Saint Teresa of Avila [Paperback]

Marcelle Auclair (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2003

Marcelle Auclair, the author, a delightful, sparkling woman of many achievements, strikes one as being nearly as versatile and enterprising as her favorite saint. Though born in France, she grew up in Chile, where Spanish ways of life and thought became second-nature to her. On her return to France, at the age of twenty, she married the novelist Jean Prevost, brought up three children, traveled extensively, published several novels herself, and founded and edited Marie-Claire, an outstandingly successful woman's journal. All through her life Marcelle Auclair assiduously studied the writings of Teresa of Avila. She admired in her an essentially modernwoman: inventive, practical, gallant and intrepid, with tremendous organizational capacities, whose genius permitted her to break through the restrictions of her time. Madame Auclair decided to retranslate the saint's writings and to write her life. With characteristic determination, she attempted to obtain the seemingly impossible (it had never been done before) - an authorization from the Holy See to enter the Carmelite cloisters in Spain and to gather authentic background material for her projected work. The permission was granted. On her return to Paris she gave up all her professional obligations and for two years virtually went into retreat, devoting her entire time to the accomplishment of what is no doubt the most vivid existing biography of this great saint.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, French (translation)

About the Author

Marcelle Auclair, the author, a delightful, sparkling woman of many achievements, strikes one as being nearly as versatile and enterprising as her favorite saint.

Product Details

• Paperback: 457 pages
• Publisher: Fordham University Press; 1 edition (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0932506674
• ISBN-13: 978-0932506672
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #950,728 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best biography ever of St. Teresa of Avila!, January 12, 2007

By 

Sita Stuhlmiller (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Saint Teresa of Avila (Paperback)

We had a tattered, much-read copy of this is our Ashram library with the book held together with a rubber band. So when we found that our favorite biography of St. Teresa had been published anew, we were delighted. This edition is a larger paperback and has, in addition, photos of the convent where she lived and even the room where she dwelt and wrote her books! If you've never read a saint's life, you'll be absorbed into this one quickly. The author, Marcelle Auclair, lived in a convent founded by St. Teresa as she collected stories and wrote of the saint's life. Having read a dozen biographies on this saint, this one still stands high above all others. Don't miss it!

4.0 out of 5 stars The Book Depository, Ltd., March 30, 2009

By 

Deborah Sonneman (Las Vegas, NV USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Saint Teresa of Avila (Paperback)

I had held off reviewing this product until my business with them was concluded: the first book I received from them came in good condition but had been sloppily put together. The cover was upside down and the pages were put together backwards and upside down.

I contacted the seller regarding this problem and I am happy to say they rectified the problem without delay. This was the only reason I gave them a four star instead of a five star review.

I would not hesitate to do business with them in the future.