Sister Thorn and Catholic Mysticism in Modern America

“Full of insight and surprises.” — America

“Kane’s book is a noteworthy achievement. It demonstrates a remarkable fluency with a wide body of scholarly literature as well as with archival sources from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.” — Journal of American History

“Paula Kane . . . present[s] a fascinating composite portrait of religion in the twentieth-century city. [She] persuasively argue[s] that religion has been a powerful force in shaping urbanity, particularly during times of national and international crises. [She] also correct[s] several prevailing narratives about religious realignment and the advent of purportedly secular urban reform. Whether manifesting in mysterious bodily markings, radical ecumenism, theo-political action, or mayoral denunciations of disestablishment, religion has never strayed far from the center of urban life.”—Journal of Urban History

“[An] innovative approach to anthropologically-informed history. . . . Likely to become standard reading for students of American religious history.” — Religion in American History

“Sister Thorn is an impressive work of scholarship.” — Catholic Books Review

“Shed[s] new insights on many topics relevant to the study of modern American Catholicism. . . . Provides a detailed window into Reilly’s world.” — Journal of Religion

“To be sure, this is required reading for anyone interested in Catholic studies. But American religious historians of all stripes should read this book, which stands as a paradigm example of how to connect an intensely local topic with broader themes of modernity, ethnicity, gender, urbanization, assimilation, globalization, and the like.” — BeforeItsNews.com

“The clarity and accessibility of the writing is exceeded only by Kane’s expert analysis. Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers.” — CHOICE

“Riveting. Kane’s compelling narrative uses the story of a stigmatic nun to illuminate broader themes of convent culture, authority and resistance, and religion and science.” — Kathleen Sprows Cummings, University of Notre Dame

“With Sister Thorn, a generation of American Catholic social and cultural history reaches a culmination. This brilliantly researched and told story of 'a failed saint and possibly a false stigmatic' is at the same time a revealing study of how American Catholics in the twentieth century lived their everyday lives in close proximity to the supernatural. Kane offers a new perspective on almost everything about modern American Catholicism — family life, ethnic tensions, Catholic bodies, kitchen devotions, urbanism, relations among nuns and between nuns and priests, attitude towards suffering and pain, and much more. Reading Sister Thorn, I was repeatedly gripped by the sense that nothing about American Catholicism would ever look the same again.” — Robert Orsi, Northwestern University