Overview

In an evocative memoir, Catherine Coldstream describes life as a contemplative nun in the 1990s, and the dramatic events which led to her flight from the monastery on the brink of the Millennium. 'Evocative' Sarah Perry 'Immersive' Katherine May 'Profoundly moving' Mark Haddon Discover Catherine Coldstream's compelling account of life as a nun in the 1990s, and the dramatic events which led to her flight from the monastery. After the shock of her father's death, and with the rest of her family scattered, Catherine was left grieving and alone at twenty-four. A search for meaning led her to the nuns of Akenside Priory. Here she found a tight-knit community of dedicated women and peace in an ancient way of life. But as she surrenders to her final vows, all is not as it seems behind the Priory's closed doors. Catherine comes to realise that divine authority is mediated through flawed and all-too-human channels. She is faced with a dilemma- should she protect the serenity she has found, or speak out? 'Gripping... A rich memoir' Daily Telegraph 'Absorbing and beautifully written' Financial Times

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9781529931518

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Reviews

'Few books achieve what this does in giving a really physical sense of the monastic environment - its sounds and smells, the round of seasons, the sensations in the fingers as they work in kitchen or garden. Catherine Coldstream leaves us recognizing both the beauty and depth of this experience and the churning risks of a life where accountability and spiritual authority are constantly in tension' * Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury * 'This incredibly beautiful and moving book is for all of us' * Carmen Bugan, author of Burying the Typewriter * 'In an era of relentless superficiality, Catherine Coldstream's memoir of her years living as a nun draws us back into the cloistered world of the inner life. It shows us what it is we may have abandoned in our lives of emotional and material dependency: a commitment to hope and faith; the transforming structures of a spiritual imagination. Here are beautifully crafted lessons in spiritual survival; the meditative practice of deep loneliness; of days wrapped in prayer and contemplation' * Sally Bayley, author of No Boys Play Here * 'This is a memoir of emotions felt viscerally. But there are also remarkable spiritual insights, intellectual reflections on life and death and, of course, plenty about the intense relationships that developed between Catherine, and the other sisters. Engrossing and moving' * Belinda Jack, author of The Woman Reader * A mesmerising memoir of great clarity and nuance, Cloistered is an account of religious life that is as authentically vulnerable as it is poignantly honest. It will transform the perceptions of its readers regarding the unique traditions of convent life, including its struggle and pain as well as its beauty and glory. * Reverend Dr Ayla Lepine, Associate Rector, St James’s Church Piccadilly, London *

‘An immersive, beautifully observed study of the monastic mind, and the forces that can disrupt and unsettle it. Reading it, I felt the gravitational pull of silence and ecstatic connection’ * Katherine May, author of Wintering * ‘I admired [CLOISTERED] enormously for its lucid evocative prose, but most of all for the sincerity and candour with which Coldstream writes about her faith, as a transformative and intimate relation with God’ * Sarah Perry, author of The Essex Serpent * 'A profoundly moving memoir which gripped me in a way I simply did not expect. It’s about spirituality and asceticism and silence and sisterhood, but also about how flawed human beings can abuse power and how hermetically sealed communities, which should care for and protect to their members, can be dangerously vulnerable to threats from inside their walls' * Mark Haddon, author of The Porpoise * 'Few books achieve what this does in giving a really physical sense of the monastic environment - its sounds and smells, the round of seasons, the sensations in the fingers as they work in kitchen or garden. Catherine Coldstream leaves us recognizing both the beauty and depth of this experience and the churning risks of a life where accountability and spiritual authority are constantly in tension' * Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury * 'Fascinating ... takes its place in a rich tradition of writing about convent life by ex-nuns, and is distinguished by its passionate, lyrical writing, which perfectly expresses the author's ardent search for meaning, freedom and love’ * Michèle Roberts, author of Daughters of the House *

Author Information

Catherine Coldstream was born in London, and grew up loving music, words, and books. After converting to Roman Catholicism in her twenties, she spent twelve years in a Carmelite monastery where she lived the life of a silent contemplative nun. Since leaving her community she has studied at the Universities of Oxford, East Anglia, and London, and taught theology, philosophy, and ethics in schools. The effects of her years as a nun have never left her and continue to inspire and inform her writing.

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