The heartrending story of the forbidden love between a nun and a priest - by a writer who illuminates the details of everyday life. On the day following her eighteenth birthday, Beryl enters a cloistered convent in New Jersey, believing that God has called her to this way of life.
At first, she is blissfully happy. Within the year, however, she has become anorectic and prey to other obsessive compulsions. Her vocation at risk, she overcomes these disorders and perseveres for another ten years, until she must return home to Puerto Rico to help care for her ailing father.
Thrust once more into the sensual world of Puerto Rico, she discovers that religious garb cannot protect her from her budding sexuality. She is drawn to Padre Vittorio, a handsome Italian priest, and undergoes a belated coming of age.
"This is a deeply moving tale of a woman torn between her love for God and her love for one of his emissaries." - PW.
"Accounts of genuine spiritual anguish and unspeakable loss commingled with humid, Harlequinesque passages." - Kirkus.
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