Barbara I. (Munro) reviewed on 10/10/2006 + 95 more book reviews

National Bestseller Only a remarkable life course could transform a devout nun into a sophisticated iconoclast. Armstrong here recounts precisely such a journey with an unflinching honesty that exposes unanticipated ironies in her personal metamorphosis. Thus the embittered nun who repudiated religion when she abandoned the convent now wryly contemplates her professional status as a writer passionately attracted to religion and personally devoted to a regimen of silent reflection strikingly similar to that of religious orders. To be sure, Armstrong maintains her distance from Christian orthodoxy and still recalls her convent years as deeply painful. But taking her title metaphor from poet T. S. Eliot, Armstrong views all of the wrenching reversals of her life--including not only the spiritual trauma of renouncing religious vows but also the psychological distress of dealing with misdiagnosed epilepsy and the academic disappointment of failing to win her doctorate--as parts of a coherent pattern of gradual enlightenment. Though that enlightenment has left Armstrong far from orthodoxy, it has awakened in her a new appreciation for the moral teachings of Jesus and--much to her surprise--even a profound sympathy for St. Paul. This enlightenment has also led Armstrong to explore the spiritual riches of Islam and Buddhism, so deepening her awareness of interfaith parallels. Even among readers who embrace doctrines Armstrong dismisses (such as the reality of a personal God), this candid memoir will clarify thinking about the search for the sacred.

Back to all reviews by this member
Back to all reviews of this book
Back to Book Reviews
Back to Book Details