And Then There Were Nuns by Jane Christmas - April 27, 2020

Again this month we have met online to discuss this month's book, And Then There Were Nuns by Jane Christmas.  This is Marg's book choice.  Jane Christmas is a Canadian author presently living in Britain.  She has written 6 non-fiction books, mostly about her own experiences in life.  Her latest book,  Open House, discusses her 32 moves in her life, those with her parents and in her adult life throughout her 3 marriages, and as a single parent.

Marg chose this book from a short list given to her by a friend.  Having received an offer of marriage from her boyfriend of several years, Colin, Ms. Christmas decides that before accepting to enter into a third marriage, she must explore her long-time desire to enter into a monastic life as a nun.  Coming from what was then called a "mixed marriage", an Anglican father and Catholic mother, she sets out to visit and explore life in 4 different convents, one in Canada and 3 in Britain.

Most of our members enjoyed the book and thought it was a good read. Though she treats her faith seriously she was not, in her discussions with priests and nuns, always accepting of what others said. She held her own in discussions and this added to the exploration of attitudes and beliefs in the different convents. There was a fair amount of humour and her own self-deprecating descriptions of how she reacted to some situations were funny. Her descriptions of life in the 4 different convents gave us a fair amount of information about life for women who choose a monastic life. It also allowed us to see the difference between Catholics and Anglicans. Certainly she found life as a Catholic nun much more restrictive and confining.

One of our members found the book to be a perfect read during Lent.  She felt that Ms. Christmas described well her experiences, her spiritual hunger and was very honest about exploring her spirituality.

Many of us decided not far into the book, that Ms. Christmas would not at the end of this exploration choose to become a nun. Though the exploration of her faith is serious, her constant comments and thoughts on, for example, attire the nuns wore, whether they be formal habits or not and her difficulty in accepting long periods of silence, were clues to her eventual decision.  It seemed obvious that isolation from usual everyday life was not in the cards for her.

A couple of our members, who did not enjoy the book as much as others, felt that she was whining too much and one member who read What the Psychic told the Pilgrim, found that book similar.

Thank you Marg for an interesting choice.