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Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy
Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy: A Novel | Rumer Godden
5 posts | 5 read | 5 to read
From a New York Timesbestselling author: A novel of a womans journey from prostitute to brothel madam to murderess to nun in postWorld War II France. A sense of adventure and an eagerness to savor life to the fullest impel young, orphaned Elizabeth Fanshawe to escape her cold, unloving home and enlist in the British Army as a driver in 1944. Dispatched to Paris at the close of the Allies war against the hated Nazis, she soon finds herself swept up in the intoxicating celebratory glee of the newly liberated French. But after she meets the charming, seductive Patrice Ambard, Elizabeths life takes a sharp turn down a very dark road. Her love for the dashing, hypnotic Frenchman draws Elizabeth, now called Lise, into Patrices world of crime and high-class prostitution, where she is broken, hardened, and then transformed into the whore-turned-notorious-madam known as La Balafre, or the Scarred One. Still, her great fall will not be complete until circumstances drive her to commit a shocking murderand imprisonment ultimately sets her free. A haunting tale of disgrace, degradation, and glorious redemption told in flashbacks from the convent of Belle Source, where Soeur Marie Lise of the Sisters of Bethany remembers her years of sin and her eventual salvation, Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy is moving and powerful fiction from one of the most admired British novelists of the twentieth century. Rumer Godden, author of Black Narcissus and In This House of Brede, has crafted a truly transformative tale about faith, forgiveness, and the mercy of a loving God.
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jlhammar
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#NunLitQuarterly 🗳 QUARTER 1 VOTING 🗳

Hello my wonderful Reading Sisters! Can‘t believe it was a year ago already when we chose our first reads. It‘s been a joy reading alongside you all. Looking forward to our second year.

Time to cast your votes for our 2024 selections! I want to give everyone plenty of time to plan and acquire the books.

Which of these would you most like to read in January?

marleed Oooh, I‘ll vote Mercy House. Although I‘m intrigued to read Rumer Godden, I think I‘m most interested in the Mercy House story. 13mo
Librarybelle I‘ll say Mercy House! 13mo
KathyWheeler Mercy House 13mo
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Deblovestoread Mercy House 13mo
rubyslippersreads Mercy House 13mo
Tamra It has been fun! But, I‘m also feeling “overbooked” at times when life & work gets busy. I am going to sit this round out. 13mo
LeahBergen I‘ve been enjoying this immensely, too, but (like @Tamra ) I feel like I‘ve been overbooking myself for buddy reads this year. 😆 I‘m going to sit this round out but may pop in and read along at some time. Thank you! 😘 13mo
jlhammar @Tamra @LeahBergen No worries, totally understand. We‘ll miss you both! 13mo
JamieArc I‘ve got a think about brothels and nuns 😂. But I‘ll go with Mercy House as well. 13mo
MicheleinPhilly As I didn‘t read a single one of our picks this year, I am going to bow out. 13mo
Aimeesue Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy. Who doesn‘t love a redemption? 13mo
jlhammar @MicheleinPhilly No problem. Thanks for letting me know! 13mo
quietjenn Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy for me. 13mo
BookishShelly Mercy House sounds great! 13mo
Singout Is it too late to join this group? 13mo
jlhammar @Singout Not at all - we‘d love to have you! Please feel free to vote here and I‘ll go ahead and tag you now on the others. 13mo
Singout Thank you! I‘ll pick Mercy House. 13mo
Caroline2 Mercy house 13mo
batsy Five for Sorrow. Can't say no to Rumer Godden! 13mo
kspenmoll Mercy House 13mo
jlhammar It's been a week so going to go ahead and close voting. Mercy House it is! 13mo
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Teresereading
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Book - Five for Joy
Author - Favel Parrett
Movie - Forrest Gump
Singer - Feargal Sharkey
Song - Fernando, Abba

#ManicMonday #LetterF @CBee

CBee Thanks for playing! 😃 2y
Lizpixie Wow. Blast from the past with your singer choice! I still find myself singing A Good Heart sometimes #OnceAn80sGirlAlwaysAn80sGirl 2y
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Centique
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#bookhaul
Second hand book sale at the church down the road. I hadn‘t planned to go and may have been quoted as saying “it‘ll be filled with popular books I won‘t want”

Feeling sheepish now 😜

Kavalier and Clay is to replace my copy that a friend borrowed and lost. 🙌

vivastory Great haul! Kavalier & Clay is a favorite. 3y
LiteraryinPA Hedgehog is a favorite of mine! 💗 3y
AlaMich @vivastory I heartily second this opinion!! 3y
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LeslieO Nice haul! 3y
vivastory @AlaMich I definitely need to read more Chabon! 3y
Dragon Good haul! 👍📚💚 3y
merelybookish Eye spy a Rumor Godden! 👀 3y
LeahBergen @merelybookish I spotted that, too! 😆 Nice haul! 👏👏 3y
Centique @LeahBergen @merelybookish that was the book that changed my whole mood about book buying today! 3y
Centique @LiteraryinLawrence I‘ve heard so many lovely reviews of it, I‘m excited to read it! 3y
Centique @Dragon thank you! 😘 3y
Centique @LeslieO makes a nice start to the weekend 🥰 3y
BarbaraBB What is the what is excellent too! 3y
CarolynM Great haul! I loved Run. 3y
Leftcoastzen Wow , nice titles! 3y
Megabooks Lovely stack! 3y
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MaureenMc
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After being reminded by other posts that I wanted to read more Godden this year, I chose this novel off my Kindle shelf. One of her convent novels, it tells the story of Lise, a prostitute/madam/murderer turned nun. While exploring themes of forgiveness and redemption, Godden doesn‘t shy away from the grittiness and messiness of life. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
(TW: violence, sexual abuse)

EvieBee I just love a good nun story, and Godden is so good! Must read. 4y
MaureenMc @EvieBee I love Godden, too. And this particular nun story is wild, but so good! 😁 4y
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suffisaunce
Pickpick

I bought this story about Lise, who goes from brothel to prison to convent, for 5 cents in college & read it 2-3 times--it's a terrific potboiler. Rereading 25 years after, in addition to having forgotten many details, what younger me missed was the nuance, the grey areas in the heroine's makeup, above all the pathos. Either way, it's one of those shorter reads you just can't put down. (In This House of Brede already on the long-term list ...)

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