cover image For the Love of God: Faith and Future of the American Nun

For the Love of God: Faith and Future of the American Nun

Lucy Kaylin. William Morrow & Company, $24 (256pp) ISBN 978-0-688-15458-5

Most books on Catholic nuns fall into two categories--there are the anti-Catholic habit-ripping expos s and, at the other extreme, the romantic hagiographies that paint nuns as ethereal beings. Refreshingly, Kaylin's approach is remarkably balanced, though she does occasionally lean in the direction of idealizing these brides of Christ. As she portrays them, they are courageous and plucky women, having weathered their own dwindling ranks, the cataclysmic changes of Vatican II and the challenges of careers outside the convent and the parochial school. Kaylin, a senior writer at GQ, positions herself as a complete neophyte-agnostic, anxious about the sisters' reaction to her. During her research, she was forced to rethink many of her stereotypes about nuns, some of whom perform in the circus (in order to establish ""a prayerful presence"" there), live alone in urban apartments or lead protests at the Pentagon. Far from just reporting, Kaylin expresses candid opinions at times, as when she chides the Catholic Church for its ""insultingly specious"" arguments against women's ordination. She is gravely concerned about the future, since the new opportunities available for women have meant that fewer are choosing a life of poverty, chastity and obedience. (Out of 135 sisters in one convent Kaylin profiles, 78 live full-time in the infirmary, ""a de facto nursing home."") Kaylin provides an opinionated but warm investigation into the changing fortunes of the American convent. (Nov.)