So Close to Heaven: A Novel

A harrowing tale of a single woman's fight to preserve her beloved abbey, a tale of courage and perserverance - based on a true story.





South Tirol, Sabiona Abbey, 1796: Magdalena, a Benedictine nun, lives with her fellow sisters at Sabiona Abbey, a secluded monastery atop a cliff high above the Eisack valley and only reachable by a strenuous climb. In this simple life of work, prayer and reading, Magdalena feels safe from the world, assured that her secret will remain hidden forever.





Until one-hundred-seventy Tirolian soldiers demand entry, Napoleon's army is almost upon them. As the world, Magdalena has so carefully built, crumbles, she must make a choice: leave the abbey to join her sisters at the bishop's summer residence or fight to save it-even if it may cost her everything.