Kathryn Hulme (1900–1981)

I read this in college when I was reading all of Hulme's books that I could find, and have wanted to re-read it but it's out of print. So I was glad to find a Kindle edition.

For five years she was an administrator at several camps for displaced persons in Germany. When I read it the first time I didn't know much about post WWII stuff, just that there were a lot of refugees and some came to the US. She goes into the politics of how people were sent to various places, and how the US was quite show more late in accepting people. But it's her interesting in people's stories and her obvious concern and love for them that really makes it.

I also know more about Hulme, who was a devotee of Gurdjieff in Paris in the 30s. The nurse on her team is the former nun whose story she later told in her best-seller, and they were lovers. A fascinating person. show less

Rescued from the discards at the used book store this remarkable true story of a well-to-do young woman who becomes a nursing nun but struggles all along with the obedience her order requires was an amazing read detailing life in a convent and in a teaching hospital in the Congo. . When her superior asks her to deliberately fail a nursing test to overcome her pride Sister Luke begins to question the practices of the order. As a nurse she is dedicated to welfare of her patients and hesitates show more when the rules contradrict their needs. But one thing leads to another and Sister Luke eventually acts on her hypocracy. I recommend it to Catholics and others who are especially interested in inspirational stories. show less

(#31 in the 2006 book challenge)
Another excellent find at the used book store! It's a "true story" kind of thing that follows a young woman who becomes a nun and then ends up as a missionary in the Congo in the 1930s. She returns to a convent in Belgium just in time for the Nazi invasion. Completely melodramtic yet full of fascinating details about convent life. It probably goes without saying that the Congo stuff in particular is very much of its time. My goodness, I would last about two show more hours in a convent.

Grade: B+
Recommended: Heartily, for the obsessed with nuns set. Other folks, not so much. It's no "In This House of Brede," that's for sure. show less

Very to glad to have found an affordable copy of this memoir of the post WW II Displaced Persons saga. Very well written and illuminating. It was referenced by other books that I read about this period of time.