Strangers in a Strange Land

The history of Saint Susan's monastery on the south coast of England is as remarkable as the tumultuous times in which it existed. Located at East Lulworth, it was founded in 1794 and existed for twenty-three years before political and other circumstances forced Dom Antoine Saulnier de Beauregard and his community to leave England for France in 1817. There they re-founded the old Cistercian abbey of Melleray in Brittany. Strangers in a Strange Land brings the story of Saint Susan's monastery to light against the backdrop of a war between England and France, religious prejudice, conflicts of personality, lies, and misunderstanding. It introduces the dominant figure of the time, Dom Augustin de Lestrange, abbot of La Valsainte in Switzerland, as well as two others of major importance including the first prior of the house, Dom Jean-Baptiste Desnoyers, and the last and only abbot, Dom Antoine Saulnier de Beauregard.