- is, unlike the ex-nuns of the sixties and seventies, she doesn't blame the church for her mistake. Ms. Baldwin readily acknowledges she was given every opportunity to 'test her vocation' and back out before commiting herself but failed to take advantage of them because she wished to avoid onerous responsibilities at home. She never says what Order or Congregation she belonged to but from the description of the habit I'd guess she was a Canoness Regular, probably Augustinian.

This is an interesting, plotless little book that focuses not only on the physical contrasts between life in and out of the convent but the psychological ones as well. Baldwin spends lot of time giving slightly abstract spiritual arguments in favor of the religious community she has left, which is fine, but as a story the book doesn't seem to work very well. Not only are several of the references to the changing times quite obsolete (although interesting), but part of the wonder of the book must have stemmed from seeing the world as it was then (in the late forties, would have been "is now"), but that world is gone and so what we are left with now is a look at a world that is even more distant from us now than it was from Ms. Baldwin then. I still give it four stars, because I enjoy the writing and was not bothered too much by the datedness of it, but if you are looking for a book on convent life and its effects, you may prefer "Through the Narrow Gate" or "In This House of Brede".

I'll be honest, I've read the book rather than listened to the tapes, but if they live up to the written word this is a fascinating insight into a very "human" woman who entered an enclosed convent before WW1 and came out during WW2. When you haven't been outside the walls of your convent for 26 years life must have changed. Monica explains how she adapted to a different world with great humour and humility. If you want to know why some people shut themselves up in religious communities, and can spend more than 20 years working out why they made a mistake, this will supply plenty of answers.