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Dropping the Habit
She made her choice at 14 years old. Must it be a life sentence?
Marion Dante always knew she would be a nun. She was born in answer to prayer and she was her mother’s “sin offering”. Because she was conceived out of wedlock, her mother promised God that she would offer her back to Him.
So at the age of 14, enclosed and indoctrinated, she started her training to become a nun. Now, 30 years later, she finds herself wrestling with doubts and misery. Shunned by many of the nuns who have been her only family for her whole adult life, she begins the process that will free her.
But freedom is a terrifying prospect. Like a caged bird, she clings to her prison bars. Even simple matters like wearing a short skirt, ordering a cup of tea in a restaurant, making everyday chatter with a stranger on a bus are all mountains to climb. Having to confront an ATM machine is almost enough to send her scuttling back to the convent!
She must ask herself the question: if she drops the habit, who then will she be? Who is Marion Dante without the convent walls?
In this gripping, honest book, Marion bares her soul. She also opens the door to the convent and invites us in. In the stressful hustle and bustle of modern life, have you ever envied the ease, security and peace of a nun’s life? Think again…
Marion Dante always knew she would be a nun. She was born in answer to prayer and she was her mother’s “sin offering”. Because she was conceived out of wedlock, her mother promised God that she would offer her back to Him.
So at the age of 14, enclosed and indoctrinated, she started her training to become a nun. Now, 30 years later, she finds herself wrestling with doubts and misery. Shunned by many of the nuns who have been her only family for her whole adult life, she begins the process that will free her.
But freedom is a terrifying prospect. Like a caged bird, she clings to her prison bars. Even simple matters like wearing a short skirt, ordering a cup of tea in a restaurant, making everyday chatter with a stranger on a bus are all mountains to climb. Having to confront an ATM machine is almost enough to send her scuttling back to the convent!
She must ask herself the question: if she drops the habit, who then will she be? Who is Marion Dante without the convent walls?
In this gripping, honest book, Marion bares her soul. She also opens the door to the convent and invites us in. In the stressful hustle and bustle of modern life, have you ever envied the ease, security and peace of a nun’s life? Think again…
400 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 8, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 6, 2019
Overall, the story interested me. Marion Dante's life is on display, and I admire her courage at having led such a life and, more so, having shared it with us. That said, I find the book needs better organizing, better structure. A lot of times I was confused by sudden jumps in time, or the start of a chapter being so far ahead from the last one. Moreover, I felt too much needed to be said in the final chapters, almost like she was in a rush and tacked on events without balancing the overall story.
April 18, 2010
Very interesting story on the life of a Ex-Nun who became dissillusioned with the convent life, she also talks about how she coped with life as a lay person for the first time.
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March 1, 2016changing the behavior
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews