convent

My week in a convent helped me see how our freedom is contaminated by noise. Silentium is a tribute to the nuns who welcomed me.

In Charlotte Wood’s novel, an atheist is driven by climate despair to an isolated convent, where she grapples with layers of grief.

Prayers linger in choir stalls, soak into walls. Centuries of prayer can make you feel buoyant in medieval European cathedrals. Gratitude settles over you like a benediction within busy urban shrines.