Astonishingly relevant portraits of the lives of seven women mystics

Known to more than a million readers as the coauthor of the classic vegetarian cookbook Laurel's Kitchen, Carol Lee Flinders looks to the hunger of the spirit in Enduring Grace. In these striking and sustaining depictions of seven remarkable women, Flinders brings to life a chorus of wisdom from the past that speaks with remarkable relevance to our contemporary spiritual quests.

From Clare of Assisi in the Middle East to Thérèse of Lisieux in the late nineteenth century, Flinders's compelling and refreshingly informal portraits reveal a common foundation of conviction, courage, and serenity in the lives of these great European Catholic mystics. Their distinctly female voices enrich their writings on the experience of the inner world, the nourishing role of friendship and community in our lives, and on finding our true work.

At its heart, Enduring Grace is a living testament to how we can make peace with sorrow and disappointment and bring joy and transcendence into our lives.

Amazon.com Review
It's deeply and beautifully appropriate that this book by the author of the classic cookbook Laurel's Kitchen should begin with a quote from one of our greatest writers on food, M.F.K. Fisher. "It seems to me," Fisher writes, "that our three basic needs, for food and security and love, are so mixed and mingled and entwined that we cannot straightly think of one without the others. So it happens when I write of hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it...." So too with Carol Flinders. Her preface describes her own journey from the kitchen to this very personal series of reflections on these seven women mystics (Saint Clare of Assisi, Mechthild of Magdeburg, Julian of Norwich, Saint Catherine of Siena, Saint Catherine of Genoa, Saint Teresa of Avila, and Saint Therese of Lisieux), in each case giving us both an intimate and yet objective sense of the person and of her spirituality. Writing with grace, in a style that is both personal and informed (Flinders has a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Berkeley), Flinders brings to this project a scholar's authority along with a very large heart. The result is a real gift: a delightful introduction to these extraordinary women. --Doug Thorpe