From Publishers Weekly
Macomber (Between Friends; Navy Wife) covers familiar emotional ground in an unusual setting, giving readers a glimpse of life in a Minneapolis convent. In the early 1960s, three young women find themselves taking vows: Angelina Marcello, answering what she believes to be God's call; Kathleen O'Shaughnessy, who is following the urging of her devout parents; and Joanna Baird, who is fleeing heartbreak (her fiance arrived home from a tour in Vietnam with a pregnant Vietnamese bride a month before their planned wedding). They initially find fulfillment in service-Joanna as a nurse, Angelina as a home economics teacher, Kathleen as an elementary school teacher-but as the years pass, each confronts a crisis of faith that she cannot resolve within the convent walls. In the early 1970s, they return to secular life to face a society that has changed dramatically in the previous decade, particularly in relations between men and women. The premise is inventive, but the challenges the sisters face-a young student's back-alley abortion, an alcoholic priest, encounters with violent and lascivious men-are predictable, and Macomber gives them stock treatment. The development of the women's friendship occurs off the page, so that it seems jarring when they reminisce like soul mates at a reunion years later, with families in tow. Macomber's historical research about the Second Vatican Council and church politics is seamlessly woven into the story and adds badly needed depth to the novel.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
In prolific and diverse writer Macomber's latest contribution to the women's fiction genre, three young women decide to enter a convent in Minneapolis during the 1950s and 1960s. Angelina Marcello, the oldest, becomes a nun against the protest of her beloved father. Joanna Baird enters the convent after her boyfriend marries someone else, and Kathleen O'Shaughnessy's family has always believed she would become a nun. The women weather turbulent times within the relative isolation of the convent, but the outside world does eventually intrude via their respective jobs. Kathleen and Angelina both teach in a parish high school, and Angelina develops a strong bond with one of her outspoken students that induces her to question her faith. The other two sisters also have crises of faith that lead them out to the greater world. When the convent is slated for demolition in 2002, the former sisters reunite and share their stories. Macomber offers a very human look at three women who uproot their lives to follow their true destiny. Patty Engelmann
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