The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila: A Biography

Eire (Waiting for Snow in Havana), National Book Award winner and professor of religious studies at Yale, explores a famous work by the 16th-century Carmelite nun St. Teresa of Avila in this fine history. Eire begins with the origin of Vida, (or The Life) which was her response to questions from Carmelite authorities about her mysticism during a period of religious conflict in Spain. Encompassing autobiography, mystical analysis, and prayer instruction, Vida satisfied the era’s Carmelite Inquisitors, and after its publication in 1588 enjoyed what Eire calls a “bifurcated life.” For some at the time, it was heresy, a view bolstered by its influence on controversial religious movements, including Quietism in 17th-century France. For early psychoanalysts, it was seen as the product of nymphomaniacal hysteria, and for Spanish Fascists during the Spanish Civil War, its author became a “nationalist racial avatar.” But to modern “seekers” like St. Therese of Liseaux, Edith Stein, and Dorothy Day—and many other readers—it has been an accessible model of female devotional life and, more recently, a valuable source for scholars of women’s writing. Whatever other motivations she had, Eire notes, “[Teresa] really loved writing, and excelled at it.” Drawing connections between writers and readers that stretch across centuries, Eire provides an enthralling exploration of the life and influence of an important historical work. (June)