The Sisterhood by Helen Bryan.

Menina Walker was a child of fortune. Rescued after a hurricane in South America, doomed to a life of poverty with a swallow medal as her only legacy, the orphaned toddler was adopted by an American family and taken to a new life. As a beautiful, intelligent woman of nineteen, she is in love, engaged, and excited about the future—until another traumatic event shatters her dreams. Menina flees to Spain to bury her misery in research for her college thesis about a sixteenth-century artist who signed his works with the image of a swallow—the same image as the one on Menina’s medal. But a mugging strands Menina in a musty, isolated Spanish convent. Exploring her surroundings, she discovers the epic sagas of five orphan girls who were hidden from the Spanish Inquisition and received help escaping to the New World. Is Menina’s medal a link to them, or to her own past? Did coincidence lead her to the convent, or fate? Both love story and historical thriller, The Sisterhood is an emotionally charged ride across continents and centuries.

My Review:
This was an awesome read about finding out where you came from. Menina was an orphan. She had no idea why her parents left her, and why they left her the items they did. They gave her a medal and a hand written book that they found with her. She was the only survivor, and she was young, young enough not to remember what really happened. As she grew up her adoptive parents promised to give these items back to her at a certain birthday. She is in a relationship, I did not care for her boyfriend and hope karma finds him, and she decides to go to Spain and do a little research about her past.
Fate has other plans for her, She is mugged and forced to go to a convent. They very same convent that could answer all her questions.
The author kept me on the edge of my seat with the Spanish inquisition, the innocent lives of children, and of course the mystery of the swallow. The author did a great job of writing about the past. I felt like I was living through it, rather than reading about it. It was different to read the authors story about women and the church. I really liked the ending, and it fit the plot well. I can not wait to read more from this author. I am giving this book a 4.5/5. I was given a copy to review from night owl reviews, however all opinions are my own!