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Women of the Catholic Imagination: Twelve Inspired Novelists You Should Know
There is no lack of talented women in the Catholic literary tradition. Yet these brilliant writers are often unfamiliar to today’s readers, or, if widely read, their Catholic identity is unrecognized. This collection introduces a dozen Catholic women novelists from the past two hundred years, presenting their fascinating lives, spiritual biographies, and sacramental vision in essays by twelve Catholic scholars and writers.
Edited by Haley Stewart and with a conclusion by best-selling author Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera, Women of the Catholic Imagination encourages the expansion of the Catholic literary canon by bringing these inspired writers back into the spotlight, laying the foundation for the reader’s discovery (or rediscovery) of their masterful works.
Edited by Haley Stewart and with a conclusion by best-selling author Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera, Women of the Catholic Imagination encourages the expansion of the Catholic literary canon by bringing these inspired writers back into the spotlight, laying the foundation for the reader’s discovery (or rediscovery) of their masterful works.
197 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 10, 2024
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289 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
August 18, 2024
Excellent! The moment I saw this book on Haley Stewart's Instagram, I knew I wanted to read it. My intuition did not lead me astray. The conclusion alone is worth the price of the book. There are twelve female, Catholic authors featured in this book, and I had only heard of seven of them. I enjoyed hearing from the men and women who wrote each of the articles, too. I had heard of some of the contributors, but not all. Here are the Catholic writers featured in this book: Josephine Ward, Sigrid Undset, Caryll Houselander, Gertrud von le Fort, Flannery O'Connor, Caroline Gordon, Rumer Godden, Alice Thomas Ellis, Muriel Spark, Toni Morrison, Alice McDermott, and Donna Tartt. The essays were all well written and explored briefly the novelist's life, her Catholic faith, her body of work in brief and often one of two works in more detail, and the integration of the novelist's faith and writing. There is quite a range of life experience, novelistic style, etc., and I loved that.
When I first started the book, I went right to the essay about Rumer Godden only to find that I've only read one novel (In This House of Brede) that is a more explicitly Catholic novel for Godden (whose work is astonishingly varied). I would also contend that Godden's novel An Episode of Sparrows is Catholic too. Regardless, there is something about Godden's life and writing that I find very compelling, so I loved this essay in particular. My other favorites were about Josephine Ward (her British context in the late Victorian era into the 20th century makes her feel more familiar) and Alice McDermott, but I now have a reading list that has expanded considerably.
The conclusion is written by novelist Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera who wrote The Awakening of Miss Prim (which I now want to re-read). I underlined half of it! She writes: "The mission of the Catholic writer is not, as most contemporary literature suggests, to look inside, focusing on oneself, but rather to pay attention to what is outside of oneself, gazing at the symbols with which God adorns the world..." (180). I loved this too: "If the ancient Greeks depict the poet as a blind prophet, the Christian poet, touched by grace, is the blind person who opens up his eyes and begins to see" (183). These are some of the profound ideas woven through all the essays and all the work of these varied and faithful novelists. Art is sacramental and to receive it is divine gift.
When I first started the book, I went right to the essay about Rumer Godden only to find that I've only read one novel (In This House of Brede) that is a more explicitly Catholic novel for Godden (whose work is astonishingly varied). I would also contend that Godden's novel An Episode of Sparrows is Catholic too. Regardless, there is something about Godden's life and writing that I find very compelling, so I loved this essay in particular. My other favorites were about Josephine Ward (her British context in the late Victorian era into the 20th century makes her feel more familiar) and Alice McDermott, but I now have a reading list that has expanded considerably.
The conclusion is written by novelist Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera who wrote The Awakening of Miss Prim (which I now want to re-read). I underlined half of it! She writes: "The mission of the Catholic writer is not, as most contemporary literature suggests, to look inside, focusing on oneself, but rather to pay attention to what is outside of oneself, gazing at the symbols with which God adorns the world..." (180). I loved this too: "If the ancient Greeks depict the poet as a blind prophet, the Christian poet, touched by grace, is the blind person who opens up his eyes and begins to see" (183). These are some of the profound ideas woven through all the essays and all the work of these varied and faithful novelists. Art is sacramental and to receive it is divine gift.
January 21, 2026
From this book I learned about the lives and writings of twelve intelligent women, including Sigrid Undset, Caryll Houselander, Flannery O’Connor, Rumer Godden, Toni Morrison, Donna Tartt, and 6 other women I had not heard of; about the Catholic literary world of the last two centuries; and about at least 15 books I want to add to my reading list this year! The reflections on the power of novels to articulate the supernatural truth hidden underneath daily incarnate life were a favorite.
“The novel is ‘an extended word-problem in morality, demonstrated in time via the agents of fate, character, cause, and effect.’” - Donna Tartt
“The novel is ‘an extended word-problem in morality, demonstrated in time via the agents of fate, character, cause, and effect.’” - Donna Tartt
Want to read
June 14, 2024Both Donna Tartt and Toni Morrison are discussed in this, so I am interested.
February 19, 2025
I really enjoyed reading Women of the Catholic Imagination, as I knew I would from the moment I heard the title! Stubbornly I wanted to wait until I had read half of the twelve novelists. By the time I picked it up I’d read seven--most recently, Toni Morrison (yesterday!) and it transpires that today is her birthday. Wonderful literary serendipity. (Also, where is the book on connections between Morrison’s novels and James Cone’s theology? Pretty please!)
The essays are uniform in length and overall in subject (a judicial biography and examination of one or more works). I liked that each chapter concluded with a list of recommended reading, not just the author’s whole works, but a place to begin reading. The chapter on Muriel Spark renewed my interest in her (a satire of Watergate set in a monastery?!); the chapter on Donna Tartt maybe convinced me to give her work another try (I really struggle with novels about substance abuse, but that interpretation was stellar); the chapters on Sigrid Undset, Toni Morrison, and Alice McDermott were rousing (as are their books). I am intrigued by all the writers I haven’t read, and fortunately have some of their books on my shelves already.
Women of the Catholic Imagination is written for the reader, but the style is not prohibitive to the lay reader. The authors don’t expect readers to know more than broad strokes about literary history and the movements associated with the subjects. That’s what makes this book a great addition to a parish library, as it can invite readers to explore Catholic literature more deeply. As a Protestant, I felt fully edified by this book, even though some statements made me roll my eyes. I liked seeing a difference of opinion on the changes made by Vatican II; Morrison’s a no while Godden’s a yes.
Unfortunately, Women of the Catholic Imagination occasionally suffers from some oversights. In the chapter on Josephine Ward, for example, it is implied but not stated that Josephine’s daughter Maisie is the source for much biographical detail. The chapter on Caryll Houselander never quite acknowledges that its subtitle, “Divine Eccentric,” is lifted from Maisie Ward (hello again!). The author of the Houselander chapter also attributes slightly misquoted lines by Elizabeth Barrett Browning to Houselander (“Earth’s crammed with heaven, / And every common bush afire with God” from Aurora Leigh becomes “Earth crammed with heaven / And every common bush afire with God”). The chapter on Rumer Godden elides the fact that she was noncommunicant at conversion due to her marital past. This is the constant struggle of all such edited volumes with multiple contributors: one essayist can highlight Flannery O’Connor’s daily mass attendance, while another can overlook the fact that Godden decided to convert to Catholicism with the full knowledge that she could not partake of its central rite. Often I found biographical facts asserted but not cited. It was common enough that I wondered if the number of footnotes was limited or edited down, which is unfortunate for the curious like me who want to track things down. However, these are small defects in an otherwise excellent volume. I do wish edited volumes like these got new editions because things like this could be easily rectified, as they are in monographs. Alas! That is in neither the editor’s nor the authors’ purview.
Overall, I found the writing to be pretty even--the writing in only one chapter annoyed me and I shan't say which. That's a very good rate! I would have appreciated portraits of the novelists. The book design, from its materials to the cover to the interior, was a treat for the eyes. There was not too much, nor too little, text on each page, and it was conducive to reading. I liked that each chapter was self-contained with its own footnotes and list of further reading so I didn't have to flip back and forth. The chapters are also short enough (as is the book) that I could easily find passages again without spending too much time flipping through.
Women of the Catholic Imagination is sure to awaken interest in Catholic women writers (it certainly piqued mine) and there are some marvelous interpretations to hold on to. I liked the conclusion and felt it gathered the ideas up and gave them a thoughtful send-off. Highly recommended to those interested in religious fiction and Catholic women’s writing in particular.
The essays are uniform in length and overall in subject (a judicial biography and examination of one or more works). I liked that each chapter concluded with a list of recommended reading, not just the author’s whole works, but a place to begin reading. The chapter on Muriel Spark renewed my interest in her (a satire of Watergate set in a monastery?!); the chapter on Donna Tartt maybe convinced me to give her work another try (I really struggle with novels about substance abuse, but that interpretation was stellar); the chapters on Sigrid Undset, Toni Morrison, and Alice McDermott were rousing (as are their books). I am intrigued by all the writers I haven’t read, and fortunately have some of their books on my shelves already.
Women of the Catholic Imagination is written for the reader, but the style is not prohibitive to the lay reader. The authors don’t expect readers to know more than broad strokes about literary history and the movements associated with the subjects. That’s what makes this book a great addition to a parish library, as it can invite readers to explore Catholic literature more deeply. As a Protestant, I felt fully edified by this book, even though some statements made me roll my eyes. I liked seeing a difference of opinion on the changes made by Vatican II; Morrison’s a no while Godden’s a yes.
Unfortunately, Women of the Catholic Imagination occasionally suffers from some oversights. In the chapter on Josephine Ward, for example, it is implied but not stated that Josephine’s daughter Maisie is the source for much biographical detail. The chapter on Caryll Houselander never quite acknowledges that its subtitle, “Divine Eccentric,” is lifted from Maisie Ward (hello again!). The author of the Houselander chapter also attributes slightly misquoted lines by Elizabeth Barrett Browning to Houselander (“Earth’s crammed with heaven, / And every common bush afire with God” from Aurora Leigh becomes “Earth crammed with heaven / And every common bush afire with God”). The chapter on Rumer Godden elides the fact that she was noncommunicant at conversion due to her marital past. This is the constant struggle of all such edited volumes with multiple contributors: one essayist can highlight Flannery O’Connor’s daily mass attendance, while another can overlook the fact that Godden decided to convert to Catholicism with the full knowledge that she could not partake of its central rite. Often I found biographical facts asserted but not cited. It was common enough that I wondered if the number of footnotes was limited or edited down, which is unfortunate for the curious like me who want to track things down. However, these are small defects in an otherwise excellent volume. I do wish edited volumes like these got new editions because things like this could be easily rectified, as they are in monographs. Alas! That is in neither the editor’s nor the authors’ purview.
Overall, I found the writing to be pretty even--the writing in only one chapter annoyed me and I shan't say which. That's a very good rate! I would have appreciated portraits of the novelists. The book design, from its materials to the cover to the interior, was a treat for the eyes. There was not too much, nor too little, text on each page, and it was conducive to reading. I liked that each chapter was self-contained with its own footnotes and list of further reading so I didn't have to flip back and forth. The chapters are also short enough (as is the book) that I could easily find passages again without spending too much time flipping through.
Women of the Catholic Imagination is sure to awaken interest in Catholic women writers (it certainly piqued mine) and there are some marvelous interpretations to hold on to. I liked the conclusion and felt it gathered the ideas up and gave them a thoughtful send-off. Highly recommended to those interested in religious fiction and Catholic women’s writing in particular.
January 5, 2025
This book is a dream come true.
August 15, 2024
I think I may love reading essays! I definitely love literary analysis, this was such a good dive into the themes of some of my favorite authors, and I think some new favorites may have been introduced as well:)
July 2, 2025
Warning: this will add a lot of books to your TBR! But really, this was such a great book. I loved learning more about authors I already love and finding some new authors to love. I definitely recommend this to all readers, even if you aren't Catholic.
July 11, 2025
Nice little book which has expanded my reading list beyond my wildest dreams. I especially appreciated the emphasis on lesser known female Catholic authors. The essay on Donna Tartt was particularly timely as I was wrestling a lot with The Goldfinch around the time I first picked this up. Essays on Undset and O’Connor are similar to what is always said about their works, but there were many obscure writers included and several authors that while wildly popular, critics have failed to engage with their Catholic influence (Tartt, Spark, Morrison).
The essays are of varying rigor as they treat their subjects, but each gives a bit of biography, a sketch of the authors work, and a tie into how their Catholicism has influenced their aesthetics. Delightful to read.
The essays are of varying rigor as they treat their subjects, but each gives a bit of biography, a sketch of the authors work, and a tie into how their Catholicism has influenced their aesthetics. Delightful to read.
December 15, 2025
I liked learning about all the women in this book, but it seemed that the individual authors had differing opinions as to the goal of the book. I understand that edited books, with multiple different authors, often have a bit of pull here or there; it takes a strong editor to keep writers in line. However, some chapters were mere summaries of texts; some did a short academic reading; some aimed for readability; and some had me Googling what a "garcon" is (I still don't understand how Donna Tartt has a style like a French waiter. What does that even mean?). Some chapters had in-depth biographies of the authors they covered; some had very little.
I am glad that I read this book, and that I learned more about history and Catholic writers, but I do wish I had not purchased it.
I am glad that I read this book, and that I learned more about history and Catholic writers, but I do wish I had not purchased it.
May 25, 2024
This is an important book, as it invites readers to explore the richness of Catholic literature, especially through authors often overlooked or unheard of, demonstrating that Flannery isn’t an anomaly, and that women have and continue to plumb the depths of the Catholic imagination. This book appeals both to general literary enthusiasts as well as scholars. I loved the chapters on Josephine Ward, Alice Thomas Ellis, Muriel Spark, and Toni Morrison, in particular. I now have many new additions to my Want to Read list!
November 15, 2024
I really enjoyed this book. It was given to me because I am a big fan of Sigrid Undset. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that some of the famous authors included like Toni Morrison and Donna Tartt were Catholic. I definitely have a lot more books to read now!
I liked the physical book itself. The paper was high quality and I liked the French flaps (it is not hardcover). But like many of the WOF books, the writing on the cover is too small (I am 30 years old, and it looks goofy that it is so small).
I liked the physical book itself. The paper was high quality and I liked the French flaps (it is not hardcover). But like many of the WOF books, the writing on the cover is too small (I am 30 years old, and it looks goofy that it is so small).
January 16, 2026
I read this book very, very slowly. I love reading fiction and I love Catholicism. And as a recent convert to Catholicism, I’m interested in learning more about Catholicism novelists, short story writers and poets. I confess, I had forgotten I don’t particularly enjoy reading literary criticism though, I much prefer reading fiction. And so I read this book very, very slowly. I’m glad I read it, I’ve added many of the authors mentioned in the book to my future reading list. I was surprised to learn Toni Morrison was Catholic, I will have to reread Beloved with a Catholic lens.
August 5, 2024
Great Catholic authors are those who are not out to proselytize, but instead to tell a good story. I’m always looking for new authors, and so I appreciated the chapters on new-to-me writers like Alice McDermott and Donna Tartt. But even more so, I appreciated the inclusion of dear literary friends—Sigrid Unset, Rumor Godden, Muriel Spark, and my beloved, bohemian, cranky favorite Alice Thomas Ellis. Every one of these talented authors deserves a much wider readership. `
March 16, 2025
This is the second book that I’ve read where writers are writing about a collection of other writer’s works. I don’t think I like this set up. It’s like attending book club but you only get one opinion/perspective. There is a lot of discussion but it’s often ambiguous which leads to confusion instead of clarity. God is not confusing and for a book that is supposed to promote/inspire/engage it just unfortunately didn’t work for me. Would not recommend.
40days 49books Lent2025
40days 49books Lent2025
September 6, 2024
A great read. Twelve female authors are discussed. Each essay written by a different person. My to be read list has grown greatly. I have already purchased some of the books discussed. Definitely a must read for Catholic women and for all women.
February 8, 2026
I purchased this book primarily for the essays on Godden, O'Connor, and Undset; and I found them rewarding and enjoyable. I was particularly fascinated with Undset's biography and her friendship with Willa Cather. I'm looking forward to reading the other authors listed in this book.
August 24, 2024
A difficult, intellectual read, about Catholic women writers. I learned new facts about some of these women and learned of other Catholic women writers I never heard of.
March 2, 2025
This collection was to me like a carbo-loading pasta dinner the evening before a big track meet. I devoured it & I feel like I’m ready now.
December 11, 2025
As an aspiring writer I really enjoyed this book. I love how it stresses the importance of story telling to help us to see the deeper truths about God and ourselves.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews