ISBN-13: 9780872432017

In this unusual collection of fascinating autobiographies, Mary Loudon gives nuns from varying backgrounds, orders and beliefs a chance to speak openly and uninhibitedly about themselves and their lives. Her questions are sharp, sympathetic and challenging -- those of an outsider who has managed to achieve unique access to a world about which we know little -- and the stories of these ten women are moving, bizarre and sometimes shocking. "Enthralling, thought-provoking and immensely readable . . . A refreshing introduction for people who may never have met a nun and a revelation to those who thought that women became nuns because they could not face the world." (The Tablet, London)