This is a twisty, immersive piece of historical fiction, told with a level of detail I haven't encountered before. I love anything set in a remote community, especially with a religious element, and while at times the pace was a little slow, I was completely entranced by the medieval world of this convent. A really lovely little gem.

The harsh landscape of the Norfolk Fens in 990AD is the setting for this atmospheric novel which takes us deep into the heart of the community who call this isolated place home. Sister Hilda is the infirmarian who tends the sick with stoic acceptance, and who, left to her own devices, doesn’t question too much about the running order of the convent. With complex and beautifully drawn characterisation the story comes alive and although deep in gloom there is a poignant simplicity to the relationship between Hilda and Wulfrun, a woman whose very presence at the convent causes a swell of unease.

Beautifully atmospheric, and rich in detail, this lyrical novel combines folklore, fear and superstition in a story which lingers long after the last page is turned.

I enjoy folklore and fantasy and learning about herbal remedies of old as a change from thrillers and more demanding reads but found it hard to involve myself with the characters and tale. I was somewhat irked with words that I had no idea how to pronounce – I'm all for great imagination and pulling up historical names and places, but I needed help! Most of the writing is really good, suitably atmospheric, though slow at times.

In the year 990, Christianity is well established in England but the old rites are buried deep in collective memory. Whatever prayers are sent to God, whatever sacrifices made to the old gods, the nuns and those in the community around the convent are always at the mercy of the mere, the great salt marsh that keeps them and threatens them. All know to keep within the boundary beyond which the marshland rules and danger lurks.
Infirmarian Hilda has only ever lived within the environs of the convent, leaving only to visit Sweet, a woman who lives in a house on stilts in the surrounding marshland, and whom the Abbess Sigeburg has forbidden Hilda from visiting. Hilda’s parentage is known but not spoken of; she is related to the abbess but that brings her no favour. Far from it: Sigeburg is full of bitterness and cruelty, with ‘a piety that creeps around a woman like a vine. She will strangle you with scripture and punishment and insist that you thank her’. New arrival Wulfrun, in contrast, has been married, borne a son, lived in different places, encountered cruelty of a more physical nature.
Mere life is precarious: poor harvests and dwindling supplies mean a hard winter. Tempers fray even among the sisters. As well as food and warmth, pity and mercy are in short supply with Sigeburg in charge. While women are at the centre of the story, it acknowledges the limits of their power. Until they seize it. I recommend Mere if, like me, you love a convent story; Danielle Giles has created an immersive world among the fenland which will suck you in right to the end.

This is such an impressive debut. Beautifully written, in a way that just pulls you in, extremely atmospheric and engaging.

A young boy goes missing in the mere which sets off a series of terrible events. Is there a real curse set on the land? Is there something more powerful and dark living within the mere? Or is it just a series of unfortunate events that are being used for multiple power plays within the convent? I loved how the book continuously played with my expectations about where this story would go. I think until the end it never really forced an answer on the reader but rather let the story flow and let me get pulled along into these increasingly unsettling developments.

Our main character is Hilda, an infirmarian who has seemingly equal connection to spells and healing related more to old gods, as well as her Christian faith. I loved how this book showed the mix between the old traditions and how hard it was for people to give them up in favour of Christianity. Aside from Hilda this books is filled with unique characters, all who have their own unique personalities and go through their own journeys. I found it especially impressive since I'm usually bad at remembering a large cast of characters, but this story made everyone feel so distinctive that they were never difficult to follow.

In the end, no matter how cheesy it might sound, it is a story about the power of love. How the shared burden is a burden halved. I'll admit I never expected this story to have a happy ending, not after it made me cry so many times throughout it. But I thought it was a beautiful and a poetic ending. I thought the relationship between Hilda and Wulfrun was magical and sweet and I could have happily spent another 200 pages with them.

I look forward to more books from Danielle Giles.

There aren't too many historical novels set at the end of the first millennium, but this book starts to put that deficit right.

Sister Hilda is the infirmarian in a remote Norfolk convent, the other side of a desolate fen from the nearest town. The locals are halfway between the pagan gods and Christianity, eking out a hard living on liminal land. The abbess Sigeburg returns to the convent with a newly widowed postulant, Wulfrun, and her boy servant Eadwig. When Eadwig gets lost in the mere on the journey, Wulfrun asks Hilda to help her search for him, but as the days go on everyone suspects the worst has happened.

The story conjures up the time and place excellently, playing with religion and superstition, together with the feeling that the sinister landscape could turn on the characters at any minute. A recommended read for lovers of historical fiction.

In her debut novel, Giles’ lyrical prose brings to life a waterlogged and forgotten corner of medieval England where the ever-present mere threatens to claim lives and incite madness, and where the tenderness of love, friendship, and the renewal of life cling on to existence wherever they can.

Centred around a convent and the nuns and lay people living there, Giles weaves a chilling tale in which an unsettling and sinister presence lures the reader in, unable to escape until the truth is revealed. The convent faces a crisis: risk a descent into chaos with the hope that salvation will come after, or preserve the status quo and risk death. Female power and female relationships are explored, often subverting the ideas traditionally held about medieval nuns; the novel examines what happens when women turn on each other versus when they unite in a setting not often utilised for such a theme.

Giles’ crisp details of the natural world and the visceral realities of medieval life evoke the brutal and oppressive setting of the marshes in winter, a reminder that perhaps humans aren’t in control despite a fervent belief in God.

This was so well executed. It really felt like Max Porter's Lanny and Lauren Groff's Matrix came together to create an even eerier and queerer little novel that is so infatuated with the medieval world and the things that the medieval English world was infatuated with - the church, the natural world, and homoerotic tension. It did feel a little bit slow at times despite there being plenty happening and was certainly eventful. It was more that the atmosphere and the attention to detail in the worldbuilding tended to make it feel longer than it absolutely needed to. I don't mean that as a criticism as it added to the medieval atmosphere, with little happening and nothing to dominantly take up our space and time, what else is there to pay attention to but the periphery? I also felt as though the more demonic aspects were really beautifully and delicately handled. I tend to grow irritated at supernatural and demonic stories, but Giles masterfully held the tension between having these serious and frightening threats while maintaining the humanity of the sufferers. Really well done.

I hereby crown Mere Gay Nun Book of the Year. [some spoilers, I guess?] That sounds sarcastic and mean, but hey—we had Lauren Groff's Matrix (2021), now we've got this, this is starting to look like a subgenre. What's interesting about Mere, which otherwise has a fairly standard tussle for convent leadership at the centre of its plot, is that it takes the supernatural, and the tension between pagan worship and an imperfectly Christianised populace, seriously. It's obvious from early on that there's something inexplicable about the behaviour of people who get lost in the marsh that surrounds this East Anglian convent, something that isn't attributable to simple disorientation or the aftereffects of exposure. Those who don't die return changed, apparently able to perceive far more of the natural world around them, and able to pass that perception on to anyone who physically touches them. If Mary Stewart's Merlin novels count as fantasy—and she won the Mythopoeic Award for two of them—this certainly does too. For the most part the medieval setting is evoked effectively. There's a sensory and sensual groundedness that the best fiction of this kind has (I'm thinking of Nicola Griffith's Hild, or Sylvia Townsend Warner's The Corner That Held Them, or Stewart's Merlin novels again, or Mantel's Wolf Hall) that Mere doesn't quite have, although there are definitely extraordinarily evocative moments: the scene of the whippings administered to errant sisters on Christmas Eve, for example. The lesbian nuns feel more right than Groff's, though; it's not just about sex but also about emotional connection and intensity. Well worth picking up.

Was completely sucked into the world of Mere. Eery and haunting. The setting is vivid and immediately places you so clearly at the Abbey and among the bog lands. Hilda was well rounded, spiky and full of experience. Her position as Infirmarian was intriguing and placed her at the centre of all events in the book. I really enjoyed the hierarchy of the Abbey and the quiet, unspoken things between each character. Wulfrun in her knowing and quiet ways. Loved Tove and Sweet. Bloody in parts, gore-filled and with the devil looming quietly just beyond.

This historical fiction story is set in the Fens of Norfolk in 990 AD. Set amid this area is a community of nuns and those living nearby. There is a fear of the fens and the dark bogs, pools and unclear pathways. Some will forage around the edges, and those who know some of the pathways.

Having visited Norfolk, the Fens and the surrounding area when I went camping with my family as a child, I remember the warning I was given about sticking to the pathways. I know the landscape has changed obviously between the time of the story and when I visited, but the atmosphere of wandering the paths and not walking at night in the area added a huge sense of dread, fear and suspense.

There are some key characters in this story and these are very easy to remember as the story of the community unfolds. There is a fear that the land that is used for farming, foraging and fishing is not producing what it once did. Times are getting harder, and there is a young boy who gets lost in the fens. He was the latest arrival to the community, along with Wulfrun, who is to join the order. It is Wulfran's arrival that upsets the balance, and along with this comes a huge change to the way things are.

The author uses the iron will of the Abbess to maintain control, but there are whispers in the corners about a curse. While this is a Christian community, there are also the old ways that are intertwined into everyday lives. The details of their living conditions, the daily life and chores, and how society treats women who are discarded by husbands or parents are interesting.

The sense of fear and mistrust of change that is shown through the story is intriguing and adds a huge amount of suspense. There are mentions of romance and also how treatments and natural remedies are used in the infirmary.

This story has a lot of detail about the life and times in the area and I found it interesting to read and the main storyline to be very addictive. This is not a fast paced book, and everything is timed with the way of life and the seasons, so it is a very fitting pace. But it does allow the author to explore her characters more.

If you are a fan of historical fiction then this is a book that might very well interest you. It took me a little longer to read than normal, but I do tend to notice this more with historical fiction. I would definitely recommend it.

Mere by Danielle Giles

England 990 AD. Lying at the edge of a mysterious and sinister mere, sits an austere convent. What evil emanating from the adjacent murky waters, is fuelling mishap and misfortune on the ailing sisterhood? How will the suspected curse be overcome?

This book reminded me of Black Narcissus and Hammer films of the 1960’s with its swirling misty and brooding atmosphere. It is a patient read, but imbued with characters, both well drawn and whose fate you come care about.

#docs.reading.room

Mere by Danielle Giles is a haunting and atmospheric historical tale set in Norfolk, 990 AD. The novel is rich with tension and beautifully written, offering a deep exploration of fear, survival, and power in a world both religious and superstitious.

The story is set in a secluded convent, isolated by the dangerous mere, where a group of holy sisters lives under the stern guidance of Abbess Sigeburg. Their existence seems peaceful at first, but when a young servant boy is taken by the mere, dark secrets begin to surface, and the convent’s once stable foundation starts to crack.

What I found most compelling about Mere was the way Giles weaves together the sacred and the sinister. The mere itself, with its treacherous waters and ever-present mist, becomes more than just a setting. It is an ominous, almost sentient force that mirrors the dark tensions bubbling within the convent. The eerie descriptions of the marshes and pools add to the novel’s chilling atmosphere, creating a sense of impending doom throughout the story.

The characters are equally well-crafted. Hilda, the convent’s infirmarian, is a figure of compassion and quiet strength, yet she is also torn between loyalty to her sisters and the growing sense that something darker is at play. Sister Wulfrun, with her pride and mysterious arrival, adds a fiery spark to the narrative. Her presence disrupts the convent’s routine, and her enigmatic nature draws Hilda in, leading to a slow-burn tension that is impossible to ignore. The question of whether Wulfrun is a saint or a serpent looms large, and the dynamic between the two women is one of the novel’s most engaging aspects.

The writing is another highlight. Giles' prose is rich and evocative, with a lyrical quality that immerses the reader in the historical setting without feeling forced. The inclusion of Anglo-Saxon-inspired phrases adds authenticity to the world without overpowering the narrative, and the sensory descriptions of the convent’s interior and the surrounding marshlands are vivid and haunting.

3.5/5.

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Nuns are having their moment and I am HERE FOR IT. I’ll read a thousand books about nuns. This was perfect, beautifully written and filled with constant suspense and plot twists. This is historical fiction as I love to read it - immaculately researched, with characters that feel alive and who I care about, and with just a touch of mysticism. Oh and also queer elements. I adore!

As a resident of Norfolk myself, I’ve made several journeys across the fens, so I could relate to the potential it has for being eerie and atmospheric, beautiful in its bleakness, yet with the ability to pose a threat. This book hooked me with the setting, historical timeline and great characterisation.

The nuns’ commitment to an unorthodox way of life appeals as much as it can divide. Their convent is juxtaposed with the local community it serves. Here the sacred and the secular, the Christian and the pagan rub shoulders, and fear and superstition abide.

When rich, widowed Wulfrun becomes involved with the nuns, her presence is disruptive and divisive. She desperately seeks to find her young servant boy who vanished into the marshy mere. Her anxiety, and that of the community itself, is heightened by a doom-laden prophecy she shares.

Is Wulfun to be trusted? Is she a prophet, a seer, or a distressed woman causing trouble everywhere? Magnetic, charismatic, bold and brave she might be, but not everyone sees things her way, especially when she stays, joins the community, and wants to be Abbess herself.

Wulfrun becomes enamoured with Hilda, the infirmarian. The feelings are mutual. Their secret love grows and binds them closely together. Although it also makes Hilda feel torn between her duties and her desire as she wrestles with conflicting feelings.

The darkness encroaches. Hunger stalks them. Death lies at their doorstep. The misty mere rises up and floods their land and things get seriously out of hand. Who or what can save them? And who is willing to pay the price of becoming the sacrifice? This is a slow paced novel where these questions eventually find their answer. Grateful thanks to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for the eARC.

as a lover of historical fiction and anything folk leaning, i was really excited to pick mere up. unfortunately, this book turned out to be not for me. i found it boring and slow paced. not much happened, and i didn’t like hilda (the fmc). these things made it really hard to continue reading. one thing i did really like was the setting.

This is an absolutely beautifully written historical story of the power of faith, and love beside the harsh brutality of existence back then. Throw into the mix religion, superstition and mystery that give the whole thing an eerie gothic feel. Excellent.

"I lift no weapon, but kill more than the bravest warrior.
I live on women’s tongues and in men’s minds. I am a spilt pot, a razed city.
I am light as air, heavy as stone. No leechbook has cures for me, nor heroes swords against me."

Mere is an accomplished atmospheric debut novel by Danielle Giles. With lyrical writing, she imbues a sense of creeping foreboding and entrapment transporting the reader to an isolated convent surrounded by marshlands and ice-cold water and less than 200 souls. The novel explores themes of faith, superstition, manipulation, sexuality and politics, narrated in lyrical prose, revealing a unique new voice in English literature. Giles has innate talent in blending historical fiction and folklore elements, creating a compelling narrative with superb imagery that makes you feel the dampness of the mere and looming presence of an ancient power. “I feel no evil in it. No good either. It is vast and old and slow.”

Giles excels at character development, with each character having their own distinctive voice - a literary accomplishment. Abbess Sigeburg is a stoic, controlling woman who will "strangle you with scripture and punishment and insist that you thank her." Wulfrun, a mysterious woman who arrives at the convent under difficult circumstances, her past shadowed by pain and betrayal. Hilda, the four-decade-old infirmarian, is deeply absorbed in the convent’s life carrying for the ill but still keeps a sharp, observant mind and tongue. I could go on and on with the list of well-written characters, but as previously said, Giles' characterisation is superb. Her prose is rich and immersive, balancing historical detail with an almost fairy-tale quality.

Mere is a story about women navigating the confines of a convent at the borders under the looming presence of the mere. Despite the convent’s strict religious structure, older, darker beliefs simmer beneath the surface. The presence of the mere, its mythology, and the fear it instils create a sense of unease. The whispers of curses, omens, and unnatural forces blur the lines between folklore and reality playing an essential part in the story. Early, on the way of the abbess' return from Gipeswick with a small company of travelers and food rations for the winter, a kid is lost near the mere, and the sisters are quick to assign supernatural blame: "The other sisters say that a devil has woken in the marsh, taken the boy for his own." setting ablaze a series of events contributing to the mass hysteria soon to be unleashed.

Giles’ prose is vivid and immersive, seamlessly weaving folklore into Christian tradition. “I know better than to tell him otherwise, though from what I have seen the water-elf disease pales the nails and dampens the eyes, none of which afflicts Oswy. And so I gather together the needed herbs, mixing them with ale and holy water and singing over them a charm.” The dialogue is sharp, the characterisation layered and the themes deeply resonant. While some readers may find the pacing slow, it serves the purpose of creating tension and danger. The novel explores the power dynamics between the sisters—with a caveat. Giles also questions how faith is weaponised, how suffering is framed as divine will, and how people in power use faith to manipulate. The convent’s hierarchy is a constant source of tension, with alliances and rivalries shaping the fate of the sisters. ”She is a little serpent who thinks I do not mark her poison.”

The novel is also unflinching in its portrayal of sexual desire - and some Christians may find it blasphemous even. The relationship between Hilda and Wulfrun is charged, sensual, and depicted with powerful language. "When I slide my face between her thighs and taste her sour-sweet cunt, I feel as if I would not care if they heard us all the way in Gipeswic." Giles does not shy away from rawness, and these moments of intimacy stand in stark contrast to the rigid, punishing atmosphere of the convent. Toward the end, secrets unravel and long-held resentments come to a final climax igniting a fiery rebellion. The final part is brutal, gripping and utterly satisfying, if eerie and subtle. It will require a moment of reflection to grasp the full meaning of this incredible novel.

Mere is a stunning, evocative novel that lingers long after the final page. It is a novel of power, faith, and manipulation told with exquisite prose and an unflinching eye for historical and emotional truth. Highly recommended for readers who appreciate historical fiction blended with folklore and queer representation.

Disclaimer: Thank you, Pan MacMillan and Danielle Giles for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Norfolk, 990. Hilda came as a bastard child to the convent that is lead by the strict abbess Sigeburg and is now the infirmarian. One day the proud Wulfrun joins them while she is searching for a missing servant boy Eadwig in the marshlands around the monastery. His disappearance sets in motion a series of disastrous events and Wulfrun begins to rebel against Sigeburg.

Mere begins as a strong story with the mystery of the missing Eadwig, rumors of a monster in the mere (marshlands), a curse and ongoing struggles in the monastery. But as quickly the story becomes a mess and I must admit I felt little sympathy for the characters. All the men are assholes in the book, the nuns are sex-crazed, no one takes responsibility and that makes for a lot of useless deaths. I don't really understand the moral of the story either I guess - the ending was one big question mark for me.

This is Giles' debut novel and it is certainly not badly written, I liked reading it. But the plot goes nowhere for me. Or maybe I should read it again to appreciate it more.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in return for my honest opinion.

An eerie and moving gothic that often highlights the hypocrisy of organised religion. I enjoyed the perspective of the protagonist, Hilda, who after being raised in a convent is both naive and jaded in turn. Her often witty commentary on the struggles of her sisters with sin and propriety was a joy to read, and the ending was very satisfying. There were some unexpectedly heartbreaking moments, I wasn’t expecting such a rollercoaster of emotions. Wonderful book!

Thank you to Pan MacMillan and NetGalley for the ARC