In Godden's own writings there are analogies between Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy and Gypsy, Gypsy (1940), also set in France. The latter story describes an irredeemably wicked Englishwoman, Barbe de Marquemont, who has inherited her husband's estate in Normandy.

She allows a gypsy to live there with his family, but at a high price, the total loss of his personal freedom. Her cruel exploitation of the gypsy is a study of evil for evil's sake. In In This House of Brede (1969), Godden describes an English Benedictine monastery in depth through the eyes of Philippa Talbot, who at forty-two turns from an outstanding career and bright prospects to become a cloistered Benedictine nun.

Godden's study of monastic life over a five-year period in preparation for the novel doubtless enriched her understanding of the nuns at Bethanie.