The Sisterhood

By: Helen Bryan

Narrated by: Laura Roppe

Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

Reeling from a broken engagement, adopted 19-year-old Menina Walker flees to Spain to bury her misery by writing her overdue college thesis - and soon finds herself on an unexpected journey into the past. The subject of her study is Tristan Mendoza, an obscure 16th-century artist whose signature includes a tiny swallow - the same swallow depicted on a medal that is Menina’s only link to her birth family.

Hoping her research will reveal the swallow’s significance and clue her in to her origins, Menina discovers the ancient chronicle of a Spanish convent, containing the stories of five orphaned girls hidden from the Spanish Inquisition before they escaped to the New World. Learning about the girls’ adventures, the nuns who sheltered them, and Mendoza, Menina wonders if accident or destiny led her to Spain - and the discovery of a lifetime.

From best-selling author Helen Bryan comes The Sisterhood, an epic adventure filled with history, passion, and intrigue.

©2013 Helen Bryan (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Blend of history and fiction

Excellent performance. Plot leaves a few loose ends hanging but is. Good mix of past and present

historical meets present

loved this tale of faith and love. the nun's. did so much for the women. they had the courage and belief's so strong that they were able to achieve great things. minina was courage in her own right by helping and saving the nun's and their home.

GREAT LISTEN

If I would have read the reviews first, I would not have chosen this book. Since I didn't know I wasn't supposed to be enthralled, I was. The tricky part of this story is that everyone has about the same name and skipping back and forth through centuries sometimes caught me off guard.
Menina could have and should have been more aware of her surroundings, but then if she were where would the story be. I loved all the twists and turns, all the involved lives, and the mysteries. The story does tend to drag along in spots and I wish that some of the girls' lives would have ended up differently. But all in all, it is a great listen and worth the credit. Don't listen to the negative reviews!

Good story; poor performance

There are some books that are enriched by their audio performance; this is not one of those.

The story is interesting, tracing the history of a Catholic sisterhood that used its convent to protect non-Catholic (Jewish and Muslim) girls and women from the Church's Inquisition, eventually moving them to safety in South America. The author creates a character, a child adopted from South America by Southern Christians, who helps uncover some of the history and the secrets of Los Golondrinos, the Spanish sisterhood.

The performance, however, does not add to the story. Most of the book is narrated in a fake Spanish accent, with some parts in a fake Southern accent. As someone who is familiar with the differences among Spanish, Mexican, Honduran, Guatemalan, and Argentine accents, as well as the differences among various parts of the American South, the narrative voices were fake and annoying.

The narrator also used a high-pitched fake Spanish accent for many of the nuns, especially the older ones. This was even more irritating to me as a listener.

In the voice of a better narrator, or read on paper, this might be a better book.

Great Story!

Where does The Sisterhood rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

2nd after Cutting for Stone

What did you like best about this story?

Interesting story, historical information

What about Laura Roppe’s performance did you like?

It was OK

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It was good

Any additional comments?

It got a little confusing with so many characters

Couldn't stop listening!!

I am a novice eBook listener and the was an excellent choice for me. I really enjoy the story as it held my attention but wish the ending was longer or more descriptive.

Wow

Definitely not what I expected but wonderfully surprising. A well rounded story with a little religion, history, art, a bit of love and dash of faith. Very glad this book chose me!

Wonderfull story

I loved listening but there were so many characters I was sometimes a little confused. But I enjoyed the story so much I think I will listen to it again. Very nicely narrated!

read if you love Spain.

Had a hard time putting this one down. loved the insite of Spanish history. A very entertaining read.

The changed gospel

There was 1 thing I absolutely did not like was how they changed the gospel and made Jesus seem like a bully. I could not listen to that part and just went back to the written book and flipped through the book till I got past that part.