The Nun's Story

by Kathryn Hulme

On This Page

Tags

Recommendations

Member Reviews

9 reviews
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 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.
(#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 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.
This is the story of a young girl's life after she enters the convent, and how she finally makes a decision to leave. It's been a long time since I read this book, but i remember it as being mesmerizing. Now that I've found the book, I'll read it again. By the way, the book was much better than the movie.
The story of a woman who decides to take the veil when she is young. She is determined to serve God with her best. As she ages and matures, so does her faith. She travels to some of the most difficult areas in her quest to serve God and her faith is severely challenged during WWII.
One of my all time favourites
½
657. The Nun's Story, by Kathryn Hulme (read 4 June 1961) I have a good memory of this book, though I did no post-reading note thereon.

Members

Recently Added By

Lists

Female Author
1,235 works; 65 members
Favourite Books
1,819 works; 308 members
What are your favourite books?
121 works; 11 members
Allie's Favourite 150 Books
145 works; 3 members
CONVENTional novels
19 works; 1 member
Books Set In Africa
81 works; 4 members
Favourite Books
50 works; 1 member
My favourite books
96 works; 3 members
Fiction about missionaries
34 works; 5 members
Five star books
1,755 works; 108 members

Author Information

Picture of author.
11+ Works 632 Members

Some Editions

Fransse, André (Translator)
Merlini, Mario (Translator)
Strøm, Leo (Translator)

Awards and Honors

Series

Belongs to Publisher Series

Work Relationships

Common Knowledge

Canonical title*
Nonnens historie
Original title
The Nun's Story
Original publication date
1956
People/Characters
Gabrielle Van der Mal/Sister Luke; Marie Louise Habets
Important places
Belgium; Congo
Important events
World War II (1939 | 1945)
Related movies
The Nun's Story (1959 | IMDb)
Dedication
For Charlotte S. Mack, with love and admiration
First words
The short black cape hooked at the neck and dropped without flare to the middle of the forearms.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Then the automatic camera whirred and a strip of photos shot into the metal trough.
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.

Classifications

Genres
Fiction and Literature, General Fiction
DDC/MDS
271.97ReligionHistory of ChristianityReligious congregations and orders in church historyOrders of WomenOther Roman sisterhoods
LCC
PZ3 .H879 .NLanguage and LiteratureFiction and juvenile belles lettresFiction and juvenile belles lettresFiction in English

Statistics

Members
536
Popularity
55,590
Reviews
9
Rating
(3.90)
Languages
12 — Catalan, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian (Bokmål), Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish
Media
Paper
ISBNs
13
ASINs
30