"Our Stories Need to Be Told": Memoirs of Former Nuns

Since 1990 over fifty women who spent part of their life as a Roman Catholic sister in the United States have written books about their lives. All these authors participated in what is often referred as the exodus from American convents which occurred in the late 1960’s and 1970’s. Mostly self-published, their books resemble oral histories more than autobiographies or memoirs and are more accurately referred to as life narratives.

The authors have lived more years outside a convent than within and while all characterize their books as ex-nun memoirs, their writings do more than describe their convent years. They locate that experience in a larger context and describe their choice to enter the religious life, the living of it, the leave-taking from it, and the subsequent experience of being an ex-nun. Themes that emerge from these narratives include the power of a strong religious faith, the attraction of the convent, the difficulties and subsequent deliberateness in both their decision to enter and leave and, most emphatically, a desire to break stereotypes about nuns and bear witness to a life that no longer exists. As one former sister explained, "Our stories need to be told."