WHEN IN ROME

An encounter with an endangered convent in Rome prompts a middle-aged American woman to consider whether she is called to be a nun.

After the nuns at a Milwaukee convent provided emotional care for her following her mother's death when she was 12, Claire Murphy dreamed of becoming one herself. Instead, she went to Yale, became a single mother, and sold real estate with her friend Monica, focusing particularly on decommissioned religious buildings. When a group of American nuns in Rome reaches out looking for help in finding a buyer who will take over their beautiful convent building but let them stay there, Claire, now 52, flies to Rome, where she begins to wonder if she is meant to take vows after all. But she also wonders about Marcus Sardeson, the man she fell in love with at Yale and just saw at their 30th reunion. Unbeknownst to Marcus, Claire never let herself get involved with him romantically after he had a health scare and she made a deal with God to save him. In Rome, Claire struggles to sort out her next steps, torn between life in America and ties with Marcus, Monica, and her adult daughter, Dorothy, and the Sisters with whom she’s found emotional refuge in Rome, and wondering whether she’s truly called by God or looking for community. Her choice becomes even harder when Marcus pursues her to Rome, accompanied by Dorothy and Monica. Callanan writes a richly drawn story about a woman feeling lost in her own life and finding unexpected connections, with a lively cast of supporting characters. Though the pace slows noticeably at times, Claire’s confusion and indecision only make her more relatable, especially since she never becomes maudlin.

A quiet and ultimately joyous depiction of self-discovery against a vibrant Roman setting.