It all started with a question from a friend at a party. When a friend asked Amanda, a married woman now living in London, why she had once decided to give up on a career and marriage and instead become a nun, it touched something deep inside her. She suddenly realized that by sharing her "sacred secret" with others, bringing to light the road that God had led her on, her story could be used to inspire others who might be struggling in the dark like she once was. The result is a rich, thoughtful, and compelling memoir of a period of spiritual growth and service.

Amanda's interest in spiritual matters started early in her South African childhood. Raised Catholic, she remembered as a five-year-old her intense longing to receive the Eucharist like her mother and older brother, Alan, did. As she grew so did her desire to know more about God and to be sure she was following the right path, especially as she encountered people of other faiths. Despite marriage proposals and medical school, the call to follow God where he was leading was too strong to ignore. His road at first led her to become a postulant with an order in San Vittorino, but it would eventually culminate in service with Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity. Then, after almost a decade in this form of ministry, a serious illness was used by God to move her back into the medical field and marriage.

Filled with personal transparency as well as a wealth of information on the Catholic faith, the author's well-written account of her early life is both touching and thought-provoking. Her belief that her story might inspire others has truly been achieved.

Return to USR Home