this fascinating woman and I look forward to reading more. π
Oops – sorry to misquote you – ‘swept along’.
Thank you for a lovely review, Jessica, I’m glad you were ‘swept away’. Sorry for the wait for a 4th Munro – i’m afraid it will be a wee while, though I am mulling elements of a new story just now. (But I’m also working on another book due out in 2022.) In the meantime there is Katharina Fortitude…
Ooo sounds like I have lots to look forward to from you, Margaret – I will try to be more patient π and I will have to get my hands on a copy of Katharina: Fortitude to keep me going π