Unconventional Women
The story of the last Blessed Sacrament Sisters in Australia
Sarah Gilbert
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Member discount
As an MUP member you get 25% off the price of this book.
Member discount
As an MUP member you get 25% off the price of this book.
Member discount
As an MUP member you get 40% off the price of this book.
Member discount
As an MUP member you get 10% off the price of this book.
Member discount
As an MUP member you get 35% off the price of this book.
Member discount
As an MUP member you get 40% off the price of this book.
Imprint
Unconventional Women
The story of the last Blessed Sacrament Sisters in Australia
Sarah Gilbert
The lives of the women who joined a closed convent in Melbourne in a time of great upheaval
In the 1950s and 60s, six young women left their families to join a strictly enclosed order of nuns in Melbourne. They could leave the convent only for medical appointments and rarely received visitors, who they would meet from behind a partition built into the parlour. Their lives were confined by the convent walls, the rhythms of the Divine Office and the dictates of the Mother Superior.
By the late 1960s, this community of women was upended by the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, and by the changing times. Their convent threw open its doors on a new world and the women wanted to be part of it.
The personal accounts of the six nuns and ex-nuns in Unconventional Women are unusually candid, giving a rare insight into the world of the convent, and exploring their changing relationship with both God and the world.
In the 1950s and 60s, six young women left their families to join a strictly enclosed order of nuns in Melbourne. They could leave the convent only for medical appointments and rarely received visitors, who they would meet from behind a partition built into the parlour. Their lives were confined by the convent walls, the rhythms of the Divine Office and the dictates of the Mother Superior.
By the late 1960s, this community of women was upended by the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, and by the changing times. Their convent threw open its doors on a new world and the women wanted to be part of it.
The personal accounts of the six nuns and ex-nuns in Unconventional Women are unusually candid, giving a rare insight into the world of the convent, and exploring their changing relationship with both God and the world.
“
This is an unconventional love story, told with warmth and wisdom. It draws close to a small group of women who, in the 1950s and 60s, followed a call to join the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament...Sarah Gilbert worked hard to gain their trust and tells their story with a rare kind of intimacy. The result is a book that has much for the entire Catholic community to ponder. At its heart is a deepening understanding of the Eucharist”
Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne“
In a combination of oral history and historical commentary, Gilbert traces what drew these women to this life, its effects on them – both good and bad – and the paths they chose upon leaving. Some stories, such as Marie’s – an unmarried mother who felt her life come back to her through faith – are deeply moving. All their memories and observations, highly nuanced, provide intriguing reading.”
The Age“
An impressively researched and empathetically put together biography of a group of Melbourne-based nuns...It is a brilliant work of non-fiction – unique in its theme, angle and characters...If you are interested in spirituality, history or just love a good true story, then this book is for you.”
The AU ReviewSarah Gilbert
Sarah Gilbert is a writer, producer and oral historian from Sydney. She began her career as a copy girl at News Ltd before moving to New York where she worked as a feature writer at the New York Post. She returned home to work as a reporter in current affairs television, but soon moved Argentina where she wrote for Lonely Planet and Time Out.
Sarah’s writing has been published in the Sydney Review…
Paperback
Ships in 1–3 days
Member discount
As an MUP member you get 40% off the price of this book.
Member discount
As an MUP member you get 40% off the price of this book.
Member discount
As an MUP member you get 100% off the price of this book.
Member discount
As an MUP member you get 25% off the price of this book.
Member discount
As an MUP member you get 25% off the price of this book.
Member discount
As an MUP member you get 25% off the price of this book.
Member discount
As an MUP member you get 40% off the price of this book.
Member discount
As an MUP member you get 10% off the price of this book.
Member discount
As an MUP member you get 35% off the price of this book.
Member discount
As an MUP member you get 40% off the price of this book.
