A different look at Sister Tabitha
340421
This is my second favorite story of this anthology. This story follows Sister Tabitha as a young woman much different than we saw her in The Forest of Hands and Teeth. She's a lot like Mary: headstrong and critical of authority. As she's getting older, she's seeing the flaws in her society. She wants to know why rules are the way they are. Eventually she discovers that much of what she's taught are flat out lies. She keeps paying lip service to her duties and her faith, but she's consumed with thoughts of the others outside and a particular boy she has met beyond the gates.

Although well meaning, her actions lead to a catastrophic event in her home that forever change her. Sister Tabitha now sees why things are the way they are, why people are lied to in order to keep them safe. As seen in later years, she will always prioritize her society's safety over anything else. I never thought we would get this view of Sister Tabitha, but her character makes much more sense. She has her own regrets and sins that have shaped her into the awful person she was in The Forest of Hands and Teeth. It was nice to see her vulnerable, hopeful side that wasn't afraid to push the rules and question authority.
2049747
This book is the author's honest look back at her 7 years as an Ursuline sister in the 50's and 60's.  She left the convent in the early 60's and went on to live a happy married life.  Her story, partially told through the letters she wrote to her family during her years as a nun, tell the story of a young, idealistic teenage girl and her time spent in a teaching order.  The author shows no rancor or anger towards the strict convent life of the time, but but rather seems to treasure the time she spent there as a young woman and the lessons she learned about herself. This is a well written coming of age story with a happy ending and I enjoyed reading her story.
3693638
This was a good story showing how each women live a life in different ways. I am a Sister of sixty years and can understand how some women can not live the life that we before the sixties.
2282798
I agree with some of the other reviewers that the book's main focus was not solely on Susanna, but on other members of the family as well, especially her husband. I had heard what a godly woman she was but this book shows her humanness as well, rebelling from her parents teaching at the age of fourteen. In going back to the Anglican church, she ascribed to a kind of works for salvation. I think her own sons Charles and John helped show her the way later in her life. Still, she had a difficult life and it was an interesting story.
951806
AN AMAZING SISTER WHO WAS DETERMINED TO HELP THE POOR TO GOOD HEALTH AND TO BRING THEM CLOSER TO GOD.  SHE WAS NEVER CONCERNED FOR HER OWN WELL BEING OR HEALTH.  SHE WORKED WITH THE POOR RIGHT TO THE END OF HER LIFE WHEN SHE TURNED HER WORK OVER TO HER RELIGIOUS SISTERS.  A FAST READING BOOK WHICH IS WEKK WORTH READING
2369604
I loved this very human account of a nun's life and her equally honest portrayal of her falling out with her profession.  The author is an excellent writer with very good descriptions of the details of life in a convent and the different personalities involved.  Her sense of humor is evident in the section about meditation which left many of the nuns snoring and then those who were awake were snickering at the snorers!.  Her description of her husband and her married life was briefer than I had hoped but it seemed like a very successful marriage.  I appreciated her life lesson that as long as you are making a difference to others, then you are leading a spiritual life.  This was a very easy read--I read it in two sittings. I definitely have a different opinion of nuns than when I was in grade school.
1458422
All for a Sister is the second book by Allison Pittman that I have read. Both books have confirmed that she is an author with a unique voice and storytelling techniques that are far different from most other Christian authors.

Other than the unique premise, which grabbed me instantly, the thing that really stood out to me about this novel was the way that it was told. The books spans twenty years but is not told in chronological order. Rather, the story is told in fragments from three different perspectives: Celestes perspective, Danas perspective, and Marguerites written confession. This allows the author to feed the reader pieces of information and tease clues that will not be revealed until another characters perspective reveals it. Sometimes I find this fragmented style to be distracting, but for this book it helped to hold my attention and added to the mystery.

Ms. Pittman is not afraid to deal with dark subjects or to give her characters genuine hardships  even to the point of sending a character to prison and leaving her accuser to deal with her guilt. And because she is such a talented writer, she is able to breathe life into the characters, making you care about them even as you watch them suffer. Her descriptions of their physical appearances also subtly re-enforces the character traits and struggles that define them.

Hollywood in the 1920s is a fascinating setting, and I enjoyed reading a book that was set in this period. It definitely added interest to have a book with a setting not often portrayed in Christian fiction. Having studied American film, I also found it interesting to see how she included several celebrities of the time.

I enjoyed this book, mostly because of the way that the plot was told. If you love unique Christian fiction, this might be the book for you
1253417
This little girl's life was at the mercy of those who were supposed to care for her little person.  The cruel fact is, that those who have bad hearts simply did to her what ever they wanted.  Who was to stop them? This child was at the mercy of those who knew that no one would help her, so in secret, she was just some rag that they could use as they pleased.  It is amazing just how well she turned out without the help or guidance of loving people.  She seemed to be loving and kind to her own children because of her early exposure to the Catholic Faith.  It does seem that her early exposure to the Sisters did place a mark of love and strength in her character and that mark alone pushed her forward in the void of loveless people who were around her.
1440181
It was an excellent read on her son....but was not about Philomena.  Waited and waited...but not Philomena.  He had a tough life..should not have happened.  God bless the church and nuns..may they live in peace with their consciences.
893653
A different look at the Lectionary with some good uses of humor with intentional connections to the themes for the day.
3250979
I was curious about this American saint. It was interesting but tended to overemphasize the difficult life she had once her husband died. i didn't realize she lived during the American Revolution and was part of the rich social class of colonial New York. I recommend it to those who are familiar with her name and what to learn about the woman.
4922337
This is a great story of a woman who lived a most unusual life and may or may not have been used.  It made a nice change from the fiction I have been reading lately.
381807
This was a good read.  The different stories of the sisters as they go out in the world is fascinating and so very different.  There are many surprising happenings.  Yes, they all come home again and there is not enough detail to really feel this is an end but merely a way station before they make other life decisions.  That is a bit disappointing but nonetheless a good diversion from the politics and problems of my own life.  .  .
2181334
Religious communities in America (i.e., Catholic Religious communities) have struggled to find their identity for the last 2 decades; but of course, imitating modern culture in so many other ways, to arrive at such a point of confusion, they first threw out anything old, including wearing religious garb.  I only wish that the religious sisters of today (the new, "improved" nuns) who threw out their habits would read this book.  No, the habit itself does not make a sister a sister.  No more than black clothes and a white collar make a priest a good priest.  But when there's nearly 2,000 years of tradition involved... just maybe they should have "looked before they leaped."  I thought this was a good book.  Well-researched, easy to read, full of interesting points, and a good argument for nuns to put their habits back on (though the author doesn't go out of her way to make this point or beat anybody over the head with it).  Regardless of what side of the debate people are on, I think the average Catholic should find this a fascinating, good book.
855692
The story of a hard-working lower class girl with a difficult past and two sisters she's been supporting for years. There is very little she would do to make sure that they're never in the same situation as they were in when they were children
That is until Antonio Vascolli walks into her life as somewhat of a guardian Angel. She's not sure what to think of him, but her sisters take a liking to him.
47356
This book by Joyce Carol Oates is quite different than any of her other books I've read. A girl from a very dysfunctional family narrates the story.  She has quite an imagination and sees relationship with her Black college roommate far more meaningful than her roommate.  She carries her feelings for her roommate into her adulthood, long after the roommate dies, thinking of her as a sister who died at age 18.  I found the book a little strange and had a difficult time relating to the tale.

The sexual and violent content is from the narrators childhood memory.

Oates went way out with her imagination for this story line.  I would hesitate to recommend it heartily though it was thought provoking to some extent.
3165560
Meaningful story about ten nuns who are challenging the status quo and pushing through some rather radical projects that very few are looking at anymore. Sister Meghan at 82, broke into a nuclear facility to protest the building and use of nuclear weapons, Sister Jeannie brings Catholic teachings to gays and lesbians who are Catholic but who have been shunned out of the church.  One of the most moving stories was Sister Simone who defied a Reagan budget which proposed cutting off health benefits to the poor. My mother was always a selfless person like this and had many Catholic nun friends though she wasn't Catholic.  I also have been helped by Catholic nuns who devoted their lives to the poor and their education. A really wonderful book and I wish my mother was still around to read it.