The Nun's Story
by Kathryn Hulme
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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.
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
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.
ninth printing
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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
- 271.97 — Religion History of Christianity Religious congregations and orders in church history Orders of Women Other Roman sisterhoods
- LCC
- PZ3 .H879 .N — Language and Literature Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Fiction in English
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- Reviews
- 9
- Rating
- (3.90)
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- 12 — Catalan, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian (Bokmål), Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 13
- ASINs
- 30










































































