And Then There Were Nuns

By: Jane Christmas

Narrated by: Elizabeth Wiley

Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's Summary

Audie Award Finalist, Inspirational, Faith-Based Nonfiction, 2016

With humor and opinions aplenty, a woman embarks on an unconventional quest to see if she is meant to be a nun.

Just as Jane Christmas decides to enter a convent in mid-life to find out whether she is “nun material”, her long-term partner Colin, suddenly springs a marriage proposal on her. Determined not to let her monastic dreams be sidelined, Christmas puts her engagement on hold and embarks on an extraordinary year-long adventure to four convents - one in Canada and three in the UK. In these communities of cloistered nuns and monks, she shares - and at times chafes and rails against - the silent, simple existence she has sought all of her life. Christmas takes this spiritual quest seriously, but her story is full of the candid insights, humorous social faux pas, profane outbursts, and epiphanies that make her books so relatable and popular. And Then There Were Nuns offers a seldom-seen look inside modern cloistered life, and it is sure to ruffle more than a few starched collars among the ecclesiastical set.

©2013 Jane Christmas (P)2014 Post Hypnotic Press Inc.

takes the reader on the road with her

Discernment is a different animal than decision. Decision is to make a choice. Discernment is the process of making that choice. Sometimes the process is quick and simple; others it is protracted and painful. Jane Christmas’ takes the reader on the road with her when at age 57 she tries to discern if she is called to a religious life.

Jane is born and raised in Canada to a Roman Catholic mother and Anglican father. She is raised with a foot in both faiths. Her father, light years ahead of his generation, exposes her to many different faiths and teaches her to respect all people’s beliefs. As she grows up she chooses the Anglican Church as her home and raises her children Anglican.

There is a very interesting discussion about the weakness of the Anglican Church. It was started as the Church of England by Henry VIII when he broke away from Rome in his quest to marry Anne Boleyn. In England and its former territories it is known as the Anglican Church. In the United States it is the Episcopal Church. The weakness that the author points out is it is a religion governed by committee. There is not one central figure. The church’s beliefs have evolved to different principles in different areas. She also talks about how decisions are debated for decades before a vague statement is released which in turn is debated further. I found this peek into the Anglican world fascinating.

Jane visits several different groups, both Roman Catholic and Anglican, to try to discern whether she is being called to be a nun. I found it interested that she did not feel called to the priesthood since the Anglican Church does ordain women. Her discernment process involves cloistered groups and groups that work directly with the public.

All this would be a very straight forward story of “will she or will she not” become a nun except her life has anything but straightforward. She has been divorced twice, has grown children and accepted a marriage proposal shortly before embarking on her spiritual journey. The main challenge Jane deals with is not the obedience or poverty or even chastity expected of a nun. It is that the discernment process sheds light on a long buried traumatic event and Jane must deal with it in order to move forward.

Elizabeth Wiley does a fantastic job narrating. Her voice is clear and pleasant to listen to. She does a wonderful job of conveying Jane’s fear, uncertainty and curiosity. She also does a great job with the many accents involved, men and women both. The best part of Ms. Wiley’s narrating is that I really got a sense of who Jane is as a person. She seemed to have a little bit of mischievousness to her. I think I would enjoy having coffee and chocolate biscuits with her. The production quality was very good.

Audiobook was provided for review by the publisher.

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7 of 9 people found this review helpful

Monastic endeavors, fun with nuns!

Loved it. I myself plan to join an Orthodox Women's Monastery next year. This book helped me to think deeply about the monastic life and life in the world. Since befriending a couple of sisterhood's a few years ago, I should think many more women would take this path if they were aware of it.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Enchanting Story with Lots of Humor

Where does And Then There Were Nuns rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is the very best audiobook I have listened to this far.

What was one of the most memorable moments of And Then There Were Nuns?

When Jane enters a service late and drops her paperwork at the feet of another nun who is not too thrilled :)

Which character – as performed by Elizabeth Wiley – was your favorite?

The main character, Jane.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I was inspired by the entire book.

Any additional comments?

I have a penchant for stories about the religious life of nuns, and in fact used to visit the convent when I was a child as I had great aunts that were nuns. It always seemed to present itself as such a fun and secretive life.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Delightfully Meaningful

Jane's journey to self-realization and self-redemption is bravely and wittily undertaken in And Then There Were Nuns. She is so human with a larger than human sense of humor and tells her story with just the right amount of pathos. Wonderfully read by Elizabeth Wiley.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

And then there were Nuns

Would you listen to And Then There Were Nuns again? Why?

No

Any additional comments?

Book wasn't what i thought it was going to be, sometimes i wanted to slap the character for being stupid

0 of 1 people found this review helpful