CLOISTERED My Years as a Nun

Catherine Coldstream didn't start out as a devout person, but after her father's death, she sought to make a major change in her life. So she converted to Catholicism and entered a traditional Carmelite monastery as a nun. Coldstream narrates this memoir detailing her transition from a secular life to the religious order. Her British-accented narration has tonal variation but still somehow sounds a bit colorless as she describes the habits, daily rituals, and personalities of the nuns. She describes the conformity--the "becoming as one"--and then the alliances and schisms that developed within the group that led her to leave the order after concluding its atmosphere was toxic. Unadorned violin music bookends the production, a fitting complement to the memoir. S.E.G. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2024]