10 religion-themed books to get into if you liked ‘Knives Out 3’

Lauren Groff’s Matrix imagines the life of Marie de France as she becomes the prioress of a failing medieval convent. It examines the practical and spiritual challenges of running a religious community, including the management of resources, enforcement of rules, and care of nuns under her charge. The book emphasises communal labour, moral leadership and the intersection of individual agency with institutional expectation.

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Though broader in scope, Dostoevsky’s novel presents extensive glimpses of Russian Orthodox monastic life through the character of Elder Zosima and the moral debates surrounding the clergy. The text captures daily spiritual practice, mentorship of novices and the social influence of monastic figures, while addressing ethical and philosophical questions grounded in lived experience rather than abstract theology.

Set in a remote Himalayan palace converted into a convent, Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden portrays Anglican nuns confronting isolation, cultural dissonance and the strictures of religious discipline. The strongly religion-themed book emphasises the psychological strain of celibacy and obedience, the management of a community in an unfamiliar environment, and the tension between personal desire and institutional expectation.

The post-apocalyptic A Canticle for Leibowitz is centred around a Catholic monastic order dedicated to preserving fragments of pre-apocalyptic knowledge. Author Walter M. Miller Jr. details daily monastic routine, ritual observance and the challenges of sustaining faith and scholarship across generations. It highlights the role of monasteries as cultural preservers and centres of continuity in times of societal collapse.

In Anathem, science fiction titan Neal Stephenson creates a society of cloistered intellectuals whose lives mirror monastic orders. The novel describes strict adherence to ritual, communal study, hierarchical structures, and isolation from the outside world. These structures shape both knowledge production and personal identity, presenting religious life as a disciplined framework for intellectual and moral development.

Set in Renaissance Italy, Sarah Dunant’s Sacred Hearts focuses on women confined to a convent for social, economic and spiritual reasons. The book details daily routines, devotional practices and the negotiation of authority within cloistered life. Through the eyes of her characters, Dunant explores how social status, family expectations and institutional rules intersect with personal faith and agency.

Part of Ursula K Le Guin’s Earthsea series and the second book after A Wizard of Earthsea, this young adult novel presents a strict religious order governing a labyrinthine temple known as the Tombs of Atuan. The protagonist, Tenar, is taken from her family as a child and raised within the hierarchy of the temple, subjected to ritual, obedience, and the authority of the high priestess, the Nameless Ones’ servant. Le Guin explores how the monastery’s rigid structures shape identity, enforce conformity, and define power, while Tenar’s journey also examines personal agency, the conflict between duty and selfhood, and the eventual negotiation of freedom within a closed religious system.

The Pillars of the Earth is Ken Follett’s historical epic includes detailed depictions of cathedral-building projects and the monks, priests, and clerics involved. One of Follett’s most popular books, The Pillars of the Earth covers practical aspects of monastic administration, land management, and clergy involvement in local politics, showing how religious institutions operated as social and economic centres in medieval England.

A 2010 television miniseries was a lavish adaptation that translated the novel’s sweeping medieval ambition into eight episodes of political intrigue, architectural obsession and ecclesiastical power struggles. Produced by Ridley Scott and Tony Scott, the series stars Ian McShane as the ruthless Waleran Bigod, Eddie Redmayne as the idealistic builder Jack Jackson and Hayley Atwell as the resilient Aliena, anchoring the story’s blend of faith, ambition and survival. The series stands as a rare example of historical fiction that treats religious institutions not as distant backdrops, but as living systems that organise power, belief and human effort over generations.
 
 
 

A Gothic novel that explores the extremes of monastic life, Matthew Lewis’ The Monk examines its protagonist’s struggle with temptation, repression and institutional authority. The narrative depicts daily routine, hierarchical control, and the consequences of deviation from religious norms, offering a dramatic perspective on the pressures and hypocrisies embedded in cloistered orders.

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