Experience the contempt and revenge of a nun scorned and shed tears for Maria Chesters, who discovers a secret past and touches love for the first time. The Postulant is an intricate story that takes you deep into the lives of those who will affect Maria’s final decision. Accompany her on this tropical trek, as she encounters unabashed men on their youthful quests for adventure. The dichotomy of their worlds collide as a jealous nun, attempts to destroy the man Maria must ultimately love. Follow Maria’s gripping search for purpose, as she struggles to devote her life to the convent and confront the obstacles that beset her along the way. Experience this emotionally-charged tale as this perplexed woman leaves the confines of her scripted life, unearthing a secret she never knew existed. Mario Iezzoni, a writer, wrote Kracker Flats, a story of an upscale family and a band of indigents, isolated after a devastating hurricane strikes Florida’s west coast. Living in New Port Richey, Florida, Mario is currently working on two more novels, Voodoo Cruise and Upitao.

English Roman Catholic women’s congregations are an enigma of nineteenth-century social history. Over ten thousand nuns and sisters, establishing and managing significant Catholic educational, health care and social welfare institutions in England and Wales, have virtually disappeared from history. Despite their exclusion from historical texts, these women featured prominently in the public and private sphere. Intertwining the complexities of class with the notion of ethnicity, Contested identities examines the relationship between English and Irish-born sisters. This study is relevant not only to understanding women religious and Catholicism in nineteenth-century England and Wales, but also to our understanding of the role of women in the public and private sphere, dealing with issues still resonant today. Contributing to the larger story of the agency of nineteenth-century women and the broader transformation of English society, this book will appeal to scholars and students of social, cultural, gender and religious history.

'Training for Performance is the first work of its kind; not in the sense that it addresses training for performance, but in that it invites a critical questioning of the imperatives and the rhetoric which govern academic and practical concerns for training alike.' Dr Martin Welton - Queen Mary University of London Training for Performance: a Meta-disciplinary Account is an innovative contribution to the field of work on contemporary actor and performer training. John Matthews introduces the concept of 'askeology' - a field of study that dissolves divisions between disciplines and their exercises - and identifies four meta-disciplinary categories in the process of training that are common to all institutional contexts: Vocation; Obedience; Formation and Automatisation. Through the exploration of contrasting accounts of training and the differing cultural politics within which they operate, Matthews provides a highly original and comprehensive approach to defining one of the most frequently used terms in theatre and performance studies. Training for Performance encourages performers to think afresh about how they understand and engage in their training and is an invaluable resource for any actor, student or professional interested in the process of performance.

Behind the Tapestry is the compelling true story told from behind convent walls, of one woman's struggles to "make peace" with a mysterious chronic illness and her unfulfilled dream of being a Catholic nun. Maryanne was a 29 year old graphic designer working towards a lifelong desire to someday move to Hollywood and become an Academy Award winning art director. But an unexpected invitation to a Catholic prayer meeting would forever change Maryanne's life showing her desires she didn't know she possessed. After being abruptly fired from her job and spending a lot of time in prayer, Maryanne embarked on a journey to discover God's will for her life. This quest eventually led her to the Catholic Convent and the realization that all she's ever really wanted was to devote herself to Jesus. Entering Religious Life was all that Maryanne thought about for more than a year but there was a problem. She found herself plagued by a mysterious condition that caused widespread, chronic pain. However, in spite of this pain, Maryanne joined a group of Franciscan Sisters in 1999. Her life in the Convent was filled with many questions, struggles, challenges and a whole lot of physical pain. Then when already strained relationships with her superiors became even more fractured with the lines of communication practically severed, Sister Maryanne was forced to make a heart-wrenching decision. One that would not only impact her life but the lives of those around her. Should she remain in the Convent and go on to take final vows or leave her Religious Life behind and take care of herself instead?

In Africa religion is very much embedded in the social structure and the organisation of the peoples of that continent. That is why we will obtain a clear starting point for the eventual articulation of an 'African spirituality of religious life' by examining closely how religious life is evolving on the ground in the everyday experience of religious women. After considering how the political and Church culture fostered the 'inculturation' of Catholic institutions, this ethnographic work documents the unfolding African expression of the Sisterhood among women religious in the former-Zaire. Areas examined are: perception of the sister in terms of the people; incorporation of newer members; understanding of community life; local models of social relationships which affects sisters among themselves; dynamics of group decision-making; expression and resolution of social conflict.