Cloistered
A gripping memoir of life as a nun, a Radio 4 Book of the Week
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
‘Evocative’ Sarah Perry
‘Immersive’ Katherine May
‘Profoundly moving’ Mark Haddon
Discover Catherine Coldstream’s compelling account of life as a nun in the 1990s, and the dramatic events which led to her flight from the monastery.
After the shock of her father’s death, and with the rest of her family scattered, Catherine was left grieving and alone at twenty-four. A search for meaning led her to the nuns of Akenside Priory.
Here she found a tight-knit community of dedicated women and peace in an ancient way of life. But as she surrenders to her final vows, all is not as it seems behind the Priory’s closed doors.
Catherine comes to realise that divine authority is mediated through flawed and all-too-human channels. She is faced with a dilemma: should she protect the serenity she has found, or speak out?
‘Gripping… A rich memoir’ Daily Telegraph
‘Absorbing and beautifully written’ Financial Times
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this penetrating debut memoir, former nun Coldstream describes her 12 years in an English priory and the circumstances that led to her eventual departure. Raised in an emotionally chilly family, Coldstream became bereft at age 24 when her elderly father died. After involving herself with various religious groups in an effort to aid her "long passage... across unfamiliar landscape" of grief, Coldstream found comfort in silent prayer at northern England's Akenside Priory. Inspired by the discipline and ritual she encountered there, Coldstream joined the mostly silent nuns' ranks. As time wore on, however, her "hospital for wounded souls" turned icy and toxic, with infighting, big egos, and power struggles troubling the waters in which Coldstream initially found solace. After her conflicts with her fellow nuns reached a fever pitch over the course of a decade, the author fled the cloister in the middle of the night. In lyrical, evocative prose ("Time passes in the monastery like ghosts that move through walls; it seeps through cell doors and stony archways, through bone and marrow, imprinting patience and endurance at every touch"), Coldstream opens a window into a reclusive culture, resolutely exposing its problems without losing sight of its virtues. The results will fascinate believers and non-believers alike.
