As a fairly unfamiliar person when it comes to Catholism I found this story most interesting and very well written. The flow from chapter to chapter was smooth. The story kept me interested enough to "read an extra chapter before retiring", for example. I could put it down, but waited with anticipation to start reading again. Hulme did a good job, to say the least, and I think the editor did do. As a prior member of our Armed Forces I found the discipline of the Sisters' admirable. As a Christian I know there is nothing I can do to earn God's amazing grace. Which is what the book is about in large part: how can Sister Luke justify herself to God? Well, she can't; but no one can! That's why Jesus came into the world.

I've read this book again and again for the past 3 years and I've enjoyed it each time. It's dept of character, the smooth writing and captivating plot still engages me. I was lucky to find a first edition, hardbound, copy after a long search around the world; if ur trying to get a copy and can't find one, don't give up. This one is worth the wait. U'll love every minute of it.

Those wishing to understand Katherine Hulme may also wish to read The Ladies of the Rope, by William Patrick Patterson.

Hulme was one of the middle-aged lesbians in Gurdjieff's cult-inside-a-cult called the Rope; like all the others she was a gifted writer and a True Believer in both Gurdjieff and the kinds of modern art popular at the time. (In other words, her life was largely devoted to hoaxes, but this is beside the point.) While the book is certainly well written, it is hard to get past Hulme's gullibility and self-absorption and figure out exactly what it is she is trying to say here. Much like the feeling you get when encountering Hulme's favorite James Joyce and his like...