Hermana Teresa: La mujer que llegó a ser santa Teresa de Jesús

by Bárbara Mujica

Hermana Teresa, este cautivante libro de Bárbara Mujica, nos devela la vida de quien llegara a ser Santa Teresa de Jesús: aquella visionaria, reformadora religiosa y fundadora de la orden de las Carmelitas Descalzas, que introdujo la contemplación y la interioridad a una sociedad embargada por los excesos de la Inquisición. La vida extraordinaria de una mujer - las aventuras románticas de su juventud, sus arrobamientos sensuales y espirituales, los esfuerzos de su familia por encubrir sus orígenes judíos, las intrigas polícas en las cuales se involucra, sus enfermedades, sus luchas y su fuerte amistad con Angélica, una vecina pobre que entra en el convento con ella. Hermana Teresa se desenvuelve con energía y urgencia. Pinta un vivo retrato de la época, con sus persecuciones y complot, y su afán por la Reforma.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Religion, Spain, Biographical Fiction, Christian, Faith

480 pages, Paperback

First published March 22, 2007

About the author

American novelist, short story writer and critic. Her latest novels are Sister Teresa (2007), based on the life of Saint Teresa of Avila, and Frida, (2001) based on the life of Frida Kahlo. The latter was an international bestseller that was translated into seventeen languages. Barbara Mujica’s other book-length fiction includes The Deaths of Don Bernardo (novel, 1990), Sanchez across the Street (stories, 1997) and Far from My Mother’s Home (stories, 1999). Barbara Mujica’s short stories have appeared in numerous magazines including The Minnesota Review, Pangolin Papers, and The Literary Review, and anthologies such as Where Angels Glide at Dawn, eds. Lori Carlson and Cnythia Ventura, Intro. Isabel Allende (1990, 1993), What Is Secret: Stories by Chilean Women, ed. Marjorie Agosín (1995), Two Worlds Walking, ed. C. W. Truesdale and Diana Glancy (1994), and The House of Memory, ed. Marjorie Agosín (1999). Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Miami Herald, The Dallas Morning Star, and hundreds of other publications. In 1990 her essay “Bilingualism’s Goal” was named one of the best 50 op-eds of the decade by The New York Times. Mujica has won several awards for her writing: the Trailblazers Award from Dialogue on Diversity (2004), the Theodore Christian Hoepfner Award (2002), the Pangolin Prize (1998), the E. L. Doctorow International Fiction Competition (1992). She has also won grants and awards from Poets and Writers of New York, the Spanish Government, and other institutions. She is a two-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize for Fiction. A Professor of Spanish at Georgetown University, she has written numerous scholarly books and articles. The latest books are Lettered Women: The Correspondence of Teresa de Avila (Vanderbilt University Press, forthcoming), Espiritualidad y feminismo: Santa Teresa de Jesus,(Ediciones del Orto, 2007), and Women Writers of Early Modern Spain: Sophia's Daughters (Yale University Press, 2004).

Reviews

[Annette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in the 16th century Spain, the story of Sister Teresa is told through the eyes of Sister Angelica, who knew Teresa since childhood. Teresa was of Jewish descent, but as at the end of the 15th century Jews had a choice either to leave Spain or convert, her family chose the latter. Avila, where she was from, was full of ‘conversos.’

She enters convent temporarily not at her will, but at the end she stays there of her own choice. Her health deteriorates. After chest pains, fevers, and failure of tinctures, she is pronounced dead. After three days she awakens.

She starts having visions and is asked to start a convent only for women, where women could devote themselves to God with no destructions. She performs miracles through God and gains support for her convent. “They called her a saint, especially the common people. They liked her patched habit and her earthy conversation. She put them at ease, and they flocked to her, hungry for the kind of raw spirituality she taught, a simpler kind of spirituality that led people to seek the Lord in their own hearts.”

Sister Angelica presents the story with honesty and a tint of good humor. “Well, good for her. Let her be a celebrity. I’m not going to let her drag me into her projects. I’m a simple woman with simple tastes. I want to be left alone.” Her observation of an emissary from a noble house: “Actually, it would have been pointless to send him to the Devil because he came from the Devil herself.”

Sister Angelica is a fictional character, but her voice is so credible as truly reflecting her knowing Sister Teresa since childhood.

Sister Teresa is a true character, who became a saint. “She’d become a larger-than life holy woman, a great mystic and reformer. Nobles, ecclesiastics, and even royalty held her in esteem. She was now the most important religious woman in Spain.”

Beautifully written story, showing true human emotions no matter what cloth you’re wearing. “A richly entertaining historical novel.”

[Elisha (lishie) · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an amazing woman! I will be reading Saint Teresa of Avila's writings because she was so full of optimism and strength. Although the narrator of Sister Teresa's story, Sister Anjelica, was fictional I loved her and she captivated me with the loving and true biography of the "Santa." This is good historical fiction- very accurate and wonderfully told.

[Chloe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based on the book's preface, I'm still a touch confused as to how much of the book is real and how much is made up. At any rate, this turned out to be a far more interesting read than I would've expected. Saint Teresa comes across as human, canny, arrogant and good.

My only real problem with this book is that it was poorly typeset (or proofread, maybe?). There are typos and errors throughout the book, which really grated on my nerves. I want to glide through a book and not be stopped short by glaring mistakes.

[Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read, if anything made me even more anti-religious more of an atheist. Reading it was realizing that just 400 years ago most of the world lived in Taliban like conditions. My god when will the stupidity end?

[Stephanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

A book on one of the greatest Saints of the Catholic Church. Unfortunately, on page 100, the author has a main character hearing God tell her “For Christ’s sake…that refers to balling Priests…” Really?
I closed the book, and tossed it aside. Done.

[Mirachil27]

Memorable Novel

I have always been fascinated by Teresa of Avila because of her supposed ecstasies during prayer. This novel rounds out her story in a very human way. It was not a quick read, but I kept on with it without turning to other books because the story was so gripping. If you are curious about Spain during the Inquisition, new modes of prayer, and the founding of many religious orders, you will like this book. If you enjoy biographies of memorable personages, this is a book for you.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book - I could not put it down. Saint Teresa of Ávila is so fascinating-what a life! And the author did a masterful job of creating an engaging, immersive environment full of lifelong friendship, spiritual devotion, political intrigue and scandal, and a deep historical look at the founding of the Discalced Carmelite Order.

[Nancy Kilgore · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay. There was some lovely writing about Teresa's spiritual life, but there were way too many characters for a novel – fifty-two! The author made the mistake of historical fiction writers of trying to document every contact and event in Teresa's life. A valiant effort but I couldn't remember who the characters were.

[Frances Gamez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent historical novel of a woman who loved and lived with Christ in her life¡

Hard to put this book down, historical, yet captivating. A woman who was brave, unafraid,and very courages. Teresa de Avila was a heroine and should be recognized as such.

[Lou Weber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and well researched book about Teresa of Avila. The main narrator, Sister Angelica, is fictinal, but her perspective allows us to see Teresa from the viewpoint of a confidante.

[Isabel Rodríguez -vives · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled to finish this book. The pace drapped off significantly in the second half.

[Blythe McColley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Book!

After going to Avila in 1979, 1981 and 2001, I was intrigued to read more about Teresa of Avila. I never lost interest.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining and well constructed, but seems like the author was trying to impose 21st century culture and values onto a 16th century life. It seemed forced as times.

[CAROL · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story of Teresa of Avila who founded the discalced Carmelite nunneries.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish I could say that I liked Sister Teresa , a novel by Barbara Mujica recounting the life of St. Teresa of Ávila. I even read it twice to convince myself that there was something to the book that I just hadn't found. But, alas.

Granted, Mujica's Teresa is an interesting, multi-faceted character. She's not a sweet saint-- she manipulative, ruthless, loving, and intellectual, a woman to be respected even over a backdrop of the Spanish Inquisition. It's not the characterization that gets me, it's the writing style.

I know I harp on writing style a lot in these reviews, but it truly affects my ability to fully enjoy a book. I also think that it's a bit of a cop out to use a a fictional, modern-day translator who only appears one time in the whole novel, just to be able to be rid of some of your own writing responsibility. Mujica's translator mentions that she found this hagiography in a market and tried to make the prose sound as informal as possible, leading to a novel full of anachronistic language. It takes me out of the time period, leaving me consciously out of the story. Frustrating.

I don't really want to expend any more words on this book. Suffice it to say that if you're interested in Inquistion-era Spain, nunneries, or saints, this is a book you can afford to spend a few minutes on. Otherwise, give it a miss.

[Hilda Reilly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought at first that I wasn't going to like this as it's written in a very modern idiom. Normally any self-respecting historical novel has at least a hint of the speech of an earlier age to remind the reader that the action isn't taking place in the here and now. However, once I'd read a few pages I realized that I didn't mind this at all, especially as the writing style, which is vigorous and down-to-earth, was very effective in bringing the narrator to vivid life. This narrator, Angelica, a lifelong friend and fellow nun of Teresa's, was the star of the book for me, so much so that she overshadowed Teresa. At the end of the book, although I'd enjoyed the rollicking tale told by Angelica, I felt that I hadn't really become more than superficially acquainted with the character that it was supposed to be about. I wondered why the author had chosen to present the story through the lens of a narrator. It could have been much more powerful and enlightening if the narrator had been Teresa herself.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Teresa of Avila is one of my favorite saints - and she was an Enneagram Nine, like me. So when I found this fictionalized biography of her, I thought I'd love it. It was only so-so. I think this was largely due to the writing. The author tried to stay too true to the known facts - and included way too many facts - for my taste.

The parts of the book that I liked best were the passages when Teresa talked about her encounters with God. I'm fairly certain these were straight from Teresa's own published works, so I'm going to go straight to the source and check out Interior Castle and abandon this book. Sometimes historical fiction is a lovely way to learn some history. This just wasn't one of those times for me.

[Cleokatra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was pretty good. I wish there had been more historical background and fewer mundane details of convent life. I kept scratching my head and trying to remember what was going on the in rest of the world during this time period.

That's my only real complaint though. There was a lot of religious stuff that I sort of skimmed over because it didn't interest me and it wasn't moving the story at all. I do have to say that there wasn't anything about her story that made me think Teresa of Avila was a great religious thinker... temporal lobe epileptic would be more like it... not that there is anything wrong with that. ;)

[Kani · Rating 3 out of 5]

To think that this is about a real person, one devoted to the path of God as she sees it, & yet a history which cannot be confirmed, or more likely denied, by the powers that hold the documentation, the powerful Catholic church. I like that she used a friend/sister as her narrator & the explanations of how Sister Teresa changed some of the tenets of the Catholic faith (at that time) into something more akin to meditation & internal guidance than that of external control. I like that! She was definitely threatened for her way of thinking & yet stood up for what she believed. I like that too. Way to go Sister Teresa!

[Jessica Lange · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd really like to give this book 3.5 stars, rather than 3. I found reading about the life of a saint in a historical fictional way to be really nice, since historical fictions is one of my favorite genres. However, as compared to other historical fiction novels I have read, it just wasn't really as good. Not really a page turner or anything. Though I'm not sure if I expected it to be. It really was interesting though. It follows the life of Teresa of Avila from her teen years to her death, as told by her fictional best friend.

[Carly Thompson]

I read up to page 160 before giving up. I usually really enjoy historical fiction about real people but I couldn't get into the story. There was lots of historical detail about the time and place (the food they ate, the clothes they wore, etc.) Readers interested in Spain during the Spanish Inquisition may enjoy this but I didn't care about the characters (the story of St. Teresa is told from the point of view of her close friend/servant/fellow nun Angelica and reminded me somewhat of Philippa Gregory's approach to characters).

[Kaitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been interested in Saint Teresa since studying Bernini. This book wasn't particularly memorable, but it was relatively well written and interesting - if you're interested in Catholic saints, or the history of Spain/The Inquisition. I'll probably read Frida by the same author.

[Johanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the Teresa of Calcutta....the one before that. The author uses a fictional character to tell the story of an amazing woman from history. This woman was full of God and passion and she was also fully human and full of faults.

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was an excellent fictional account of St. Teresa of Avila, by someone who did her homework, knows the Jesuits and was able to do her research in St. Teresa's native Spanish!

[Lee F. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say I liked it. Very straight ahead narration from the friend of Sister Teresa. Cannot say I learned any real theology but it was a good read.

[REDD · Rating 2 out of 5]

Will reserve rating for this book till I have read the Biography of Saint Teresa of Avila.

[Kim Allen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh the premise was great just lacked any depth at all.

[Journey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sister power vibrantly portrayed. Her love for Jesus was inspiring.

[Nisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it but won't read it again.

[Get Booked Fans]

Episode 138:
3. Greetings from Brunei! Thank you ladies for all the reading and research you do for this podcast! Much appreciated! I found you just beginning of this year and I listened to you both from the very 1st episode. I’m currently on episode 86 🙂 and my TBR List is fantastically long.
Please help me find easy to read books about any Catholic Saints. Female saints would be nice, like Mother Teresa of Calcutta (no Father Pio please, I’ve already read a few books about him). I’ve picked up a couple of books about Saint Francis, but both weren’t engaging at all (fell asleep).
Thank you and love you both!
Cheryl
Recommended by: Amanda