An interesting and thought provoking journey alongside an every day woman searching for meaning. It was funny and real enough to remind you that this is a true story.

This book describes the adventures of a 50-something lady (twice divorced, mother of three and at the time engaged soon to be married) who, following a sudden calling, decided to enter the religious orders. I chose the book because I was interested to see how an outsider would cope with the doctrine and constraints of the different religious institutes (Anglican and Roman Catholic).

Predictably, obedience would prove to be a tough one as well as monotony, conformity and humility. Along her spiritual journey of self-discovery, the author faced unresolved issues spawn from a traumatic past episode and experienced some bizarre events (no spoilers).

The book provides interesting inside information and some surprising facts (who knew that Gregorian chants had proven beneficial health effects?), however throughout the book, from her superficial comments, I had the impression that Ms Christmas did not have a genuine vocation but rather she was driven by mere curiosity. I hope that her ultimate goal was a genuine spiritual journey and not an excuse to write a book (she is a professional journalist) because otherwise it would mean she took advantage of the nuns and monks who warmly welcomed her in their midst.

While I acknowledge that the book provides some glimpses into the religious life that is largely unknown to the secular world, I didn’t like this book. The author irreverent statements rubbed me the wrong way, they seemed forced and aimed at ridiculing the people around her. Sadly, I think Ms Christmas missed an opportunity to explore the values that the cloistered life can offer and instead chose to use cheap humour to disguise her criticism.
Definitely a “different” read, but one I would not recommend. 1.5 stars

Interesting subject- I didn't know that Anglican nuns existed. I found it interesting that the author had so much faith that she considered leaving her life to become a nun. It mainly made me want to travel to England and visit the different ruins and abbeys that are there.

Interesting subject- I didn't know that Anglican nuns existed. I found it interesting that the author had so much faith that she considered leaving her life to become a nun. It mainly made me want to travel to England and visit the different ruins and abbeys that are there.

I snapped up this book on a whim. There was an ebook sale, and this was one of the (several) nonfiction options that I found intriguing. And after reading the preview, I was well and truly hooked.

The premise of this memoir is that Christmas decides to seriously explore, once and for all, whether or not to follow the religious calling she's heard all her life and to become a nun -- and she makes this decision just as her boyfriend proposes to her. This is the most immediate and obvious tension, but to my mind it's not really the central one. But I'll get to that in a bit.

I have to start off by saying that I'm not a spiritual or religious person. At all. The closest sensation I get is a lingering resentment at my mom's occasional and ultimately futile attempts to turn my family into a proper church-going family. So I will admit that I picked up this memoir because I was interested in a deep dive into a mindset, a way of life, that's frankly totally alien to me. So the chance for some insight into both the details of how Christmas practices her faith and into her personal relationship with her faith were a big part of the appeal of this book for me.

Make no mistake, this book isn't about a dilettante or observer. Christmas is utterly serious about her desire to become a nun, and one feels the weight of that choice as a constant pressure throughout her journey. Throughout the book, she grapples not with what she learns of the actual lifestyle, but also with her faith and what it means to her, and the difference between her faith and its institutional arm on Earth, her church. Again: a lot of the enjoyment for me came from gaining insight into a very different point of view than my own, so I found her discussion, positive and negative, of everything to be deeply interesting and enlightening.

Not far into the book, another personal conflict arises, and that is Christmas' need to deal with a traumatic experience in her past. In some ways it seems like an odd intrusion, but she writes very honestly about being the victim of rape and how the experience affected her immediately and for the decades after her life -- and also how her spiritual journey helped her finally begin grappling with what was done to her. The summary I read online didn't mention this at all which is why I was so surprised when such a personal and traumatic experience came up. This book is way more mature, in terms of the issues and choices it faces, than its marketing suggests.

The weightiness of its central conflicts aside, And Then There Were Nuns is a truly enjoyable read. Christmas is a talented writer and her voice is wry and funny, full of observations that are funny and profound by turn. Her words are honest and genuine, and she has a strong sense of how to tell the story of her life. No surprise, as this isn't her first memoir, and she was a journalist for many years, too.

All in all, a moving and interesting read. I suspect I'm not done with it yet and will be returning to it soon. I suspect its appeal may be limited, but if anything I've written here appeals or intrigues, then I definitely suggest picking it up.

I read this book in one sitting because it was engaging, and because I find people's spiritual journeys interesting. Parts of it annoyed me. There was a definite air of, "OMG, Christians are being SO VERY PERSECUTED" woven in the tales of how some people responded with scorn to her religious beliefs instead of lifting them up as something worthy of praise. That isn't persecution: that is secular society being as bold with their disinterest in religion as Christians have been in their arrogance towards anyone who is not Christian. Then there was her insistence that progressive measures like making the liturgy gender-neutral or making the readings more modern were "political correctness gone awry" while berating the church for not being progressive about ordaining women or accepting women over a certain age as postulants at convents. A preference for gender-neutral liturgy or modern interpretations is just as valid as ordaining women, and both are the right thing to do. There is plenty of room for traditional and progressive liturgy in the church just like there is for women and men in the clergy.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the authentic soul-searching she did throughout the process of her discernment. It would have been much easier to continue to ignore the issues she faced, to gloss over her own shortcomings, or even to dismiss her attraction to religious life and not go through discernment at all. Instead she faced all of those things (some things more readily than others, as is normal) and came to a better understanding of herself in the process. That was a joy to read.

I was given this book, and it was a gift many times over. Especially at the outset, I wished Christmas might give more glimpses of her own inner life, and her responses to the rhythm of religious life. But her memoir of exploring such a way of life (and many variations on it!) is affectionate, searching, and unflinchingly honest... an engaging and rewarding read. Come for the nuns, stay for the descriptions of English landscapes.