Graceful Exits : Catholic Women and the Art of Departure

The personal narratives of nine 20th-century Catholic female authors — Monica Baldwin, Antonia White, Mary McCarthy, Mary Gordon, Mary Daly, Barbara Ferraro, Patricia Hussey, Karen Armstrong, and Patricia Hampl — speak eloquently about the process of departure from the church and its institutions. This study explores each author's breaking of the taboo associated with women leaving their proper place. It locates five themes at the heart of all of their narratives: reversal, boundary crossing, diaspora, renaming, and recycling. Debra Campbell grapples with the spirituality of departure depicted by all nine women, for whom the very process of leaving Catholic institutions is a Catholic enterprise. These narratives support the popular maxim that no one ever really leaves the church. In the final chapter, Campbell examines narratives of return, confirming the book's overarching theme that neither departure nor return is ever finished. Publishers Weekly Campbell claims that Catholic women's reputation for obedience shrouds more complex realities. In this book, she uses the personal writings of Mary McCarthy, Karen Armstrong, Mary Gordon, Monica Baldwin, Mary Daly and others to demonstrate and analyze the art of departure (from the cloister, from the teachings of the Church or from the Church itself) that she says characterizes Catholic women. But because non-Catholic women's experiences are not seriously discussed here, readers will be left wondering if those experiences are truly unique after all. Still, this is a brave examination of many different kinds of spiritual border crossings. (Dec.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

The personal narratives of nine 20th-century Catholic female authors --
Monica Baldwin, Antonia White, Mary McCarthy, Mary Gordon, Mary Daly, Barbara
Ferraro, Patricia Hussey, Karen Armstrong, and Patricia Hampl -- speak eloquently
about the process of departure from the church and its institutions. This study
explores each author's breaking of the taboo associated with women leaving their
"proper place." It locates five themes at the heart of all of their
narratives: reversal, boundary crossing, diaspora, renaming, and recycling. Debra
Campbell grapples with the spirituality of departure depicted by all nine women, for
whom the very process of leaving Catholic institutions is a Catholic enterprise.
These narratives support the popular maxim that no one ever really leaves the
church. In the final chapter, Campbell examines narratives of return, confirming the
book's overarching theme that neither departure nor return is ever
finished.

The personal narratives of nine twentieth-century Catholic women writers -- Monica Baldwin, Mary Daly, Antonia White, Mary McCarthy, Mary Gordon, Barbara Ferraro, Patricia Hussey, Karen Armstrong, and Patricia Hampl -- speak eloquently about the process of departure from the church and its institutions (Catholic families, convents, or convent schools). Debra Campbell explores each author's breaking of the taboo associated with women leaving their "proper place." She locates five themes at the heart of all their narratives: reversals, boundary crossings, diaspora, renaming, and recycling. Campbell examines how each woman grapples with the spirituality of departure and shows that the very process of leaving Catholic institutions is a Catholic enterprise. These narratives support the popular maxim that no one ever really leaves the church. In the final chapter, Campbell examines narratives of return, confirming the book's overarching theme that neither departure nor return is ever finished. Annotation The personal narratives of nine 20th-century Catholic female authors--Monica Baldwin, Antonia White, Mary McCarthy, Mary Gordon, Mary Daly, Barbara Ferraro, Patricia Hussey, Karen Armstrong, and Patricia Hampl--speak eloquently about the process of departure from the church and its institutions. This study explores each author's breaking of the taboo associated with women leaving their "proper place." It locates five themes at the heart of all of their narratives: reversal, boundary crossing, diaspora, renaming, and recycling. Debra Campbell grapples with the spirituality of departure depicted by all nine women, for whom the very process of leaving Catholic institutions is a Catholic enterprise. These narratives support the popular maxim that no one ever really leaves the church. In the final chapter, Campbell examines narratives of return, confirming the book's overarching theme that neither departure nor return is ever finished preface......Page 10 acknowledgments......Page 12 introduction: flight......Page 14 1. “i leap over the wall”......Page 32 2. falling away or crossing over?......Page 58 Antonia White......Page 61 Mary McCarthy......Page 74 Mary Gordon......Page 92 3. be-ing is be/leaving......Page 110 4. a nun forever......Page 138 Karen Armstrong......Page 142 Barbara Ferraro and Patricia Hussey......Page 163 5. coming home......Page 184 Antonia White......Page 186 Mary Gordon......Page 196 Patricia Hampl......Page 208 epilogue......Page 224 sources consulted......Page 228 index......Page 234 The personal narratives of nine 20th-century writers speak eloquently about the process of departure from the Catholic church and its institutions. Debra Campbell explores each author's breaking of the taboo associated with women leaving their "proper place." She locates five themes at the heart of all their narratives: reversals, boundary crossings, diaspora, renaming, and recycling. Campbell examines how each women grapples with the spirituality of departure and shows that the very process of leaving Catholic institutions is a Catholic enterprise With these words Monica Baldwin traced the origins of her memoir I Leap over the Wall, a book written throughout the 1940s in other peoples' guest rooms and bungalows and in rented flats by a woman desperately in need of a room of her own.