VOWS

Two young women struggle with their faith—and the pull of the world—in Linkas’ novel.

Welcome to the Academy of the Sorrows of Mary, a convent-cum-prep school run by French Canadian Jesuit nuns who could teach the Marines a thing or two about discipline. The two main characters are Sister Philippe de Marie, a postulant in the order, and Janey Chadderton, a student in the attached prep school. We meet Sister Philippe as Janey’s new English teacher who ditches Tennyson in favor of Gerard Manley Hopkins (yes, this is daring stuff, and the girls revel in it). The story takes place over Janey’s senior year, and the titular vows provide the tension. Sister Philippe is expected to be taking final vows at year’s end. The students are not committed to the religious life (though it is not discouraged), but they are expected to take “Perpetual Vows” at graduation, meaning that whatever the rest of their lives hold, they will remain committed to Christ and the Church. Sister Philippe and Janey fall into something very much like love, with all the Sturm und Drang that goes with it. Janey sees things that she shouldn’t, which really tests her faith. Clearly Janey is based on the author, who went to just such a prep school, and Sister Philippe is likely based upon her older sister, Claudia, the dedicatee. Linkas is a published poet, and her writing reflects this poetic sensibility. After a toboggan flips over, Sister Jean, badly hurt, is described as “a ball of nun” in the snow. Early on, the nuns are described as “like a swarm of insects attacking the arbor, clipping at pride, curbing friendships,” and they “revered the mind, worshiped the soul, ignored the body.” And yet, despite the pious subject matter, this is a warmhearted and at times wondrously funny book.

A rare and unforgettable look inside a cloistered religious culture shrouded in obscurity.