This is a lovely book to dip into, containing constant surprises, considerable wit and a feisty and endearing feminism. Its six sections have themes such as Visionaries, Founders and Directors, and, perhaps more appealingly, Community, Politics and Solidarity. Within the chapters, writers are presented in approximate chronological order; at the end are dates and biographies. If I have a minor quibble, it is that I would prefer the biographical material to precede each extract for ease of reference. There are old favourites here, such as Julian of Norwich and St Teresa of Avila, keeping company with modern writers such as Mother Maribel of Wantage, an Anglican nun who declares robustly that 'all you have to do is to provide a channel sufficiently clear of rubbish for God to work through.' Sr Jeanne de Jussie, writing in 1532, is horrified by the violence of Protestants in her native Geneva; Sr Pia Buxton shares love, compassion and forgiveness with a twentieth century Buddhist community. Sr Juana de la Cruz, a seventeenth century Mexican nun who tried to go to university disguised as a boy, is sure that the female intellect is as open to divine grace and glory as a man's, and Sr Helen Prejean gladdens the heart with her continuing and passionate campaign against the death penalty. There are many others. I had never heard of Australia's first saint, St Mary of the Cross, excommunicated in the nineteenth century after reporting a priest for child abuse, but I loved her at once for her words to her fellow nuns: 'O let us, if we cannot agree to what our poor dear old Bishop requires, at least be humble in the way we refuse.'