Storming Heaven’s Gate: An Anthology of Spiritual Writings by Women edited by Patricia Vecchione and Amber Coverdale Sumrall is a great collection of spiritual writings by American women of all stripes, persuasions and colours. I mostly enjoyed every single piece, with only a couple of exceptions, and was introduced to quite a few new writers. My favourite pieces were those by Mary Karr, Sarah Rabkin, Joanna Macy, Lisa Vice, Sally Miller Gearhart, Agate Nesaule and Martha Gies. My only reservation about this collection is that I found the mix of fictional stories and personal essays a bit jarring at times (I wanted them all to be personal essays); however, some of my favourite pieces turned out to be stories. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in women’s spiritual experiences.This was one of my favourite books in 2008.
(First posted on LibraryThing on February 13, 2008)
Heya! I just finished reading this book (which I learned about from your blog) and I thought it was excellent! I also found the short story/personal essay clash a bit jarring, and I also wanted them all to be personal essays!
ReplyDeleteThere was only one essay I didn't read (written in dialect of some kind?) and several of them made me cry.
Thanks for the heads up, well worth the book's travel from Vancouver Public Library to Nova Scotia!
Yay, I'm glad you enjoyed this book too! You know, I'd forgotten that there was one essay I also gave up on reading; it may well have been the same one you gave up on. (Oh and there were definitely some weepy moments as I read this book too!)
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