Synopses & Reviews
She was the last person anyone would have expected to become a nun, yet she became one of the most famous nuns of all time. She was a brilliant administrator in a world where such vocations were all but closed to women. And above all she combined an astonishing proclivity for ecstatic union with God with down-to-earth practicality and good humor. Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) is one of the most beloved of the Catholic saints. Her texts of spiritual instruction, such as
The Interior Castle and
The Way of Perfection, speak so plainly and eloquently about the interior life that they have become undisputed classics, studied by people of many faiths. In 1562, at the request of the Spanish Inquisition, Teresa sat down to write an account of the mystical experiences for which she had become famous. The result was this book, one of the great classics of spiritual autobiography.
With this fresh translation of The Book of My Life, Mirabai Starr brings the inimitable Spanish mystic to life for a new generationwith contemporary English that mirrors Teresas own earthy, vernacular Spanish, and that presents us withfour centuries after Teresas deathsomeone we feel we know: a woman intoxicated with God yet filled with an overflowing love for the world.
About the Author
Mirabai Starr is an adjunct professor of philosophy and religious studies at the University of New Mexico. She has studied a wide variety of religious traditions, including Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, and Christianity. She is also the translator of Teresa of Ávilas Interior Castle and The Dark Night of the Soul by John of the Cross. She lives in Taos, New Mexico.